Power cords at ridiculous prices?

I use a Cinepro Line Balancer, whose creator, Eric Abraham, says that it makes power cords less important. Still, when I tried a Stealth HAC power cord, the improvement was very obvious. At well under $200, with a 30-day money-back guarantee, I think it's foolish to be guided by theory and decide one way or another about whether, and how much, power cords matter. Like so much else in high end audio, your ears are, and should be allowed to be, your primary guide.

Drubin, I have a few different cords right now in use. Synergistic AC Reference on my Classe amps, MIT Z- Cord II's on my ML Quest Z's, AQ12's on some source components (all cords bought used). I'm as guilty as the next in tweaking, I'm with George on fiddlin' with good gear, rather than swapping out perfectly good stuff. My point is, even with a generous budget, it can begin to get silly some of the "black magic" claims made, with no logical engineering principles to support the apparent claims. My observations are well supported, look how many "high end" power cords are on Audiogon on any given day. To each his own? Yep...

How 'bout donating money to the poor?

I, too was afraid of laying down big money on a power cord. I laughed at a guy who told me he was using $3000 power cords. Then when I was in the market for a tube amp, I went to Audioreview.com. I read the reviews on one amp. It was very reasonable, but one person said the unit was world class when changing to tube x and powercord z. Never heard of such a claim. So, I then read the reviews on powercord z in disbelief. What the heck, I'd give it a try. So, I picked up a silver powercord here cheap, in an auction. I played my amp for 1 hour, listened intently, then hooked the new cord up. INSTANTLY better sound. And I didn't have to strain a bit to hear it. All that stuff about focus, imaging, bass, midrange, treble, etc. was all true. Dirt that I never even realized was there was removed. Yep, all these people were right. And, from what they say, the effects on an amp are much less than on a source component. I'm a believer.

I have what I consider to be a pretty modest system (Audiolab 8000A, Arcam Alpha 8SE CD, Michell Gyro with Premier FT3 and Ortofon MC 20 Super, Elipson 1313 Speakers) much of which I acquired 2nd hand at reasonable prices. My system doesn't warrant, in my opinion, the real pricey cords. I think it sounds pretty good, but I can tell you it sounds MUCH better with good power cords. I have experience with the following cords (in ascending order of price) BMI Edge cords (purchased on Audiogon Auction), LAT International, XLO, MIT Z cord (original not version II), Blue Circle BC 62 and Cardas Golden power cord. I can honestly say that the $565 Canadian (about $380 US) I payed for my Cardas and Blue Circle cords really vaulted my system into another league and was a "component upgrade" as opposed to a wire change. There are definitely sonic differences between cords and you have to try within the context of your own system. I prefer my system with the Cardas on the amp and Blue Circle on the CD player, although I believe that the Cardas is definitely the better power cord (would have bought another when I bought the Blue Circle but couldn't find one at a good price-that being said, the Blue Circle is an excellent cord which blows away all the others which I mentioned). Only your ears can tell you-try and audition some cords without having to buy to hear for yourself.