The Cardas Golden is an excellent cord and it will do what you are looking for it to do. I've always had an upper limit new or used around $200 for power cords and own two Cardas Goldens currently. Other cords that I've tried have included XLO, LAT, entry level BMI, MIT Z cord, Asylum cord and Blue Circle BC 62. None of those really come close to the Golden, although I'd say the BC 62 is very good value in the used market around $100-$125. The Golden is very warm and musical through the midrange into the high frequencies. If you can level a criticism at the cord, it would probably be that the bass might be a little "looser" than some other cords; whether it is more or less accurate is up for debate. No disrespect to the VD Power 3 (I haven't heard it), but I would strongly doubt that it would be even remotely in the same league as the Cardas Golden, particularly with amplifiers. If you want to save money and have an excellent cord, you can buy 4-5 feet of the JPS in-wall cable for about $15-$18 a foot and terminate it with a Marinco 320 iec and a Marinco hospital grade male. This cord will set you back about $100-$120 and is a truly outstanding cord. I also have one of these and if I didn't own the Goldens, probably wouldn't buy them as the DIY JPS is a serious bang for the buck cord. It is perhaps more neutral and less warm than the Cardas, has tighter (but just as extended) bass and is probably slightly more resolving than the Cardas. But if you are looking for "warmth" and musicality and trying to reduce digital nasties, the Golden is an excellent choice. Another product that works wonders with digital at a reasonable price ($40) is the Quantum Electroclear-you won't be disappointed if you buy one of those.
