cable upgrades , real or rip off

Here's something I suggested to a friend (instead of pushing my own doga):

Try an assortment of inexpensive (whatever that means to you) powercords (or any other cable product).

Do you hear a difference? If so, explore moving upmarket...otherwise...

i thank you all for the advice, im still not sold but will probably end up trying it out if possible before buying.
thanks again

if you can, establish a relationship with a dealer who will agree to loan you cables for a weekend. put on those CDs/LPs you've listened to a million times and see if anything jumps out at you: are you hearing details you never heard before? is the bass better? is the overall tonal balance improved or just altered (some cables allegedly have a 'mid-bass bloat')? etc.

by the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I do think that going up from 'zip cord' cables can improve the sound.

If the manufacturer put a $300 power cord in the box and increase the list price by $300, as a customer, would you like to pay for it without a choice? There are so many power cords in this world, and all have their own character. So, which one do they force you to buy? By the way, $300 is only a low to mid-grade cable!!!

Many people say they are not that good with their ears and don't believe they can hear the different.

Let me tell you. If you are on the phone with your buddy and you can hear whether he/she is happy, sad, tired, angry, sick .... then your ears will be able to pick up the different when you try different "good" cables on a "good" system.

If you talk to you other half for 20 seconds on the phone and still ask who I am talking to, then forget about it.

If you ask if a cable worth that much, then it will be a totally different question. So, for the original question, cable upgrades are real, rip off.... may be.

Go for a test hear yourself.

In my system, Powercords make dramatic impact from unlistenable to heavenly joy. If you can not hear a different or only hear subtle diferent between powercords than something is wrong with your system. Any high resolution system will greatly benefit from good powercords (not subtle). I went from stocks, $200s, $500s, and $1000s, and WOW!