Do I need higher quality power cords?

Speaking as a musician first and not an Audiophile I have to say I have noticed a huge difference by putting on good power cords on my equiptment. I was a classical guitarist and lutenist and although this can be infuriating to some people I noticed a difference in the fingering noises of soloists and I say if that is more prominent then many other details come to the fore. Now I also have to say I have been accused by lots of people on here that it is pure imagination on my part but I would rather take the word of a musician than a pseudo scientist any day. In my case I made up my own cables from Neotech mains cable and Furutech plugs and it cost me a third of the price of a JPS Kaptovator which I also own and it is also every bit as good as the Kaptovater and in some areas even better. Try one on your amp first and if you are happy with it continue with your source equiptment , I am sure it would be benificial to your system. Good luck , Jim.

Oyaide Tunami wire with middle range Furutech connectors makes a quality AC cable that won’t break the bank.

My unfortunate experience has been that everything matters to some extent or another. To the OP, what I’m planning on doing is taking advantage of the generous risk-free trial periods offered by some direct sellers like Cullen, Triode Wire Labs, etc. Just choose whichever one provides results or qualities that jibe best with your tastes, needs, and budget based on reviews. The used market, especially for cables, is another relatively low-cost/risk way to go albeit involving a little more work -- but many more choices to be had obviously. Frankly I’d be surprised if you didnt hear a difference with better PCs. Whether it’s for the better or worse is the ultimate question, but my money’s on the former. Definitely worth a shot. The good news is that this is an area that is very cheap (or free) to experiment with in your own system and could potentially yield significant improvements.

Another way way to go that I'm also considering is just to make my own by buying some lengths of good bulk cable and connectors.  I'm not handy by any means, but even I'm willing to give this a shot as it sounds relatively simple and maybe more than a little gratifying to do.  Some popular makes to explore would be Oyaide, Furutech, Wattgate, Supra, and DH Labs just to name some. 

On on another note, have you ever considered modding your Ref 9s? Seems I’ve heard several other owners being really happy with the results.  I might consider that even before messing with cables.  Anyway, best of luck.

soix,

Thank you for your suggestions.

Hi rvpiano,

It does make an big impact. I have been fortunate enough to be able to hear the difference between stock cables, Transparent, Wattgate, JPS, Synergistic,  Analysis Plus, Oyaide, HB Cable design and Stage Three Concepts.  All within every variable of Copper/ Silver/ Rhodium/ Gold etc.

Bottom line your components performance is based upon Power. Power is the life blood of your system. Power Chords are the Veins. The better the power delivery the better performance. It's that simple. With stock cables your components are only operating at 50%. The idea is to get them to operate at 100%. 

By the way - I  heard these cables I listed above paired with some of the components listed by naysayers in this post. I heard these cables in the owners of the component company's private listening rooms. In fact when hearing those components in those private settings not one of those owners was using a stock Power Cable which their own company provides.

I would second Soix suggestions as this is sage advice. But you already know that.

Best of Luck