Carol 10/3 cables work quite well as power cord wire, but it's bulky.
I've used FIM, Shunyata, and many Hubbel receptacles, anything is better than what comes with the house, but some are better than others,if your pocket book rules the day, then look for some cheaper used plugs.
As far as IEC and male plug ends, I've found that the cheaper Furutech copper plugs do a good job for reasonable money.
I have also noticed a big step up when I made a new 20 amp power cord using the Rhodium 20 amp plugs from Furutech and their top line power cord wire.
It was costly, but still cheaper than a 20 amp Annaconda CX.
I have 4 Annaconda Helix power cords,the Hydra 8 and Hydra 2 power conditioners and two dedicated lines going into 30 amp breakers and using 10 guage solid core Romex.
My breaker is only a few feet away from my gear in my listening room, so perhaps the increase in sound quality by using upgraded cords and fuses could be more pronounced in such a situation.
But, I have been fooling around with DIY power cords and fuses since the 1980's and in a few different situations.I always noticed a level of improvement by using upgraded cords and fuses, even if they were cheap and DIY.
There are audible differences, and those differences are for the better .Once you hear them you won't settle for stock again, no matter how expensive the system is.
Look at your power needs from the panel to where your gear accepts it, and everyting in between.
It's a complete system, and like you've read millions of times'all systems can be compromised with weak links.
It's also cumulative.
If you can't do it all at once,try one component at a time.
Upgrade the power cord and fuse and receptacles and if you like the improvement, move on to the rest of your gear.
If you can swing dedicated lines, all the better.
I've found that one reason some tweaks get a bad rap is because they are expected to work miracles and transform a mediocre system into a high end one.
That's not going to happen.
But if a few tweaks used in the right places are combined with dedicated lines and the power is addressed, you can make a mediocre system sound better than it did.
Adding one HiFi Supreme fuse to an otherwise stock system, may or may not make an audible improvemnt if all the other essentials(for me) aren't addressed.
But leaving it out of the mix of a finely tweaked system which does have all the goodies, doesn't make sense to me either.
And in this case you should be able to easily hear what it can do to improve an already good system.
In all my years at this hobby, it amazes me why such a simple little investment(in an upgraded fuse)can create such controvery.
Fuses degrade the sound, you can try DIY replacemnents and discover this yourself as Peter Aczel discussed back in the late 70's early 80s, or you can just spend the money and buy the IsoCleans or HiFi Supremes, and know that your gear is protected and sounds better.
So why don't high end manufacturers add them to their products?
Some do.But most also only supply the most modest types of power cords.
HiFi is all about enjoying the music and making it sound the most acceptable it can to YOUR ears.
That's why they leave the aftermarket stuff to the purchaser to decide if one brand of power cord for example is better than the other.
In all fairness this isn't a cop out.
How are they to know what your room sounds like, what other components you have and how you've addressed the power?
They don't, because they are not big brother forcing you to bend to their wishes, although a few have tried this type of approach.Most have failed,and have become more conventional.
No, it's up to us to assemble audio systems that meet the demands of our listening environments and our ears.
Sorry if that sounds a bit out of tune with the way the newer thinking is concerning our hobby,but it's the way I've always approached it, and my experiences have been more positive than not.
All gear can be improved, or at least made to sound the way that it was designed to sound, or perhaps even exceed the expectations of the designer.
Sometimes all you need to do is replace the stock fuse.
