Why Expensive power Cables when Romex behind Wall?

Hospital Grade a marketing mantra? NOT! If you tried to market any cable for any purpose by calling the parts Hopital Grade when they are not, you could be sued at the very least, and maybe arrested for fraud; because Hospital Grade is an industry standard that means something.

You could sell the cheapest, most poorly made audio cable on the planet; and call it "Audiophile Grade"; because there is no industry standard that I know of.
That's a marketing mantra.

So if you buy a cable with Hospital Grade parts, there is no guarantee your system will sound better, but you can at least be sure you are getting a good quality cable for your money. There is no guarantee an Audiophile Grade cable will have good EMF or RFI protection, or make your system sound better either. The only difference is the Audiophile Grade has the potential to be a piece of junk.

Those $60 Absolute power cords are audiophile grade solely based on the reports that the audio equipment using them sounds good. They are massed produced by a cable company in Taiwan that can produce 6 million cables per month. They claim hopital grade in their ads, but looking at them I wonder?? (a Taiwan Hospital, not USA?)

With respect, Sugarbrie, your observation is (1) not correct and (2) not directed to the point I was making. There is no legal or regulatory definition of the term "hospital grade." The way that one COULD get into difficulty would be to advertise that a cord met the various UL or NFPA standards that I mentioned when, in fact, it did not. I suppose it is remotely conceivable that one could face a suit for false or misleading advertising based on the common usage of the term but for someone to bring such a suit against an audiophile vendor would be hugely improbable. De minimus non curat lex.

But that wasn't my point. My point is that the term "hospital grade" implies nothing of audiophile interest other than heavy wire and good quality terminations. It has nothing to do with the esoteric properties often claimed for audiophile power cords.

I'm NOT talking down high-end power cords; don't get your knickers in a twist about that. I'm just informing people of what "hospital grade" means. And, perhaps more importantly from a sonic perspective, what it does not mean.

As to the Taiwan cords, ignore their use of the term "hospital grade" and see if, in the small print, they assert that the cords meet the UL and NFPA standards. That's what really counts.

will

Right/Exactly: The Absolute cords are probably UL and NFPA rated for a piece of audio equipment (so is lamp cord), not hospital equipment. They are giving the impression they are better than they are by putting in terms like Hospital Grade and then adding the fine print later. I have nothing against those cords since people find they work. I have no direct opinion on them, because I have yet to try one.

I am on your side actually Will; and I may even be more skeptical than you. I am skeptical to any or all marketing claims. I am a big believer in people trying things for themselves and forming their own opinion. I guess if everyone did that, there would be a reduced need for salespersons. (Less ads actually sounds good.)

The original post mentions Romex in the wall assuming it to be poor. I assume there are different grades of Romex???
Happy listening.

Different wire guages, certainly, and different types of insulation so that some must be run in conduit, other run in open, etc. depending on local codes.

We're absolutely in agreement on this point: Buy what you can hear.

will

It's interesting that no one seems to disagree with what I said earlier in this thread, and no one is saying that expensive pc's are a good investment. That must tell you something. Tom