about to jump into the power cord foray

An additional thought; I find it remarkable that so many engineers and experts in acoustic theory who work at designing cables are written off as hucksters. Of course the industry has its share of bad apples trying to pawn off knock offs, etc.

But I'm taken aback by the hubris of someone who knows virtually nothing of the laws of acoustics dismissing persons with degrees applying their knowledge. The more contact with cable designers I have through reviewing, the more I am humbled by their knowledge and inventiveness in addressing what they see as intractable problems in conducting a signal.

Doug
One can be overcome by seriosity if one isn't careful. It can sure ruin an other wise fine system too.

Mmakshak

Nope… The 'Lost Medical Arts' aren't lost after all. Chicken bones, leeches, a petrie dish of maggots, & the occassional Newt are still in my Doctor’s office! They’ve been passing it off as a new slant on an older theme, but these days they’re calling it “H.M.O.”. The bones & wings are cheap… it’s them darned poltace’s where they really slam it to ya.

A decent poltice can run as much as a pretty good power cable. Don’t even ask about what they want for a private session with Madam Celeste and her crystal ball. Just between me and you, her Ouija board is just as good, a bit less stimulating, and you do not get the light show… but for half the money? Well, I can’t kick. The savings alone got me my EPS Sig III & Shunyata Python VX. Not to mention a fine return on my wager for the Giants over the Pats in the last Super bowl.
;-))

Blindjim, yeah, I'm not normally so intense. That was debate and rhetoric. I do enjoy rhetoric and debate (possibly subsumed under the category of seriosity), upon occasion.

I guess I'm intense in arguing for the merits of cables; it seems to me over the years that of all components they get the shaft the most. Having denied their differences for years, now that I'm working with them on a daily basis and hear the changes constantly, I'm more aggressive about defending what I'm experiencing. Similar to a smoker who quits and is intense about how harmful it is.

I try to distinguish between a good argument/debate and a fight. Rhetoric and persuasive talk is fine, but personal name calling is not good. I don't want fights; they're no fun. Most of the time I try to be relaxed, like a fine audio system. :)

Iggyminn, I would try used power cords one at a time, starting from power amp first. You may want to research the characteristics of various power cords and then determine what to get next based on the sonic signature of your system and what you want to achieve next. Power cords are not the solution for all, but they do make significant differences from my experiences.

It is laughable to me that someone with a BSEE degree and yet claims that he/she knows everything about science. Go get a couple advanced degrees in EE and then you will look at every theory you know with a different look. The theory you studied is often based on a lot of assumptions, which may or may not be true in the real world.

"SKEPTICS HAVE INCREDIBLE FAITH IN THEIR DOUBT".
Actually, skeptics have no use for the word "faith"; true skeptics simply say that they wont blindly believe anything without some type of unbiased and controlled test or demonstration, which doesn't seem that unreasonable to me.
It's also not up to a skeptic to prove someone else's statement or assertion is true/false; that is the responsibility of the person making the claim, and that's where this cable argument often falls down because:

1. Several 'skeptics' (including the infamous James Randi) have for years offered million dollar rewards for any audiophile who can correctly identify different audio cables in a double blind test, yet no-one has even taken up the challenge, let alone got it right, and

2. Many fence-sitters like me simply don't have as much money and spare time as certain people above, who suggest we're 'cheap' for not doing our own tests on multiple PC's and IC's. We shouldn't have to do the tests, the claimants should. Us "cheapskates" must rely on published reviews and tests of hifi gear to point us in the right direction, but when the prices of some of these cables can cost more than many components, I don't think it's unreasonable to want a little more than a string of glowing adjectives, that can't be backed up with any demonstrative data or science.

And by the way, using the "herbs to treat disease" analogy is actually a counter argument; for every witchcraft type remedy that science has proven works, there must be hundreds that were just true hocus pocus (like sacrifices to the gods, crystal healing, pointing the bone etc), my point being that in general life it's often a very low percentage of claims that turn out to be true, especially when there's a sale behind it all.

Just my 2c worth!