hospital grade or commercial grade receptacles ?

To anyone who claims that I'm hearing only what I want to hear, I assure you that this is not the case. Because what I really want to hear is a $59.95 boombox that sounds like my $9K stereo. And I want my $800 power cord to sound the same as the $60 version that I was previously using. That way, I would save a lot of money to get the same sound. Unfortunately, my plans were foiled.

Regardless of what I want to see, taste, hear or feel, I simply cannot get Top Ramen to taste like sushi, or get my '99 Altima to drive as well as my wife's new Volvo wagon. If I could, I'd have a lot more money in the bank. But I like nice things, and as a professional musician for over a decade, I developed quite an addiction to good sound. Therefore, the $800 PC stays.

Eldartford, which outlet does the dog recommend?

This thread has gotten pretty boring. I also noticed a few of my responses are missing. (Sorry, Albert. I know you look so forward to them.)

Frankly, I'm going to miss you guys. One thing that might interest you though, my wife, a relatively accomplished musician, wants me to demo some power cables for her. She wants to see what all of the fuss is about. So I'm going to talk to some dealers and see if I can get a couple loaners for the amps. We're not going to be home together for a few weeks, so this'll take a while. But if I can get the loaners I'll post and let you know what she thinks. When we do the test I'll blindfold her so at least she won't know what she's listening to. It ain't double-blind, but we can't have my skeptical looks influencing her.

Have a great holiday.

I second Tvad. Quality power cords on amps are low-priority in my experience--that is, if the amp already has something that's not the 18-gauge 3-dollar molded kind. Players, then preamps benefit most, and in that order.

If you have separates, the DAC would usually come before the transport in the lineup. However when I had my old Cambridge Discmagic / Isomagic pair, the transport's cord turned out to make more difference than the DAC's.