SOL if captive power cord?

Install an IEC socket-- piece of cake.

I've hard-wired (hard-soldered?) a better power cord onto an outboard sub amp / crossover with good success. Use good quality eutectic solder for the connections, take your time. If you don't know how to solder, the inside of your CD player is not the place to practice, but with a little repetition, you should be able to do it no sweat. Remember, good hot joints yield shiny smooth solder-- dull and grainy looking solder is BAD.

Another solution is to get a PS Audio Juice Bar power strip. You can plug several units into it, and use a premium power cord to power the bar.
Cheers,
Gregg

One other option it to purchase a good IEC (I've bought the gold plated Furutech), then do a bit of surgery with a Dremel tool! I plan to do this to a pair of Marantz monoblocks that I will use as amps for my Tact subwoofers. If it works...I might even take a stab at the CJ Premier 8's....

I've hardwired power cords and have installed IEC connectors, and in both cases installation is kinda messy. I prefer the hardwiring because of the sonic degradation involved with using an IEC connector. (I've never come across a high quality one, so Alexc's mention of the Furutech got my attention.) Of course you do give up the flexibility of being able to swap cords.

One thing that hasn't already been mentioned about hardwiring: It's likely the new cord will be thicker that the one you're replacing, in which case you might have to enlarge the hole in the chassis. Drilling the hole can be tricky, in that you'd be pushing the drill bit into the chassis, and if you go too far... well, let's not dwell on that... it's just that you have to be very careful. A simpler solution is to get a power cord that's not all that thick, e.g., I've had good success with a Stealh Audio FAC, a modest cord for low-level components such as CD players and preamps. I had to enlarge the inside of the plactic grommet that secured the cord to the chassis so that the FAC would fit through--that can be done with a file--but I didn't have to drill the hole in the chassis.

A simpler but more expensive option is to have your 555 modded (sacdmods.com, for example), and to get an IEC connector installed in the process.