Power cords

Yes, if you are new do not go and dump ANY money on cables except to get something decent which can be had for about $50. Instead focus on speakers and room acoustics as this will save you much in terms of money down the road. Spend at least as much on music as you do for any upgrade and you'll have tons of music laying around to distract you from contemplating your next component purchase. You'll be two steps ahead of most around here if you do that. And please, do not let it turn into some compulsion or demented gear fetish. Remember this is about the music so if you do not support your local schools and artists there will be nothing left to use all that pretty gear with except some lame copy of "Pet Sounds."

Now that should get all the baby boomers stirred up:)
Remember to enjoy yourself also and not to take any of this stuff real serious especially the marketing or the hype. Sage advice is that the latest and greatest thing usually isn't.

Tympanics? Now I get it...that's why most people like Bose!

Power cords do not make any difference whatsoever ...to a system that is is in the " middle of the road". A personal example with me was when I went from an Aerial 10 t - Adcom 5800 - lexicon mc 1 - monster cable m 1 system to an Aerial 20 t - Bat 6200 - Meridian 861 - Nordost valhalla system in one jump. Tweaks like symposium , Black Diamond , Aurios and especially power cords made so little difference that I never bought anything in the "voodoo science " of high end audio . Now , I can hear so much deeper into the soundfield that minute changes are appreciated and have purchased many of the tweaks I origionally dismissed as irrelevant. The difference between a 100.00 aftermarket pc and the Elrod I settled upon was simply astonishing in its sonic attributes. I would have never have believed it either , but now its an easy decision . I would not call a wider , deeper , blacker soundfield a coloration either. Your results will vary and people hear differently but until your system reaches a certain level of resolution capability , spend your money elsewhere. Its an icing on the cake upgrade after the chain is complete.

In my experience, yes PC's do make a difference, but I have not yet reached the point of diminishing returns. I think it is a personal matter where you want to spend your $, and when you are finally satisfied to just listen to music. I have a fairly resolving system, although not up there with many of the folks on this forum. For me, the CVH cords were a significant upgrade and have performed sufficiently so that I have not yet been tempted to upgrade. However, I am currently auditioning speaker cables, which in my opinion make a much greater difference. I also upgraded to dedicated circuits (one for amps and one for digital) which also made a significant difference. I would rate the significance of system improvements as follows, although there must be symmetry with regards to the level of performance from each link in the chain:
speakers
components
ic's
speaker cable
power circuits
pc's

YMMV - Tim

Blue Circle BC61. $88 new.