Power Cords


I currently have Wireworld Silver Electra power cords with upgraded Platinum plugs. I had two 1M Wireworld Platinum power cords, but rearranged my system and required longer cords. Yesterday I borrowed two Shunyata Sigma NR power cords. On the first note my wife softly said, "that sounds better". She said it was clearer. I listened for a couple hours, changing the power cords a couple of times. In my system and to my ears this is my conclusion:
The Sigma's are cleaner, definitely has more bass, a dead silent and completely black background. The Wireworld cords are more detailed, with a wider soundstage and better spacing/separation of instruments. All things considered I'll keep my Wireworld, but I'm curious to listen to other power cords.
After inserting the Sigma's I just don't understand how anyone that listened to different power cords could conclude that they can't hear a difference. There is a difference, but like any other component the individual has to decide if the change is worth it. $6K for two power cords is relatively expensive. Expensive, but oddly maybe a good value? In my system there was a definite improvement with better bass impact and articulation. Would spending $6K or just changing amplifiers yield similar results? As with most components there are trade-offs...is there a power cord out there that has the benefits of the Sigma's and Wireworld Silver Electra's? If so, at what cost?  
ricred1

To each his own and some may hear an audible difference but I believe The Knowledgeable Gordon Holt said it best: (IMO as it refers to cables)

Audio as a hobby is dying, largely by its own hand. As far as the real world is concerned, high-end audio lost its credibility during the 1980s, when it flatly refused to submit to the kind of basic honesty controls (double-blind testing, for example) that had legitimized every other serious scientific endeavor since Pascal. [This refusal] is a source of endless derisive amusement among rational people and of perpetual embarrassment for me- Gordon Holt

I would give High Fidelity a try. Their power cord are not cheap, but they really do a lot for a system and come with a full 30 day money back if they do not work for you

@ricred1 - it's too bad that you don't live close to me (central California).  I would love to see how some of my "built" power cables stack up.  Usually, when cable companies move up in their models, they always go to silver / silver-plated components.  I have tested many items with silver content and it just doesn't sound right to me.  The audio always has a push in the upper mids and also puts forth an artificial flavor to the sound.  It just does not sound natural/real to me.  Even a tiny silver fuse is too much silver content in my system. 

I always use Furutech rhodium male/IEC plugs with one of the following configurations:

- braided 20awg solid-core OCC copper Teflon coated. (6 braids for 12awg, 8 braids for 11awg)

- Audioquest NRG-4 (best audioquest cable without their DBS system).  Chopped with furutech rhodium connectors.

Granted the Audioquest is light at 13 awg (so if you want more, I would just double up the cables -- the Furutech plugs are large enough to accept them).  However, this is the only UL rated cable that uses solid-core conductors of the proper gauge (19awg for hot, 21awg for neutral/ground).  There are some other offerings out there which use 18awg or 16awg conductors.  In my experience, those conductors are too large and will roll-off high frequencies.

These cables are going to be less than $500 to build.  I'm not sure how they will stack up to something like $3,000-6,000, but I am not willing to find out.,  And the fact that they are probably not going to be solid core and that they will likely use silver is a turn-off for me. 

The Wire World is still stranded cables.  Granted, they are putting the strands into small bundles, but it's still stranded.  Though, this is much better than high-stranded stuff like Furutech OCC copper, but it's still stranded.  I've tested the Alpha-OCC stranded cords and they sound like low-fidelity equipment.  It causes a bright "solid-state" cheapness type of sound.  It just doesn't sound right, even though it's OCC and expensive.

auxinput
Where in central Ca. are you?  I am about 30 miles south east of Sacramento