Which power cord to upgrade first?

Tvad, $5 cord? that's cool, but I said "basically". And the better power cord in your case was the $5 cord for that particular component.
It's a combination of things. Not necessarily one upgraded cord is going to make a huge improvement. Have you thought about what the rest of the power cords in your system are doing? Is it possible that all the other cords there in your system did more harm than good in the combination with your pre-amp and then you drop this el-cheapo cord that in the context of another system would probably sound like crap. And all of a sudden things come to life?
I appreciate what you're saying, but the most important thing is system synergy. You achieved it with the addition of that $5 cord. Congrats. :)

I always put the PC on the cdp first....amp thereafter but amp pc effect was subtle and the cdp was not.

Larry

Tvad, your suggestion comes right on time. I need a cheap cord now while I am waiting for my Audience cords to arrive. I have all the stock cords burried somewhere in the closet and I'm too lazy to dig in there for them.
I may consider the Volex.

I would agree with the earlier post of having a dedicated line first, then outlets, and then power cords.

I did it that way, and the dedicated circuits were the most dramatic improvement of anything.

I have a dedicated 20A circuit for my amps and one for my front end.