Can a better power cable make a difference if NOT plugged directly into an outlet?

Thanks for the comments so far.

@noromance Your proposal is sound, as long as there is a reason to try a cord without a conditioner. Right now, the Audience unit is also protecting the gear, and given that our power went on and off 5x the other night (weird storm), I'm loathe to plug anything into the wall that's not protected. That said, I will be moving into another room next year which has a whole house surge protector installed, on a dedicate line.

You all see the trouble, I assume -- if there is enough between the wall and the audio gear (conditioner, power strip, etc.) there may be no way for the subtleties of a powercord change to be heard. It would be like changing a subtle flavor in an already powerful stew.

This is why the "daisy chain" experiment mentioned above is not clearly worth the time for me.

“I think you’ll have trouble improving on the Pangea AC 9 SE.”

Sorry I couldn’t help, what a ridiculous comment 🤣

@hilde45

You’ve have been very methodical in your approach to build and improve your system over the past couple of years. A good power cord will equally complement the gear ahead of your gear, regardless of whether it is drawing power from wall or a conditioner. I am very familiar with Audience conditioners and they are transparent enough to convey differences between power cords….the question is, how far you are willing to go!

PS: I am excited about your upcoming room with a whole house surge protector installed, on a dedicated line.

@lalitk Thanks for your comment. I am not averse to trying better cords, and if I can hear it with the Audience, then it may be even more apparent when I'm in my new space. That space has 5 dedicated lines and a dedicated sub-panel. 

“That space has 5 dedicated lines and a dedicated sub-panel.”

@hilde45 

All the more reason to explore better power cords. 

My biggest concern with power cables is that they be shielded due to all the digital stuff I have running around my rack. In this case, yes, a shielded cable after the conditioner can ensure the power stays clean after it leaves.

My Furman filters down to around 3 kHz due to series mode filtering. After power leaves it can be polluted again by HDMI, Ethernet, Wifi, etc.

So, I invest in shielding but not brands.  That is, I will make my own shielded power cables, but I won't invest hundreds of dollars from an audiophile brand.  Shielded power cables can be had inexpensively.