Are upgraded power cables really worth the money?

Yes, upgraded power cables are a good investment. I admit I'm spending a bit more on them these days then when I first made a purchase. You can spend from $10- $12 on a Volex or thousands of dollars on the exotic cables. I refuse to spend that kind of money. I started out with lower priced cables from Shunyata, even the dirt cheap Volex, but eventually graduated up the food chain a bit. In my opinion, of all the cables you will purchase, the power cord can reap the most benefit and also do the most harm. So, auditioning in your system carefully before purchase is critical. As suggested, buy a cord you can audition for at least 30 days in your system. If you don't like what it does when connected to your gear, then send it back for a refund. There are companies and dealers that provide auditions. I would look to dealers that provide demo power cords that can be auditioned. Also, the Cable Company will lend you cables for a small fee. DCCA and VH Audio sell quality power cords, have great customer service and also have audition periods on all their cables. Don't make the mistake of auditioning more than one new power cable at a time. More than one new cable in your system at a time makes evaluation of each cord practically impossible. I also belive in power cable break-in. (some don't) It's important that you allow a new power cable break-in time and time to settle in once you connect it to your gear. As you know, once any cable is connected, it should be left untouched and given time to settle in. The sonics of your system will change during these periods. After break-in is complete and the cable has had time to settle in, then make your final judgement. It takes time and patience (which I never had a lot of). Good luck with power cords.

I use PS Audio Statement Extremes on my cd palyer, pre-amp amd amp. There was a significant improvement to the cd palyer in the form of a much blacker backgound. I heard no significant improvment over the stock power cord with my amp or pre-amp. And I have not experimented with any other power cords.

Chuck

Yes --unfortunately :)--can be a very dramatic improvement!

I've only ever tried one power cable on my transport which is 13 years old now and it was $150 XLO cable. I didn't like it and instead opted for some cheap $60 power cable cable. I found that the XLO made the sound edgy. Note I did this over 10 years ago and since then I've not looked into power cables.

Anyway, reading this thread made me think, it putting a power cable on transport any different to putting it on a CDP? Has anybody any good experiences with PC's on transports?

jaspal.

A good power cord can make a huge difference, but many will add different sonic characteristics to a component. If your system is a bit bright, I would avoid cables composed of silver wiring because they will make it sound even brighter. Some PC's are neutral, some are warm. I have used Nordost Shiva & Vishnu, Virtual Dynamics NiteII, Electraglide Synapsis 1, Elrod EPS 2 and am now using Cardas Golden Reference. While all of these are very good cables, they also displayed different sound characteristics to the components they were attached to. I found the Cardas to be the best for my system. I have to say that I did not have a way to audition any of these, so I purchased many on press reviews and forums. If you can audition, you can avoid the buying and selling that I have endured until I finally found a cable that I can keep for a while. :>) I would also encourage you to avoid buying any cables at retail, just too expensive. Whatever you decide, you will probably be able to find it here on Audiogon. Good Luck!!