Do CD Transports benefit much from upgraded power cords?

"jasonbourne71 appears to be a hideous, miserable deaf person in his late 90s, whose only role in life is ruining things for others.  It makes me angry every time I read one of his posts, and I sincerely wish he would just go away."

Or, you might try not reading his posts.

To bring this topic back (which is a good one) and off the complain-oh-wheel. I have found like some others, upgrading the source power cord, in my case a cd transport, made a very noticeable improvement.  I got a used cord for 180.00, Shunyata sidewinder vtx.  I worked for high end shops having heard many systems. I never thought you have to spend a lot to get 85-95% of what the very best can do.  Also for me, upgraded power cords in all my other pieces have made a nice improvement across the board. 

Alternating current (AC) travels back into circuit. Appliances poop into the circuit and that is why dedicated circuits make a difference when you have your components run on a dedicated line. You get cleaner power to your system. 
Every component generates EMI, your wifi, router, mesh nodes and access points/extenders radiate EMI and RFI. Switch mode power supplies dirty up the line. Different power cords use different materials (silver, copper, etc.), the power cord connectors are susceptible to interference, some more than others. With a spaghetti of cables, modern streaming systems using mesh networks with nodes near the system, it is critical now more than ever to have proper power cords on your components. Oh and good outlets as well with solid grip and as large a contact area as possible. Combined these higher quality power cords, outlets and dedicated lines reduce the potential of noise entering into your system. Shielding, dielectric, proximity of wires to each other all matter. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to separate cables and components to the degree that would completely eliminate EMi and RFI contamination. So yes power cables make a difference - supplying clean power to your components is key. 
Do we need to go crazy and have a $5,000 power cable feeding a $500 AV Receiver? No. But if you have invested a considerable amount of time and money into your components and room, running your system using good cables is critical in getting the performance your system is capable of. If you bought a new high performance car, you wouldn’t fill up with cheapest possible regular gas why…because you would compromise the performance you paid to expect. Same concept here. 

@immatthewj 

Merry Christmas! 

Speaking of identifying gains or losses…I can only share my experience.

I believe self-awareness is a gift. Sometimes we wrestle with the desire for acute perception and clarity in evaluating gear, but it’s important to remember and rely on time and context to form meaningful impressions. Patience is the key in evaluating a piece of gear as sometimes subtle differences reveal themselves over days or weeks, not in an instant. Trusting your intuition over time often leads to better decisions. 

And Quest, regrettably, it isn’t a straight line. We often go through iterations of gear before finding the one that has the highest synergy. I come to realize, no single piece of gear will “fix” everything or provide an immediate revelation every time. When I hear incremental improvements, I celebrate those small wins as they are the steps toward your ideal sound. 

The fact that you’re enjoying the music and staying engaged in the process shows you’re already succeeding. Acute hearing is just one tool; your ability to connect emotionally with the music is far more important. By balancing curiosity with patience, you’ll continue to refine your system and deepen your appreciation for the journey. Keep at it—I believe you’re doing great!

@audphile1 +1, on clean power and power cords. The combination of them made a profound difference in my audio system. 

@lalitk "...but it’s important to remember and rely on time and context to form meaningful impressions. Patience is the key in evaluating a piece of gear as sometimes subtle differences reveal themselves over days or weeks, not in an instant."

+1