I'll get to posting the sound clips I recorded with all the TARA cables soon. I'll let you know when they're up.
Here's my "as blind as you can get with 2 people and no ABX thingie" test results:
First, Josh (funkyj) and I listened to a clip of music - the first 15 seconds of "Funky Boss" from the Beastie Boys "Check your head" album. This clip is quite open, has some percussion, and things in the background you don't notice in your car. You know the type - and the kicker is that we're both VERY familiar with this song. And it was handy. nuff said.
We took turns taking 2 runs of 10 double-listens to the clip with back turned, in which the other person would randomly swap the cables. The gear was: Tara or generic cable -- Avalon U5 -- cd player -- grado Sr80's. The swapper didn't even have a schedule of swaps, and the listener would cover up any swapping sounds by saying "la la la la la". Heh. Hokey but it worked. I have all the results detailed out if anyone is interested, but essentially, we listened to each clip twice, and tried to hear if there was a difference between the two. Just yes or no. Heard a difference or didn't hear a difference.
Josh correctly identified "diff or no diff" twice out of 10. I got 7/10. Then just for kicks, we did a coin toss (guess heads or tails). Josh did better at 2/5 while I still ruled at 3/4. I actually did better at the coin toss than hearing a sonic "signature" of a power cable. Not exactly "taking a blanket" off my headphones. The only thing that I possibly thought I heard when getting the 7/10, was that I kept hearing more "openness" in one than the other. I started trying to guess which was which, but there was absolutely no consistency in my answers.
We repeated some of the testing (undocumented) by taking turns playing bass through headphones and through our various amps, and neither of us could tell a speck of difference when swapping power cables. The Avalon U5 when unplugged, keeps going for a split second, so we could even swap cables while the sound kept going, and even not knowing when the swap took place.... I couldn't tell when the swap took place.
One thing of note though - I DID use the Tara "The One" cable on a gig, and the darn thing was so heavy, that it actually pulled itself OUT of my amp during a song! It boggles my mind how a $1200 power cable has connectors that look identical to the ones on the generic cable! You'd think they'd come up with something fancy. On the other hand, the connectors on my Evidence Audio "The Source" cable are stamped with "hospital grade" on them, are very beefy, and fit more snugly and securely than any generic cable. No definite sound difference that I can put my finger on, but damned if I like the feel of the cable and snugneses of the connections enough to justify the cost.
Like JT, I definitely could hear a difference in the audio cable. Those clips will be coming soon too. Summary:
generic: plain
monster bass: harsh highs, muddy bass
evidence: tight round bass, smooth highs, clearer overall
tara: tightER bass, smoothER highs, clearER than the evidence
The crappy thing is that I really want to believe Bob Lee in that there should be no difference at all. But I still hear it. So either it's there, or the marketing/packaging/suggestion is biasing my opinions. Ya'll know my passion for bass gear
In summary, there's no way in HELL i'd buy a Tara power cable for my bass rig. I couldn't hear any discernable difference in any of the tests, and I can't help but question people who tell stories like the famous "where did my tone go?" story earlier in this thread. I can definitely hear a difference in instrument cables, enough where I don't prefer a generic cable, but not enough where i'd personally spend Tara money on one either. I'm just as happy using Bayou cables, which are excellently made. If you're looking botique and Tara's out of the range I would highly suggest looking at Evidence Audio - great prices, good stuff.
But as JT said, if you're looking for power cables to make a dramatic difference in tone, I'm just not buying it. Even the difference the instrument cables make is slight. I'd suggest the purchase of these high-end cables only if you're happy with all your other gear and just like to have really nice accessories. Otherwise you're much better off buying well-made custom cables for 1/10th the price.
Thanks for letting me participate - it was a blast telling my bandmates that I was using a $1200 power cable - and it was a very fun and enlightening experiment.
(and sorry for the long post. i think it's my longest ever)
And Tara isn't even the most expensive!!! I think I need to buy stock in these companies . . . 
)
...and after it had all been explained so well (sigh).
