What was the first power cable that you noticed a difference in the sound?

@sudnh ,

 I have a Hegel H390 going to KEF Reference 5 speakers by way of either AQ Rocket 88 cables or Audio Art’s Statement E cables with the lockable Rhodium bananas.

I never expected power cords made a difference. Then I got a used 2M Audio Art Power I Classic cable, used with a big class D amp. Immediately heard subtle but worthwhile differences. Got a 2nd one of these (1.5M) and put it on a tubed headphone amp. Heard a slight but worthwhile difference.

These are budget cables, bottom of the line in Audio Arts lineup, but they made a positive difference for me.

@curiousjim "I have bought six or seven different power cords, none over $500 and have noticed little or no change in the sound of my system"

correct! good quality equipment must supply sufficient power cable, some brands like Esoteric have “upgraded” power cable option available for extra charge. 

if someone can “hear” sound improvement after replacing power cable, before claiming power cable problem I would in details, for example what cable was replaced, outlet degradation issues etc. In many cases de-ox spray fixes contact issues, w/o changing need to replace cable.

My demonstrations for the following cables were performed in a local dealers showrooms. Since then I have owned and auditioned many different power cables.

My first experience was with Shunyata Research’s Black Momba power cable demonstrated on a Naim Audio Classic series seperates system. The Momba was powering the amplifier driving Thiel speakers.

My second experience was the Nordost Vahalla powering an Ayre Acoustic Ax-5 integrated amplifier driving Aerial 7T’ speakers.

In my system aftermarket power cables along with Synergistic Research Purple fuses considerably enhances the performance. ymmv

N

What I find really interesting is the number of times the subject of power cables comes up, and the response the subject seems to get every time.  This post is already on page 4.  And before someone points out that "you're reading it", yes I am because I'm always looking to find something new, but in the case of PCs it looks like there really is no new ground to cover.  Still, this is one subject that just gains traction every time the same question is raised.  Not sure what that says about us?  (me included) .