PS Audio XStream biwire, what are they worth?

"09-17-14: Czarivey
I love poker, but I hate high-priced cables. They never justify their performance per price and only designed to 'trim' your wallet size. There's never been anyany successfull blind A/B test vs. zip cord with anyone so selling them and getting cheaper wire will save you money and won't affect performance."

I don't necessarily agree with the first half of your post since its subjective. But if you don't hear a difference or see the value in a cable, you shouldn't buy it. It would be foolish. The 2nd half of your post I see differently. People that are on the objective side of the cable issue always calls for test's but they never do them. Given that, I don't take them seriously. If they want to see test results, why not so the test?

I've used a similar power strip for years. The cords still seemed to help. I could hear a similar difference with both the mhdt tube DAC in my av system upstairs and with teh mndt SS DAC in my main rig downstairs. Power cords themselves can be a cause of RF noise. A product designed to address this effectively like teh Pangeas seems to be the key. So I think there is a good chance your setup might benefit. Of course a big factor is how good the existing power cords may or may not be in this regard, and how signficant the RF noise issue, which will vary case by case. I know with my main rig in general that I am constantly battling RD and EM noise issues both from my gear and other large eletronic household devices not far away, so I am always looking to do whatever I can as an insurance policy, and each time has paid dividends to-date.

With the Pangea's, the build quality is excellent and the price reasonable, especially at the recent going prices, so even if no audible difference, you still feel like you are using a good product for the task and not cheated.

Mapman, I'm sceptic if my pro-grade DAC/preamp Mytek will benefit from aftermarket PC as well as class T Sunfire 300 amplifier.
PC designed by Bob Carver for it with no neutral recepticle less-likely can be replaced by aftermarket PC.
Furman power box I use provides both: noise filtering and protection...

Czar,

I recently replaced a stock cord to my mhdt DAC with a Pangea AC14SE and it improved the sound noticeably exactly as advertised I would assume for the reasons advertised having to do with noise control. Cost was very reasonable, < $100. Nice product! Good Value. Build quality speaks for itself.

Then on an audiophile high I replaced the stock cord on my ARC sp16 pre-amp happily as well.

My opinion is a cord that can help keep EM and RFI noise to aminimum is a good add especially for digital gear like DACs. Worthwhile perhaps as well for low level analog devices like pre-amps.

Have not tried for power amps to date. Pangea AC 9 is for that. ITs more about current delivery with power amps wheras with noise mgmt with line level gear, but my system has all the muscle and drive I could ever want already, so no rush there.

Schubert, no worries, you can get it next year used for $600 if you have'em spare(I don't even have that much for it and stuck with stock:)).

Last night I heard a Nordost $6K Valhalla 2 power cord improve a ARC-Maggie 3.7 system by an order of magnitude.
If I had 6k to spare I'd buy a pair, but sad to say, I don't.

Thanks for the responses and info. Too bad they have depreciated so much. I'm using them in my system now but was just going to use 10GA Bluejeans cables or something if I could end up with an extra $400+ in my pocket as I don't think I could tell much of a difference if any.

Oh, OK Czarivey, if you say so.

I love poker, but I hate high-priced cables. They never justify their performance per price and only designed to 'trim' your wallet size. There's never been anyany successfull blind A/B test vs. zip cord with anyone so selling them and getting cheaper wire will save you money and won't affect performance.

They are probably worth less than $500. I sold a pair here recently for something like $300.

I think you’d have a difficult time getting someone to buy them for anything close to, never mind more than, $500 given their age, length, and the general depletion in all used cable prices over time. These cables are likely 10 years old, and no longer made so unless someone really wanted these you would probably have to deal with offers at far below that asking price. Of course, you could subscribe to the blue book and learn how these have sold recently if you want real data on this. I think the question really should be ‘can I do better than these at $500?’ and that really depends on how well you like them. I’ve owned lots of PS Audio gear but their cables are the least interesting part of their product lines to my ears. Most decent alternatives at the same price always sounded better to me. But since you own them, they originally cost a ton, why not get some use from them to establish a baseline to your ears and then trade them in on something you like better.

Why don't you try them in your system? If they sound good you might want to keep them.