Power cable Advice...

@audphile1 

You have had some Acoustic Zen PC's too, where would you place the Garantua in your list? 

@teleos go with Nordost Norse 2. A bit fuller sounding than the series 1… I like it a lot better. I would say if you’re upgrading power cables try Frey 2 on amp and Heimdall 2 on preamp and cd player. If you want a lot fuller sound the the AQ stuff should work. 

@mclinnguy the Gargantua II is a good all rounder. It’s a bit dark sounding with emphasis on bass. If a system calls for this kind of sound, it’ll work wonders. But don’t expect insane instrument separation like you’d get from the similarly priced Nordost (retail price that is). It’s thick and syrupy that’s my recollection of it. At some point I had GII throughout my whole system. May be that’s the reason I sold it…was too much of a good thing.

I use WyWires Platinum with excellent success.  There is currently a 40% off sale.  The Diamond is better but you will need to find pre-owned in your budget.  See reviews such as …
 

I recommend getting an Audio Quest Hurricane just for your amp to start with. The improvement you get will completely shock you. The largest difference you will hear will be on your amp. Once you do this, it is likely you will want to re-think your investment strategy. Either go Hurricane for the other components or drop down a level for the components to reduce the overall expenditure. The improvement on the amp will likely convince you to the former strategy.

I spent a year auditioning high end amp power cords and was dissatisfied with all. Each either failed to improve the sound in all dimensions or tipped the tonal balance in some way. Then a minute with a Hurricane my search was instantly over.