$10 vs $100 power plug

Helpful hint: Don't mention it to your better half.

NO and NO again ...they say they can but in reality it's a big NO..save your cash and even 10.00 bucks is over priced. You can get a good plugs by Pass & Seymour Residential Plugs for less than $7..don't fall for the hype.Them golden ear Gods can't hear any better than us normal folk....

"I guess if I was making audiophile equipment and had to cut corners, the power cord would be an obvious choice."

I doubt high end manufacturers feel they are compromising the sound of their products with the power cords they select. Only audiophiles think this.

The difference is the spring tension and plating surface. My preference is Rhodium. The surface is expensive to implement, but hard and less scratch prone. The typical brass surface is fine the first few uses, but scratches and leaves mars in the surface. This causes micro-arcing and ultimately noise. The ideal is two mirror smooth surfaces making contact aka an airtight connection or as close as possible. How much audio improvement will there be? Who knows? The improvements are typically overstated, but this is a small part of a lot of potential tweaks which, when added up may make a significant contribution. Depends on how crummy your parts are now and dedicated lines, wire gauge etc. If you pursue doing all you can, this is a relatively cheap tweak considering other things. It is all relative. Jallen