Who has tried all these power cords?

Virtual- Slawney may be correct if he meant cost VS performance. In that context, the Whale Elite is a very good cord. However, keep in mind that the Black Mamba isn't close to the performance of the discontinued Cobra or the King Cobra, IMO. I've not heard the latest NBS versions so I can't comment on them. The FIM Gold is the best in my system. All cords listed have their own strengths and weaknesses. You may prefer a particular tonal balance in your system, but the FIM Gold provides the most transparent and dynamic sound I've heard yet. Good luck in your search.

Slawney- You're absolutely correct about the FIM being stiff and unwieldy. They take me an average of 20 minutes to bend into shape! As for the reasons why someone would sell them, well I'm sure that the reasons number almost as many as the cords for sale. The main reason I'd suspect is the attempt to adjust system tonality through the exchange of power cords. Mixing and matching is fun, though it can be expensive. I used to do that too. I'm now more willing to adjust other things in my system (speaker positioning, room treatments, NOS tubes, coupling caps, power supply modifications, and finally interconnects and/or speaker cables)to facilitate improvements rather than the power cords. As for the price of used FIM power cords, their list price is not outrageous in comparison to other top level power cords. I'm not saying they're inexpensive, but most of the top competition is in the $2400 to $8000 range. In relative terms, their performance (in my system) vs price seems quite reasonable. Just my opinion.