cable upgrades , real or rip off


im sure this has been done to death on other threads, but im somewhat new to the high end audio thing. but i must ask do these items make a huge diff. , a small one or something in between. i cant help but asking myself why when a company is trying to produce a knockout item such as a intgrated amp that costs say 3000.00 would they skimp on something like a 300.00 powercord if it would make there product sound that much better?
jrw40
The most important change is to rewire up to the power generating palnt with audiophile cable. What's the cost of a couple of hundred or a thousand miles of cable compared to perfect sound?
There is never going to be consensus in regard to this. Everyone is going to have different experiences. Some homes (for whatever reason) benefit from better power cords, or even powerblock, regenerators, and the like. I saw a review here of a Purist cable where the reviewer concluded that using that cable was a bigger improvement than buying a better amp for the same price.

People are not going to agree, but IN MY EXPERIENCE all better cables make a difference. It doesn't matter what the power company used to get the power to your house. I have replaced all the circuits, cables and outlets, and then the PCs, and all of it was an improvement. Next, I would like to run copper underground from the pole to my breaker box. Maybe I'll buy one of those upgraded breaker boxes for $3000 too.
Here is a copy & paste from a thread by Bigjoe, I went to the website mentioned and must say that I was amazed to hear someone so high up on the audiophile "food chain" speak this way about cables:

"This is a link to Roger Russell's web site where he gives his thoughts on wires & cables & reports on blind testing that was done, if your not familiar with him he was a audio engineer for many years & from some of the gear I own that he designed I'd say a damm fine engineer too.

If you are of the belief that big buck cable's are not worth using you may get a chuckle but if your a firm believer then you might be bummed out, anyways here's the link if you care to read about wires.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
Hi Studioray,
Thanks for the link. For years, before I actually invested in high end components, I read "Stereo Review" and "Audio" magazines simply because I found them fascinating (translation: I had no money). Still, I developed opinions based on, what I thought was, good old fashion horse sense. I had tremendous respect for Julian Hirsch of "Stereo Review", who claimed that all well made amplifiers sounded alike. When I finally decided to dive in, my mind was pretty much closed to tubes, interconnects and tweaks in general. I am now a firm believer in those very things, not because of measurable data, but because my system has IMO evolved musically because of them. My basic components have remained unchanged through several upgrades and changes in ancillary equipment.