Best Male & IEC plug for high current power cords?

IMO: Cost vs. performance, Furutech FI-11 terminations. Available in 3 flavors, bare copper, gold plated and silver plated.

But what effect do the flavors -- copper, silver, gold, rhodium -- have on the sound? And how well do they mate with different materials, for instance, copper wire and silver plugs, or silver wire and gold plugs, etc?

I would suggest you check out the cable asylum at AA & take notes. Seriously, there is a ton of info on all the things you mentioned-much more than can be covered in one thread.

I'm not passing the buck but you really need to do some homework, which may include actually trying some different PC's. There are so many variables to be considered-what gear are you using, your room, your AC and so on. They all combine to have an effect.

Cable Asylum's a good resource... IF one has the time to wade through. I'm hoping someone can summarize so I don't have to. Besides recommendations for power amp cords, I'd appreciate recommendations for source cords -- in particular, a transport cord (CEC). I'm currently using an Audience 'e' on my transport and a standard Audience Power Chord on my Preamp.

Far and away, for the best combination of quality and price, Marinco plugs. All copper conductors. Shielding is a waste for power cords. Try Carol 10/3.