Well, I can't see the need for expensive power cords, but my experience with several brands of speaker cable has taught me that differences, nuances, whatever, do exist. There's an element of truth in the idea that we obsess over things we can easily experiment with, but that doesn't mean experimentation can't pay off. I went from no-name cable to Monster to Kimber Kable to SignalCable, and was a little more amazed each time. I'm done now, and am quite happy with the sound of my modest 2-channel system. I'm also quite certain that I haven't been scammed.