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

@curiousjim

In my case $120. Audioquest NGR-2 (way back when). Since then, haven’t just drank the KoolAide on PC/power delivery. I chugged the entire pitcher. (I’m the guy who did the "audiophile power cable" survey a few months ago).

I’m sure there are cases where all the stars line up, power delivery falls into place quite nicely (as suggested by @carlsbad2 ), and the factory-provided/hardwired cable will do just fine. I just haven’t heard it yet. But, I’m open-minded.

For me, I have yet to hear a case where a premium PC didn’t make a difference on ANY component at ANY price. As dealer, we’ve put, literally, hundreds of premium PCs in customer’s systems. But, admittedly, my experience is limited to mostly 4 figure electronics. We currently do performance mods in the shop, some involving internal power delivery upgrades. The differences are simply stunning. I keep 2 identical 100x2 NAD power amps on hand. One completely stock. One with performance mods. The upgraded version doesn’t just sound better. It sounds like it was designed and built in a different factory to a much higher standard. Take the top 10 adjectives we like to use to describe "better sonics" and they are all there,, in abundance..

Here’s another case in point. We were missing around on the bench with a little (less than $100 retail) Class D plate amp. We were seeing how this thing might work in a cost-effective, stealthy office system mounted to the modestly panel under a desk. I have to say that, while we reached the stealthy goal, the sound quality was harsh, and down right nasty. Then I thought: "What the heck?", reached for a $69 AQ power cable and swapped it out on the outboard power supply. The sound immediately calmed down, there was some bass presence when none was there before, and the soundstage became somewhat 3-dimensional. The point: Even cheap stuff benefits from premium PCs.

@ditusa I find your post curious and it seems to be the modus operandi around this forum. Have seen this several times twice now with me and a couple times accusing another person of using an alias (to wit we all do on this forum). What is interesting is that one bears false witness if

A. one party disagrees.

B. The accused makes a valid counter point.

As I did in that your equipment is 40 years old and would not benefit from an upgrade to a $40.00 power cable, even in its finest day. You make this accusation based on me researching an old post in the archives on OCC wire where I found this Uribe19 with intimate knowledge of Neotech, the process and that Uribe19 like @magnuman both live in Vancouver BC, Canada. They also have the same behaviours in calling people stupid, dumb and ignorant in their posts. So this makes me all those people you claim. No more so than it makes you a Republican, Al Anon follower that is an ANti Vaxxer and a Xenophobe.

You can think what you like of me but do not accuse me of being someone else as I am Jacob’s Father and If I were inclined could make false allegations against you that would be to easy.

Also I will not be running to the moderators like some, I know I can take you down with my words, you have proven that.

Respectfully

Steve Snyder.

Rapid City, South Dakota.

@curiousjim

An inexpensive lower-tier Audio Art cable (I’ve since moved up the line).

At the time, without any prompting from me, my wife commented on the improvement.

Overall, I’ve found AC cables can make a significant difference.

"You can think what you like of me but do not accuse me of being someone else as I am Jacob’s Father..."

You are exactly who @ditusa  states you are.

This may be a naive question, but I have yet to see this discussed on this forum or elsewhere: Why would a company that builds audiophile-level components intended for the most discriminating taste, which often cost 1000s and 10s of 1000s of dollars, use an inferior power cable that is "noisy" and reduces the sound quality?

In the end, wouldn't they lose out to manufacturers that used better power cables? Just doesn't make sense to me (perhaps naively as I've suggested).