DIY AC Cable advice

I haven't heard Elrod, but have tried more than a few commercial and DIY PCs over the years. I'm currently settled on Furutech DIY solutions. Try Alpha 3 bulk cable with rhodium plated solid copper plugs at close-out pricing from Parts Connexion. A 1M PC is inside your budget.

Good advice from Dgarretson. I happily use the Furutech Alpha 3 cords on my monoblocks, but they are unshielded. For source gear, I suggest Furutech FP-3TS20 or Neotech NEP-3002. Both are shielded and both are made with with PC-OCC copper. I prefer gold (not rhodium) plugs and iecs
I suggest connecting all three wires (N, L and G) at each end but connecting the braid shield to ground ONLY at the plug end. Good luck.

Agree with Mitch2 on using shielded cables for source components, especially digital.

I have built a cord using Acrolink 7 nines copper and Oyaide C-004 and P-004 connectors which I think sounds outstanding on my W4S Dac 2 DSD. Very dynamic, smooth, and detailed all at the same time. It replaced several 'trys', some of which were actually pretty decent, including a Tek-Line PC12?, TG-Audio HSRi, Pangea 14SE, and a few others. I think Acrolink's 7N is a significant step forward from the 6N wire from only a year or two ago. And whatever they are doing with the 'stress free' manufacturing and the new dielectrics must be contributing as well. Very refined sound.

I also use the Acrolink 7 nines copper cord (as recommended by Keithtexas) with excellent results. I must confess that I have not heard the Elrod cable and so do not know the "Elrod type Sound". Moreover I not have a stand-alone DAC and so cannot predict how the cable will interface with your DAC. I made two cables, one used on my McCormack LD2 analog preamp and the other on my Odyssey Khartago extreme power amp. I used Oyaide C-009 and P-009 plugs. Oyaide manufacture connectors using various materials to enable you to tailor the sound you desire by using one or other of their connectors. I used the 009 connections because they provide a warmer sound.