I used to think wires were just wires. then I decided well maybe a slightly better IC wire was good to have. But powercords? sheesh.
Then I tried making a few powercords out of recommended Belden (all the fancy powercord bulk wire (around now) did not exist then. I realized I could buy a ready made Pangea powercord for less than it cost me to make. So I did. And THAT is when I finally found a bit of wire that I could really hear a repeatable difference in, with the Pangea AC9 in my (then) Forte’ 4a amplifier. (better bass, cleaner bass)
So my closed mind got bent open a little.
And I bought a pile of those powercords. But that is where I stop. No screwing around trying different brands. Enough IS enough.
And I have to say there are a lot of folks who used to think wire is just frickin’ wire, then discovered they also could hear a difference.
I still think ultra premium AC duplex are too far out for me to bother with.. But that is more because I am cheap than anything else.
(I just spent $14,000 on a new pair of speakers, (Magnepan 20.7) but I still pinch pennies when I can. Today avocados were $0.79 each... Whoo hoo.