Have cables become somewhat of a snake-oil topic.

Brown, think you have captured the essence of this mainia perfectly. You
change to X on a leap of faith, not knowing in advance whether or how it
should make any difference. At all. And at the end of the experiment, you
think to switch back. And at that point, you either find yourself thinking (a)
meh, whatever; or (b) holy shit, I've just unwittingly removed something I'm
no longer willing and/or interested in living without, any capacity to quantify
or explain it be damned. I've found myself in both positions, and am in no
better a position either to explain or predict for the experience. I resort to
Justice Potter Stuart and the "you know it when you see it"
definition of pornography -- principally because I have nothing better to
offer. You never really can know what will make you go all smiley when it
comes to this shit. But I think you owe it to yourself to experiment and find
out. And, in the process, retain the courage of your convictions to tell the
rest of us jackasses to get f-ed when you find it. 'Cause, at the end of the
day, you're the one you're answerable to when it comes to getting all
smiley.... It either makes you happy or it doesn't. Full stop.

Mezmo,
Well stated, personal endeavors are just that, personal. The entire point of
building a system is to obtain the sound you enjoy and prefer for the music
you love to listen to.The pornography analogy fits correctly, when it sounds
right to you, you'll know it.What others think of your choices are totally
irrelevant and shouldn't have any bearing on your decisions.

It's very difficult to place some arbitrary value on things of this nature. If
you find a product that deepens your emotional connection to music and
heightens this involement, buy it and increase your pleasure. Brownsfan
found a power cable that caused a significant improvement in the sound of
the Cary amplifiers and this increased his enjoyment to the extent the cost
was worth it. Nothing more needs to be explained and certainty not
justified. How do you assign a price on contentment? The same immense
fun and happiness I get from my 8 watt tube amp someoone else is
experiencing with their 2000 watt class D amplifier. It doesn't matter how
you get there as long as you arrive.
Regards,

Brownsfan,

Well said! I nominate your last reply as the "Reference Standard explanation":o). I think it is what a lot of people try to convey when making replies, but it is hard to put into words. I agree with it 100%.

Again, very well said.

Brownsfan, in a sense I understand completely what you're saying, but at the same time you're not making much sense. You put together a very high quality system that according to you sounds fine, but after switching power cords in and out the system now has all the life drained from the sound and you're appalled? If for some reason after auditioning the new cables you were not able to purchase them, what would you do? Would you stop listening to music? Would you be forever dissatisfied every time you cue up an album? I cannot imagine that you would respond "yes" to either question. I suggest that you take more time to do your comparison. I realize that as a practical matter this is not always possible. Swapping components in and out without long term listening can be very misleading.

You're very happy with your new power cord, but I'm reminded of the character Don Draper's comment about happiness -- "it's the moment before you need more happiness."

Onhwy61. You are correct in pointing out a seeming dichotomy. I recognized the dichotomy at the time I experienced it. I thought it was important for that dichotomy to be described as a part of my experience.

In answer to your questions, when I returned the borrowed power cords, I actually did reduce the frequency and length of listening sessions until the new cords came. I described the change in the amps without the AirSines as being like someone doing the nails on the chalkboard thing, but at a very low level. The dynamics and fidelity of the amps were clearly at different levels. Once you heard it, it was very distracting and irritating going back to the old cords. It was not going to make me loose my love for music. I will listen on a boom box if that is what I can afford. I could afford these cords, so the decision was easy. I had budgeted for replacing my modwright sony 5400 with a new ModWright Oppo 105 for later this year, and decided the money would be better spent on the power cords.

For the most part, I attempt to avoid auditioning gear I can't afford. What is the point of test driving a Ferrari? I'm going to drive away in my Accord.

You should understand that not long ago in a thread I commented that I didn't put much money into power cords because I had previously purchased a fairly high end cord and it made relatively little difference with the exception of one component. I was in no way prepared for the difference these cords made in my system. I was pretty much in the power cords are snake oil camp. No more. I share my experience here to encourage others in the snake oil camp to reconsider.

If one is dealing with subtle differences, a long audition is excellent advice. In general, I am at the point where purchases are normally made after long study, careful thought, and many times correspond with AG members who own the prospective component. That approach works well, except that it is not likely to allow one to overcome one's prejudices. I can assure you that in this case, there was a clear substantial improvement that anyone on this forum would have immediately recognized. It is unlikely that I would have gone down this road had my friend not said, "I'm going on vacation. Why don't you give these a try in your system."
Finally, I sincerely hope that this is not the last change I make in my system, and I hope that others will continue to challenge my prejudices, which may actually represent larger limitations than the question of affordability.