Power cables of your choice, and why?

Imagine the power cord to be some extension of the transformer’s primary in a power amp, and read up a bit on how tranformers are spec’d. 

@deep_333 

Brilliant! You’ve got it right! Thanks for posting. 

Seems brilliant, but let’s scrutinize this analogy a bit. A 12 AWG power cable has about 0.00159 Ω/ft of DC resistance. Over 2 m, that works out to roughly 0.01 Ω. A typical 400 WPC high-current Class AB amplifier (60% efficiency) draws about 5.6 A, so the voltage drop across this resistance is V = IR = 0.056 V.

On the transformer side, a typical single-phase transformer has about 5% regulation, meaning the voltage drop at full load is around 120 V × 0.05 = 6 V. In comparison, the voltage drop due to the power cable resistance is only about 1% of the transformer’s own regulation.

This shows that the analogy does not hold up in practice—the cable’s effect is trivial relative to the transformer’s design limitations.

Still, I like the analogy.

@lanx0003, in response to your question, among the things you have missed are

Design and construction of the mains and IEC connector and the manner in which the cable is terminated into those connectors;

Design and construction of the cable dielectric;

Mechanical construction of the cable overall with respect to microphonics.

I was comparing $50–$80 power cables to high-end counterparts costing more than ten times as much. Is there any evidence that well-made cables like Pangea or Emotiva lack quality components or construction?

Second, I agree that dielectric properties matter, since capacitance is directly proportional to the dielectric constant. However, this is relevant mainly for audio signal quality in digital or analog interconnect cables. The effect of a power cable’s capacitance on audio signal quality is almost negligible. We’re talking about a few hundred picofarads in a typical 1.5–2 m power cable compared with tens of millions of picofarads from the capacitors placed before and after the regulated power supply.

Lastly, regarding the mechanical construction of cables: I’ve already discussed shielding and dielectric. For other mechanical properties such as vibration control and damping, check out the beefy power cables from those three brands (with thick jacket/filler/dual shielding). See how tight and rugged their build is before you judge how well they might reduce or eliminate vibration.
 

Cullen Crossover ll, Furutech 4.1,   Because they sound good.

I just picked up a brand new Kimber PK10 Ascent a week ago. It was a rough ride for the first 70 hours to a point I had to walk away as I wasn’t able to listen for more than few minutes but I pressed on and let it cook. Improved after 70hrs and now I have about 160hrs and it’s more or less settled. I have it on my Meitner MA3i DAC and it’s awesome. Transparent, dynamic and natural sound. Excellent instrument separation even with large scale classical. It replaced Nordost Frey 2 and at a much lower cost!

I’m surprised I don’t read about these cables here more often. 
 

@audphile1 , Have you ever tried 14 Ga cables on your source components, or have you always just taken "the thicker, the better" approach and gone 10 Ga?