Ok, I have some comments about the Furutech cable vs my PL11. Of course I'm biased but I try to report exactly what I hear.
First, the character, or non-character more accurately of the NCF plugs makes more of a difference vs the cable. The NCF plugs are very clean and clear sounding, the effect is similar to the NCF receptacles if you've tried them, but not quite as dramatic. Also, the stainless/carbon body has a lot to do with the sound as well, it's main purpose is to manage mechanical vibration.
As far as the cables, I have both PL11 and Furutech approximately the same length, both with the same NCF plugs. The short version is the PL11 is more open and adds less of it's own character. The Furutech adds a bit of it's own character but it's subtle and not objectionable at all, which is an accomplishment for a very conventional power cable. The sound with the Furutech is a bit darker and thicker... just a bit and it's really only noticeable on the most critical sounds, which are imo female vocals and acoustic string instruments.
The Furutech is made just like any other power cable, with stranded copper wire in PVC insulation and a PVC jacket... it's just much larger and has a shield. I can say from experience there is no way this cable has a right to sound as good as it does and the main reason I was willing to give it a shot is Furutech's claim that the Ag/Au nano-particles applied to the stranded conductors reduces the negative effect of stranding. I've been skeptical of Furutech's claims in the past but experience has proven them to be very honest about the effects their parts will have. This is no exception.
The Furutech is also the closest any power cable has come to my PL cable, which in dozens of trials has not met it's match yet... however, the cables are about to go to a guy who has some $8800 demo cables he's trying out with silver/palladium alloy conductors. Admittedly, this might be the end of the PL's winning streak but otoh the $8800 cables don't have NCF plugs, which IMO make more of a difference than the cable does, at least in the case of the PL11 and Furutech cable. I have thought about making PCs out of my OCC silver/gold wire but they would be about the same price, nearly $10k. Seems like maybe a bit out there for direct sale, idk... but that's the only thing that'll improve on the PL imo.
On the PL cable, this is made of my own custom UPOCC copper litz wire, each 14g conductor contains over 1000 runs of individually insulated 44g UPOCC copper braided around a flat film core. In turn 6 runs of this 14g wire are braided to make the PL11. In terms of cost this is $8.59/ft * 6 * 1.35 (braiding loss) = ~$70/ft and that's without labor, and labor is a major issue as the tinning process for the litz wire is ridiculous. So, what I need to do is make the PL more expensive, I've been holding off on doing that because I don't think the market will react well, but OTOH the PL cables and my SMSG speaker cables are both my most expensive AND least marked-up products. I really need to charge more for them.
So, that leaves the Furutech as both a more affordable option at ~$58/ft with no labor involved and it's practical for folks who want to make their own cables. Attempts to re-create a PL cable are going to be frustrating and expensive for those without a lot of experience. Terminating the Furutech is just like any other cable, it's just larger which does make things more difficult but not by too much. The only disadvantage I see with the Furutech is really it's size, once terminated it needs to be wrestled into place with the biggest difficulty getting the plugs rotated correctly to fit the outlet or IEC. The PL by comparison is very easy to handle.
Finally, shielding... the Furutech is shielded which is an advantage in some circumstances. Some components do create noise with their power supplies which can get broadcast by an unshileded cable. Geometry minimizes this but at higher frequencies the twist/braid won't be tight enough to work properly. Whether this is an issue varies according to system, but I do think the Furutech cable would be a good choice for components with SMPS type power supplies. The shield should be terminated at the AC male end which in effect extends the receptacle's ground to cover/shield the cable, the theory being noise picked up or radiated is carried back to ground/neutral by the shield. Even diode bridges are noisy but not the same spectrum vs SMPS and isn't as much of an issue. Overall the PL is a better cable imo but the shielded Furutech may trump it with certain components.
