Shunyata ztron power vs cx cables...

Wig,

Yeah, that is the tough part of dealing with these cables with tubes. Of course, you could procure a Cable Cooker but that is not very inexpensive, either.

I lust after the Audio Research Reference 5 SE, but alas, will not enter my system until a long time. The Shunyata's set me back a lot for a long time.

Best,
Odd

Audioquest4life,

The main sources are Music Direct and the Cable Company. I use Galen Carol Audio. Galen's a straight shooter. I'm sure others have their favorites.

I think like all components of the audio chain they are system dependent and more importantly listener preferences.

I've compared the Cobra ztron with the Python cx and the Anaconda cx with the Python ztron. I preferred the cx combination. In my system the Cobra was indeed faster, livelier, but lost body and bass. Soundstage narrowed and presentation became forward. The difference of the cobra with Python cx is very evident from the start. Comparing Python ztron to the Anaconda cx I found the ztron to sound bigger, more bass and body but slower. Bass is not as tight as Anaconda but soundstage wider and deeper. Overall slightly darker sounding. I heard more details with the Anaconda.

I say system dependent because I use cx all the way from source to amps so that may have contributed to the presentation I heard. If I compared the all cx system with an all ztron system perhaps my findings will be different.

Which ones are better? Who knows. Only you can decide what kind of presentation you like.

If you guys want to burn in your power cables just buy one of the adapter cables Shunyata sells and hook it up to your refrigerator for 24/7 high current cable break-in. Or this for way less $:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10228&cs_id=1022804&p_id=1302&seq=1&format=2

Hkmatch23,

Thanks for sharing what you've experienced. I assume these were broken in loaner cables (?) I have heard from a few others about how the Cobra Zitrons are very fast but lack bass weight compared to CX Anaconda. I was particularly interested in your impression of the Python Zitron PC ..info on that model has been scarce. I'm anxious to hear from someone who has listened to a broken in Anaconda Zitron PC.

I'll be posting some observations about the new Python Zitron XLR digital cable in a few days.