Shielded or Unshielded PC'S with Pass X-2.5?

1.) Tend to be stiffer.

Not my experience. The stiffer cords I have owned have been so because of the tubing the wire is run through, not because of the shielding.

2.) Will cost more.

Perhaps. I've never done price comparisons between otherwise identical shielded and unshielded cords. Certainly, ErnieM's shielded cords at less than $50, and SignalCable's MagicAC shielded cords at $60 don't support this hypothesis.

3.) The shield, if close to the conductors, can increase capacitance, and therefore affect sonics (more of an issue in IC's than PC's IMO)

By your own definition, this has limited application to power cords, if any.

If you take a cord of a given diameter, wire size, etc., and add a foil shield, another jacket to hold the foil, then a braid shield and some kind of braid or jacket to cover that shield, I think you'll find the shielded version quite a bit stiffer.

Cost? Again, all other things being equal (insulation materials, wire type and size, twisting, stranding, quality plugs, etc) the shielded version will cost more for the raw material (I've seen up to twice as much if the braid is silver plated), and will involve more labor to terminate. So shielded versions of a given size and quality will have to cost more.

Capacitance -- I said IN MY OPINION it affects IC sonics more than PC's. But you can find LOTS of PC manufacturers that would strongly disagree with my opinion; and who have gone to great and costly lengths to minimize the capacitative effects of the shielding in their PC's.

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OK, Nsgarch, I guess our experiences with shielded cords differ substantially. I have owned three shielded cords that I could easily wrap around my finger...so stiffness was a non-issue. Again, as far as cost, I will mention specifically the ErnieM power cords (I owned 9awg - 6 feet for less than $50), SignalCable MagicAC (less than $60 for 5 feet) and I just purchased a Volex 17604 (10 feet, 14 gauge, shielded for less than $10).

Stiffness and cost, IMO, are non-issues.

I'm not familiar enough with the issue of capacitance in power cords to argue one way or another, but I would question the significance of capacitance in wire that is not in the signal path.