I'm having a really hard time with: "Power cable reduced my soundstage"...

@ roberjerman, a gas pump hose could affect the mileage of a car if the car was running while pumping gas and the hose is narrow in width, taking longer to fill the tank than a wider hose. That’s just the first order potential impact. ;)

@captbeaver- "My McIntosh amp has a permanently attachehed power cable that is a off the shelf product. Is their design faulty? Are they not giving you the full amp? Seems they would know about this magic 4 feet...lol"                                                                              How old is your amp? McIntosh’s current tuner even has an IEC connector, as do all their amps and pres. Was that update because of customer demand, or- have they learned something, perhaps?

If - by pure chance - the first power cord’s conductor was in the “correct direction” and the second power cord’s conductor was in the “wrong direction” that alone would explain the soundstage issue. Why do you think AudioQuest goes out its way to honor the directionality of the conductors in its high end power cords like Hurricane? 🤔 Hel-loo!

Still there, captbeaver?   "May be boring but no one has answered the McIntosh amp cord question...."         You asked::    "My McIntosh amp has a permanently attachehed power cable that is a off the shelf product. Is their design faulty? Are they not giving you the full amp? Seems they would know about this magic 4 feet...lol"                                                                              Really want an answer?   How old is your amp? McIntosh’s current tuner even has an IEC connector, as do all their amps and pres. Was that update because of customer demand, or- have they learned something, perhaps?

I will go out on a limb here and predict if anyone calls someone in charge at McIntosh and asks him some pertinent questions about their power cords he will have absolutely no idea what in blazes you’re talking about.