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  Cable Products > xStream™ Plus Power Cable Plus More Info Starting at just $229.95!  The xStream™ Plus power cable is the penultimate power cable in the xStream line. Embodying most of the features and build quality of the xStream Statement power cable, the Plus gives users a majority of the benefits at a lower cost than the Statement. Why choose an xStream™ Plus? There are several reasons why you might decide on a Plus: as a high-end means of powering source equipment, preamplifiers and smaller power equipment that do not require the brute strength and no-compromise performance of an xStream Statement, or as the central cable in a high resolution music or home theater system. Many systems are not all out assaults on state-of-the-art, no compromise performance; yet are so resolving and so high-end that there’s little if any room for anything less than near-perfect. This is where the Plus comes in: when you are not willing to accept the performance of an off-the-shelf power cable or even one of our competitor’s best attempts at an aftermarket power cord, the Plus simply shines in its performance to value equation.  The performance benefits are immediately appreciated from the moment you connect an xStream Plus to any piece of electronics in your audio video system: increased soundstage width, bass performance in all areas, richness of the sonic landscape, a cleaner lower noise presentation with stunning realism. Video looks more three dimensional with better blacks because of the lowered noise floor.In short, when you need an adjunct to a Statement cable for lower powered products or when you have a system with Statement aspirations but a secondary budget limitation, then the xStream Plus is an excellent choice. What’s inside an xStream™ Plus? The cutaway illustration of the xStream Plus’ inside shows a wealth of conductors, shields and geometric perfection. 8 gauge copper is the conductor size, composed of both solid core and Multistrand OFC copper in a geometric spiral build. With a total of four metal shields and one conductive PVC shield, 8 gauge per conductor construction: each  conductor consisting of four 22 gauge solid core separately insulated OFC conductors in parallel with a bundle of 36 gauge OFC conductors and custom machined ends, the xStream Plus has little equal in the world of power delivery.The outer jacket of the xStream acts as a filter to actually clean the AC power. Ferrite, a ferrous material that acts as a noise filter, is impregnated in the Statement’s outer jacket and the cable cleans as it delivers unrestricted power to your equipment. Despite the heavy copper content, ferrite jacket and multiple shields, the Plus cables are flexible enough to be used in any situation. This is truly a wonderful power cable by anyone’s standards. The technology of the xStreams What’s different about the xStream™ Power series? Everything. Literally. It may sound like a cliché, but in fact we have wiped the proverbial slate clean and started 'from the ground up'.  The xStream series of power cables is not a step-up from other aftermarket power cables, but an entirely new class of power delivery devices in every respect. From the connectors, to the conductors, to the outer jacket to the geometry of the cable itself: every single facet of these power cables represents new thinking, new technology, a new dawn in the art of delivering power. From a performance standpoint the xStreams provide a remarkable improvement over any other after-market power cord we have ever auditioned, regardless of price. Improvements in openness, transient speed and sheer power of presentation are simply stunning. The top end of your AV setup will come alive in a way you never thought possible. The noise floor of your equipment will now be down in the basement which is where (incidentally) you’ll find the bottom end of your system; on a subterranean level – the slam and impact of the bass will be improved substantially with the addition of a new xStream Power cord. But, let’s find out what makes the xStream power cables so unique, so revolutionary. To build the world’s best power cables, we started from scratch and worked our way up. First step? Redesign the connectors themselves. xStream power cables use our custom male and female connectors Every aftermarket high-end power cord uses a similar style of off-the-shelf male and female AC power connector. These off-the-shelf connectors find their way on cables as low as $50 to as high as many thousands of dollars and are considered state-of-the-art. They are not. They are flawed and compromised when compared to a PS Audio power cable connector. Take a look at the way the plug and IEC connectors are made in this photo of a  'state-of-the-art' hospital grade aftermarket connector used on many high end power cords. Note the plug prong is a three-piece affair made from a piece of stamped metal (the IEC is constructed in the same manner). The three parts are the prong, the clamp cover and the screw. The prong and clamp are made from brass and the screw is constructed of steel. To build a high end power cord with these off-the-shelf connectors, you have to accept a compromised connection scheme: basically you insert the conductor into the clamp and tighten; the steel screw is used to hold the conductor in place. The problem with this style of build is several fold: multiple pieces are prone to oxidation, corrosion and poor fit, and using a steel screw to pressure copper against the brass prong is not the best connection in the world and holds little promise of longevity. There are two other problems with this type of off-the-shelf connectors: loss of contact surface area where the holes in the prongs are and exposure to air with all the associated problems caused by humidity, pollution and oxidation. The holes in the prongs Have you ever taken a close look at the male prongs on your power cable? Even the best power cords in the world have holes in the end of the prong. Ever wonder why they are there? These holes, which reduce the contact surface area of the male prong, were first introduced over a quarter of a century ago to solve the problem of plug grip strength when inserted into the female AC socket. Years ago, and well before the advent of the Hospital Grade receptacle (like the PS Power  Port), plug grip strength was achieved by the addition of small dimples in the female AC outlet. These dimples, which are no longer manufactured, snapped into the associated holes on the male prongs to achieve a tighter connection. So, while the dimples have disappeared the holes have not. How we solved the problem To solve the problems of longevity, connectivity and loss of surface area, PS engineering went to work designing an entirely new male and female connector from the ground up. To address the issue of multiple pieces of stamped and dissimilar metals in the actual prong itself, we machined our prongs out of a solid block of high copper content brass, and then polished both the female and male prongs – and finally nickel plated all surfaces and polished them again. By machining the new prongs from a solid block of material, we were also able to resolve the dilemma of the unnecessary hole in the mating prong as well as the dissimilar metal problem. Even the female side of the PS power cable is revolutionary as well. So strong is the grip force of the PS power cable IEC female end that you can literally dangle a piece of equipment from the PS power cable without it falling. Cold and Hot Welding Once we had a single piece of machined metal with an appropriately sized hole to receive the cable’s conductor, it was time to do a better job of attaching the conductor to the  connector.Traditional off-the-shelf stock power cords simply squeeze the brass end over the wire and high-end power cables use a tightened steel screw to hold the conductor against the prong; both methods are prone to oxidation and corrosion as well as loss of connectivity due to repeated twisting of the connector. The PS Power Punch and xStream series employs two forms of welding to fuse the conductor to the machined prong: cold and hot. Cold welding exerts thousands of pounds of pressure supplied through the force of a hydraulic press to squeeze the two metals together such that the metal structure of the two pieces actually fuse together. To further insure a perfect connection, we then solder each of the machined prongs with high silver content solder in a hot welding technique that creates the perfect bond. Then they are hermetically sealed To address the issue of long term conductivity and eliminate problems such as oxidation, PS engineers designed an outer shell that is molded over the machined, cold and hot welded connectors. This molding process, which also incorporates a built in strain relief, will keep the outer elements away from the all-important fusion of the prongs to the conductors.  The custom connectors on the PS Power Punch and xStreams alone will revolutionize the category and set new standards for state-of-the-art status in power delivery systems. Shielding was Next Once we had perfected the conductors and their construction, figured out how to build a cutting edge connector and then engineered the perfect method to fuse these two elements together in a hermetically sealed enclosure, it was time to address the shielding of the power cord. Shielding a power cable is critical for two reasons: to protect the power from any noise radiated from the outside environment and to protect the other equipment from the radiated noise of the AC power line itself. Why is this necessary? Many PS customers want to understand why a short length of a well shielded power cord makes any difference when that very power cord is attached to your home’s internal wiring that is perhaps 100 feet in length and acting like a superb antenna for noise! Good question, but so too is the answer. Every piece of equipment in your system radiates RF in the air as well as places switching noise from your equipment’s power supplies onto the line. If you’re really interested in reading more on this subject, take the time to read Lynn Olson’s terrific article Finding Common Ground . Near the end of the article there’s quite a good explanation of why power cords make such an improvement.  Think of it in terms of relative strength of the radiated noise. The walls in your home pickup noise, but the typical strength of that noise is quite low relative to one of the single biggest sources of radiated noise in your home; your AV system. Multiple Shields Each xStream power cable has multiple shields to keep the noise from the powerline contained and unwanted radiation from entering the power stream. The Statement has four shields, two braided and two foil. The Plus Cable has one braided and two foil shields the Prelude and Radian have both a braided and a foil shield plus a layer of conductive plastic. The xStream series can easily boast of having unparalleled shielding in a power delivery system. Now for the Best Part We have hoped all along to do more than just create a perfect power delivery system. Our greedy engineering department wanted all they could get in this system and started to examine ways of actually making the AC power cleaner than what came out of the wall socket. In other words, provide active cleaning of the AC power as well as deliver it properly. A tall task indeed. We experimented with many schemes of passive power cleaning within the power cord and concluded that a ferrite donut around the outer cable would provide the best filtering.  Ferrite is a powdered iron material that you see on nearly every modern consumer electronic and computer equipment cable made today. Nearly every piece of computer gear you have will sport a small round slug of ferrite over the cable itself. This ferrite slug acts as an inductor and reduces high frequency noise. Unfortunately, it’s a feature that doesn’t sound very good. Yes, it reduces line noise, but in the process it constricts the dynamics of the system and is a less-than-proper design choice in our experience. There’s a Better Way In an effort to discover the mechanism that causes loss of dynamics when incorporating a large ferrite slug, we next tried many smaller slugs spaced evenly along the power cord. Voila! While not perfect, it clearly was a step in the right direction. Then a revolutionary thought: would evenly distributing the ferrite along the entire length of the cable be more beneficial? Yes! We ground up the ferrite slugs into a fine powder and made a slurry of ferrite and PVC and then extruded this material into the outer jacket itself. It works. In fact, this technique works so well that every xStream power cord employs ferrite powder evenly distributed along the entire length of the outer jacket. This produces the world’s first distributed inductive shield that actively cleans some of the high frequency noise on the AC line itself!  This is a major achievement in the art of power cable delivery systems and results in the lowest noise floor yet of any power cord we know of. In a word, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet! Removable ground pin One of the coolest new innovations we came up with on the xStream and Power Punch power cables is a removable ground pin. The ground pin on a power cable is there to tie the ground of the AC receptacle to your equipment. However, in some cases, this ground pin can cause a ground loop and cause hum and buzz in your system. Traditionally audio and theater enthusiasts have used what is known as a “cheater plug” to solve this problem and break the ground loop. A cheater plug is an inexpensive three prong to two prong adapter. Unfortunately, this adapter ruins many of the benefits of a high end power cable like the xStream or Power Punch. PS engineers invented a better way: a screw in ground pin. Instead of using a cheezy cheater plug and runing all the benefits of the xStream's machined connectors, you simply unscrew the ground pin and voila! No more buzz. In practise, you would leave the cable grounded. Should your system have a ground loop problem that is causing hum or buzz in the loudspeakers, simply unscrew the ground pin of the xStream and the buzz is gone! This just might be the solution you’ve been looking for! Is it safe?  Generally yes. We recommend keeping the ground in place whenever possible. However, as mentioned, sometimes it's necessary to eliminate a ground loop by removing the ground pin. When you do this there's no difference between removing the ground pin and using a three prong to two prong adaptor like a 'cheater plug' except it will allow the cable to perform its best. The ground on a power cable is generally used to tie the metal chassis of your equipment to a safety ground in the unlikely event that a wire inside the unit might break and make contact with the chassis. Many pieces of equipment use only a two prong plug with no ground and this is perfectly acceptable and safe for use in the home, even in the instance described above. So, the safest way to operate your equipment is to leave it grounded. In the case where you need to break a ground loop to eliminate hum, the xStream and Power Punch cables with their removable ground pin might be the best thing to ever happen to your system. Putting it all together From the machined prongs hewn from a solid billet of material, to the cold and hot welding,  Over molded and hermetically sealed connectors, multiple shields and finely stranded spirally wound OFC copper, conductive PVC shield and multiple braided and foil outer shields, the xStream power™ cables, Radian and Power Punch series will open your eyes and your ears with a level of improvement you probably never dreamed of. It's time to get the power delivery system in your home audio/video system right. Remember, if you don't get the power delivered to your equipment properly, then you will never take advantage of your investment in fine equipment. It's time to maximize your system and get it right. Get it connected and get it powered with PS! See your local PS dealer, give us a call or click on the purchase option to try out a PS Power Cable in your system today. It might just be the smartest thing you've ever done. |
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