Do I need a power cable - if so what brand?

The best bang for the buck power cord is the Pro-AC11 from Harmonic Tech, IMO. You will notice the improvement easily.

Next, sell your Monster 3600 and get the PS Audio Quintet line conditioner. It is still on sales for $350 right now which has a list price of $499. It is the best bang for the buck power conditioner on the market today. It really improve the sound of your system other than protection and it works wonder on TV as well.

Have fun.

I have an expensive conditioner [Tice Power Block] that was highly regarded in its time , sometimes it helped. I now have two dedicated lines and it makes thing worse. Lines are the way to go but may not be cheap. I have never been crazy about Monster products, I use to be a dealer for them; not that they are bad, but there are usually better products for less money. Even with dedicated lines cords still make a difference. I recently bought some of the Siltech cords being closed out and think they are a real bargain; $60 for 1 M , $90 for 2 M. If you are up for do it yourself then Stringreens suggestion would give you a really superior cord.

Take a look at Audio Art Cable power cords - only one that made a noticable difference in my system at a reasonable price

While I believe that those who may have contrary opinions are sincere, and many among them are astute judges of sound quality, for whatever reason I believe that opinions that power cords can make a significant difference in sound quality are utterly mistaken. I assume in saying so that your contacts are clean, plugs and jacks make secure contact, and wire gauge is adequate (all of which can be assured with some contact cleaner and a $5 power cord).

With probably hundreds of feet of wiring inside and outside of the house to the power company's transformer on a nearby pole (that steps down 10kV or so to 115V), and miles of wiring on the other side of that transformer to the power sub-station, what difference will the construction of 6 feet or so of wiring from the ac outlet to your system make? And even if it does make a difference, by what mechanism would the use of exotic and expensive materials in the cord correlate with improved sound quality? Putting it another way, are the differences essentially happenstance, which would mean that a cheaper cord might be just as likely to outperform a ridiculously expensive cord as vice versa?

I should add, to put my comments in perspective, that I have two degrees in electrical engineering and several decades of experience as an electrical design engineer, and more than 25 years experience as a high-end audiophile (Levinson, SOTA, Grace, Grado, various tube and solid state amps, Pentagram speakers, etc.).

Regarding power line conditioners, I'd imagine that their effectiveness or lack thereof would be dependent on the design of the power supply sections of your preamp and amp, and on the quality of the ac coming into your house. Which would mean that trial and error is the only way to tell.

Hah, I leave AudiogoN for two and a half years and return to find that the same arguments are still going strong.

Over the years, we've had EEs and physicists arguing both sides of this topic without resolve. It's funny when two physicists resort to insulting each others credentials.

SOMETIMES I notice a difference in power cords. The ones that have worked well for me are the original, affordable Virtual Dynamics Power series and the DIY VH Audio Flavor 4.

Boy, I missed this hobby!!!