Synergitsic Research Elements or Shunyata Ztron?

Anyone?

fwiw, I love Syn Research speaker cables and Shunyata power cables. Never tried the new Ztron though, but have used Anacondas of all vintages for years.

I own all Synergistic Research power products and cables and they work very well as an entire system. I think this may be true for Shunyata products as well, but I don't have the experience with their latest products. I doubt you would go wrong with either brand, but my suggestion is to go all in with one or the other.

Some SR owners have recently had an issue with the aggressive marketing where new improved products are introduced with great frequency and which tends to prematurely depreciate their current models by 50%+ in the first 12 to 18 months of ownership, so this may be a concern if you are thinking of buying brand new.

Yeah, that's my concern with SR. Also their range of products is so complicated I can't quite figure out what do I need for my system. With Shunyata it's a lot easier.

Hi Antonkk. While i have not A/B them I have owned products from both manufactures. I have had a Hydra 8 and Anaconda power cords in my system and I would say the Anaconda was impressive. While I liked the Hydra I can not say it was as big an improvement. At the time I had Nordost interconnects and speaker cables. I then want to MIT over the Nordost and heard an improvement. I replaced the Shunyata with Running Springs Audio Jaco PC and Mongoose PC and heard a slight improvement. A dealer let me demo some Synergistic interconnects and speaker cables and a Powercell 10SE with PC. Well the Powercell alone made a very noticeable improvement over the Jaco witch is highly rated. Mind you that Synergistic had the MK II out at the time and was an upgrade to the one I had tried. I then tried the Galileo Universal Speaker Cells with just the Basik cables that they come with and again a very noticeable improvement over the MIT. I had not left the Powercell in, I had put the Running Springs back in. Also a friend who is very familiar of the sound of my system also confirmed the difference on separate demos with no beforehand knowledge of what if anything to expect. The nice thing about the Universal Cells is you can use any speaker cable with them and get an improvement from that cable. But when the Basik cables that came with it beat out my MIT $8,500 cables I can live with the Basik for now. Synergistic just came out with a new MK III Powercell 10. If you can live with out the latest and want to save %50 you can pick up a dealer demo a used MK II SE. That is what I did (dealer demo) But if you can spend the extra the MK III is supposed to be a significant improvement from new tech that they came up with for a new prodect. Now I realize that Shunyata has also come out with new and improved versions and I can not compare but I have to say that if you can try and demo both. Just FYI Synergistic runs a free demo challenge. If you call them I am sure they would be glad to help you.
I am sure they would help guide you with what is best for system at the price point you want to spend.
Of course your MMV and this is MHO.

One more thing. I have no problem with a company who is researching and brings to market a worthwhile improvement in there products. They are also one of the few companies with a trade in/up program. And Shunyata also has had numerous versions of there power conditioners over the last few years. A dealer told me how his customers were complaining abut that.

"Numerous versions of there (their) power conditioners"? I've seen them come out with different lines (i.e. The Guardian line) of power conditioners, but Shunyata usually changes their line every 3 years, so i'm not sure what you mean by there being numerous versions. Didn't the Hydra only have 2 incarnations? And that was their only line conditioner for almost 3 years?
I have a Shunyata-cabled system: it sounds fine. What's interesting is that when I tried out the Synergistic Apex line (the interconnect and one power cord), I found myself preferring the Shunyata. The Synergistic has a bump in the bass, which warmed the sound up It was fine, but less see-through in my system.
But, we not dismiss system synergy. I'm going to try out a Talos shortly, after my Shunyata Cobra interconnect arrives.
I think people will have to try both. Nothing written on a page can surpass the actual experience of listening.

I use SR products exclusively throughout my 2 channel system. More specifically, I use element Tungsten interconnects and speaker cables, Hologram A & D power cables, the USB Active USB cable, and Powercell 4 SE. I must say that my system has never sounded better; however, I agree with the earlier poster in that you need to view the SR cables as part of a system to realize their full potential. On the other hand, the universal speaker and interconnect cells work well with any brand of cable and really seem to be a pretty good value. I have tried Shunyata cables previously and found them a tad dark for my tastes.

Does anyone know if the Black Mamba, Python and Anaconda ICs and speaker cables released before ZTrons are the same sonically?

So, I have to amend my previous post. I recently picked up a black mamba cx for my family room system and, before I knew it, I replaced all the power cables with shunyata products. In fact, I am doing the unthinkable and considering replacing my sr interconnects, albeit 6 years old, with shunyata. The newer products are a big improvement.