@samureyex - what you are experiencing is quite normal because generally speaking...
- Amps tend to have a more robust power supply capable of handling the dynamics of transient peak audio signals
- Source components tend to have have a lighter duty power supply, mainly by design
- i.e. keeping the component to a specific price point
- BUT - higher quality source components tend to have better power supplies
- installing a quality power cable on a source components often results in noticeble gains in sound quality
- BUT to achieve a noticeable improvement by attatching a power cable to an amp, you would require a very well designed and built power cable
But as normal, it’s not quite that simple - "GENERALLY"
- tube amps/components tend to use voltage to amplify
- so a good UP-OCC cable ($$) will "generally" produce noticeable improvements
- solid state amps and components tend to use current to amplify
- so power cables of the highest quality ($$$) would be required to achieve the same level of improvement
- Trying a cable before you buy is often a very good approach
Unfortunately, there are 100’s of brands of cable out there, but the following are just some of the brands that I have looked into in the 15 years I have been dabbling with DIY cables
- Audio Envy - very good bang for the buck products that offer very good performance
- Zavfino - a step up, but you have to venture into their higher end cables for an appreciable improvement
- In-Akustik - very capable cables but that perofrmance is reflected in their price
- Hijiri - these are exceptional cables for components of the highest quality
Please note - this IS NOT a difinitive list - just some exceptional cables that I have been made aware of.
Any of these cables will provide performance improvements over most commercially available "branded" products within a comparable price bracket.
These cables are...
- well designed - i.e. the employ a noise cancelling geometry, which lowers the noise floor of the cable
- use either UP-OCC copper or UP-OCC silver having excepetional conductivity ratings, which improves dynamic performance
- use insulations that have low values of Dielectric Constant, which improves clarity and imaging
- use quality copper connectors (as opposed to copper alloys)
Hope that helps take some of the myth out of this hobby
Regards - Steve