DIY PCs

It is very easy to demonstrate and prove the difference a power cord can make. Cables wind up being just about as important as any other component. Nevertheless a lot of people have a mental mind block. Until you are able to get over this the smartest thing to do is buy stuff like danager mentioned that is already made for less than you could make it.

At $50, you are not going to get anything that is a significant improvement over stock cables.  In fact, the sound may actually be worse in some areas, depending on what you get, such as gold-plated plugs or even bare copper plugs.  The bare copper plugs are not that bad, but not as good as plated.

I'm very surprised that you would only be spending $50 on a power cable against equipment worth many thousands of dollars, lol. 

If you DIY, probably the best you are going to do is to get some Wattgate "Classis" series plugs ($24 for IEC plug and $16 for Male plug).  DO NOT BUY the Wattgate EVO plugs!!!  They use hex head clamp screws which strip really easily.  Then buy some 12awg construction power cord from home depot and terminate using the Wattgate plugs.

There are so many good cable makers these days who sell direct and offer generous trial periods, why not just try one of those?  You can get a Cullen Cable Red Copper PC for $81, which isn’t much more than your DIY target?  Then again, good cable by the foot from Furutech, DH Labs, etc. along with Wattgate, etc., connectors are readily available that you might have fun cobbling together.  Either way, I’d be surprised if you don’t hear a meaningful benefit from upgrading over stock cables.  Best of luck. 

Well I should add that I am not a total cable nonbeliever.  I think a decent quality cable is a must, especially in the signal path.  I use a Kimber coax from my steamer to the Oppo dac and Cardas Quadlink balanced ICs from the Oppo to the integrated.  I recently built some Mogami 3082 coax speaker cables, specifically for the ML electrostatic panels.  They may possibly have a little better HF response than the twisted pairs I had before.  The difference if any is subtle.

At one point I was open to trying a more expensive PC, but right now I am retired and on a fixed income that will not support much in the way of "luxury" items.  Very little available cash + lots of free time = DIY.

@Danager, I will look into your suggestion though.  Seems quite reasonable.

$50 is really low but can be done, cheap Wattgates will be most of your budget.

Go to Home Depot, for amps use 6 or 8 gauge stranded or solid core. For. Source 8 to 12 gauge.  If 6 or 8 gauge solid core you will need to shrink wrap the wire. Use a smaller gauge for the ground, 

Buy some clear rubber tubing while at Home Depot. Run wire in tubing with excess wire 3 or 4 inches on each end of tubing. Hot glue one end of tubing and wire. 

Fill clear tube with metal sand blasting power from harbor freight or brass powder of eBay the finer the powder the better. I like brass. Take a palm sander and run up and down tube. Keep adding powder as it will pack in tubing. Once filled hot glue other end of tubing.

Buy a small piece or donor piece of Corion from a countertop maker. Cut 2 small rectangle pieces drill some holes use high quality screws to make a clamp and screw down very very tight. You can use wood, brass or anything to put pressure on wire as clamp. Place clamp on each end of wire and in middle of cable if you choose. Add Wattgate ends and your done. You can hide clamps with cut pieces of pvc pipe and Tex flex for looks and shrink wrap over pvc/Tex flex

The solid core will have bigger bass and more detail or brighter, stranded will be smoother with more rolled off highs.