... abit confused: how does a power cord affect the presentation of sound...


Hello to all...

I was shifting around components in my system, trying to squeeze out better controlled bass, more definition within the soundstage, and better define the "voice/midrange" presentation...

I presently have a tube preamp (hardwired with a wall wart) into an HT Receiver; source is a Marantz SA-8001 CD Player

Swapped out a Yamaha HTR -5550 (hardwired) for a Parasound HCA-750A (which needs a power cord).

CD Player is powered with a PS Audio Statement SC power cord, so I went in my closet and pulled out another PS AUDIO Statement SC power cord, hooked it up and expect to give it at least 5 days continuous re-break-in before serious listening.

Took a minute to lookup reviews about this power cord - and I read some rather confusing reviews: some luved 'um, some liked 'um, but some thought them " ...slow... " (?), and giving a veiled presentation...

I'm gonna listen and decide myself - but I'm abit confused: how does a power cord affect the presentation of sound - I know that interconnects and speaker cables would/could/Do affect sound presentation - but how could a power cord?

Explanation/thoughts please...
insearchofprat
The speaker causes the amplifier to work harder not the minimum resistance of a cable as long as it's rated for the job. Anything 12 awg or less should be fine up to 25 ft. Cars are DC which is why they typically use very large guages of wire. 
I have no idea who your friend is but where I live I don’t see line amplifiers on transmission lines every 50ft,  poles are more than 50 ft apart. That would be an amplifer on every pole??
To add to discussion on power cables: no comments on audio quality - it is in the "ear of beholder," but just to point out how the cables heat up.  We burn in 100% of our AC EMI filters and we take FLIR images in near-infrared spectrum - if you are interested, here are couple of them that I put on our web site:  https://www.onfilter.com/cable-temperature  They get pretty toasty.  Whether this heating affects audio quality is a subject to a separate discussion.  The objective notes are that whenever you see higher-than-desirable temperature, there is an insertion resistance affecting output impedance of power line and, perhaps, some fluctuation of supply voltage with the load current on the receptacle.  The cables we use are industrial grade; if you are using thinner cables and/or consumer-grade plugs/outlets, the thermal effect is likely to be much higher.

If you are interested to repeat these experiments, we use FLIR'  One Pro (https://www.flir.com/products/flir-one-pro-lt?model=435-0013-03) - no endorsements, this is just what we use.  Fluke also offers similar products.
It’s the quality of the juice entering the amp that counts and not the quantity. A right gauge cable can take care of the quantity.  But material purity, metallurgical structural and shield from external interferences define the sound. When I used the stock cable that came with the amp the sound was good except the highs were a little edgy. I switched it with Perfect Wave AC 10 and the edgy sound was gone but it took away too much high, so much so that the sound became dull and unlistenable. I got the same dull sound when I used the AC 10 with the streamer and power conditioner. But it worked just fine when I used it with the dac. So synergy between cables and equipment does matter.
Again my 2 cents.
Let me understand:
The power cord is the last 1.5m of a power line way longer, as house power wiring, back to the power transformer etcw.
Those lines by nature are way longer than 1.5m (6ft.).
The thought that there is something wrong with the power cable, but the rest of the line is ok, or by having that last 1.5m would do, and the rest is of no importance, is naive.

Power. by nature, has a very low impedance, Audio is not a large consumer (A/C, oven or 3 phase power).
All the fuss is more of the sales guys wanting to sale, than us need the product.
There is really nothing in a power cord to justify spending the price asked.
A simple cable would do the same job.