question on pwr cords

Tvad, Thanks for the advise. I do just that but I think that the changes might be subtle enuf to be obscured by the 2d order harmonics of all those tubes in my systems. Besides its more fun to change tubes than PC's. :-)

Newbee, consider yourself lucky that you don't hear a diffeence among PCs. It's saving you some dough!

One day, though, it'll happen. ;)

Got a question for the 'power cord' experts. Is perhaps the reason that I have not been able to hear a meaningful difference in different heavy guage PC's due to the adequacy of the power supplies in my amps, pre amps, etc or is that not an issue?

I heard an appreciable difference in power cords when experimenting on my VAC Phi 110 amplifier. The VAC had an external power supply that weighed about 30 pounds. The main unit was made with the finest parts available. I find it unlikely the VAC's power supply was inadequate, and yet I heard subtle differences when swapping power cords.

Effects of power cords and other wire become more apparent as the system becomes more resolving. The first time I became aware of the effects of wire was when I installed the First Sound Presence Deluxe II preamp. The next was when I installed the APL Denon 3910 digital source. Each change improved the resolution of the system.

Newbee,
I'll agree with Tvad, the power supply of a component won't prohibit if from being affected by it's power cord, although it does have some effect IME. I've had components with 2Kva transformers that were practically 'transparent' to sonic signatures of PC's, and mass-market stuff that only likes the cheapie PC that came in it's box.
In the very first iteration of my system, I tried a couple of PC's (TARA labs and Virtual Dynamics) and didn't hear enough of a difference to convince me I was hearing anything at all. The biggest sonic difference between that system and my current setup is the quality of the bass and mid-bass, and the quality and quantity of midrange dynamics. That early setup was pretty poor at differentiating bass notes, and most of it's dynamics were heard as upper-midrange harmonics, focused on the leading edges of notes, and weak on the follow-up. My current setup is better in all those respects, before any AC 'enhancements' are employed, and far, far, better after.