DIY PCs

Well I should add that I am not a total cable nonbeliever.  I think a decent quality cable is a must, especially in the signal path.  I use a Kimber coax from my steamer to the Oppo dac and Cardas Quadlink balanced ICs from the Oppo to the integrated.  I recently built some Mogami 3082 coax speaker cables, specifically for the ML electrostatic panels.  They may possibly have a little better HF response than the twisted pairs I had before.  The difference if any is subtle.

At one point I was open to trying a more expensive PC, but right now I am retired and on a fixed income that will not support much in the way of "luxury" items.  Very little available cash + lots of free time = DIY.

@Danager, I will look into your suggestion though.  Seems quite reasonable.

$50 is really low but can be done, cheap Wattgates will be most of your budget.

Go to Home Depot, for amps use 6 or 8 gauge stranded or solid core. For. Source 8 to 12 gauge.  If 6 or 8 gauge solid core you will need to shrink wrap the wire. Use a smaller gauge for the ground, 

Buy some clear rubber tubing while at Home Depot. Run wire in tubing with excess wire 3 or 4 inches on each end of tubing. Hot glue one end of tubing and wire. 

Fill clear tube with metal sand blasting power from harbor freight or brass powder of eBay the finer the powder the better. I like brass. Take a palm sander and run up and down tube. Keep adding powder as it will pack in tubing. Once filled hot glue other end of tubing.

Buy a small piece or donor piece of Corion from a countertop maker. Cut 2 small rectangle pieces drill some holes use high quality screws to make a clamp and screw down very very tight. You can use wood, brass or anything to put pressure on wire as clamp. Place clamp on each end of wire and in middle of cable if you choose. Add Wattgate ends and your done. You can hide clamps with cut pieces of pvc pipe and Tex flex for looks and shrink wrap over pvc/Tex flex

The solid core will have bigger bass and more detail or brighter, stranded will be smoother with more rolled off highs. 

You can get very meaningful improvement from some low cost PC on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/WAudio-Hi-End-Audio-Power-Cable/dp/B01L2MBYWC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&ke...=

I made my own PCs with Furutec components from Cable Co. I bought heat shrink tubing and cable covering from Amazon. I was able to make custom lengths for my five cables. Good luck.

I suggest you get one good power cord for starters, for your Pass Labs integrated. You can build it yourself, yes, nothing wrong with it, but not sure the parts alone will cost less than $50 (good parts that is), let alone labor.

One of the nice gents in these forums (forgot the name) swears by these Chinese power cords: https://www.ebay.com/itm/202808747120?var=502967448569

They are in your budget, and you don’t have to spend a minute of your time.

Or look for a used Shunyata Venom NR v10 or HC.

Kudos for having the willingness to experiment and for overcoming your biases