Question about Shunyata Power Conditioners
Hi, I recently purchased a couple of cables from Shunyata. First one is the Venom-X speaker cable, and the other is the Venom-X power cable. These are my first Shunyata products, and I am very impressed with them.
I’ve always been a fan of Kimber Kable, Most of my IC are Kimber Select & Hero lines, and I was using a pair of Kimber 12TC speaker cables, before replacing them with the Shunyata. I was actually comparing the Shunyata Venom-X to a pair of Kimber Bifocal XL, which is $1000 more expensive, and I like the Shunyata better especially in the bass department. The Shunyata really adds a nice slam and punchiness to the bass, I returned the Bifocal and kept the Shunyata.
Anyway I’m now thinking about adding a power conditioner from Shunyata. I’m considering either the Hydra Delta D6 or their reference line Denali 6000/s V2.
Has anyone had experience with either or both of these 2 conditioners, and be able to provide some feedbacks on their performance. The Denali is almost twice as expensive as the Hydra Delta, so I want to make sure I’m spending my hard earned dollars wisely.
Also FYI, I have not had heard much improvement of sound when it comes to power cables or conditioners. I currently own a Furman Elite 15i, and mostly Pangea power cables. The Pangea are very affordable comparing to many other brands of power cables. That’s one of the reasons why I purchased them. Mostly for my peace of mind. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard much improvement over stock cables. The Forman Elite is also reasonably priced with a lot of outlets.
I always think that I must have very decent power source in my home already, and therefore I don’t hear much improvement. I’m not a skeptic when it comes to power cables and conditioners, I just simply don’t have many positive experiences with them.
One more thing I want to mention is that I do my own noise test by cranking up my volume control on my preamp to max, with my digital source turned on but not playing anything (of course). I put my ear right again my speakers and hardly hear any hum or noise at all. So I concluded that I don't have any noise issue in my system. This is hardly a scientific experiment and please tell me if this is a stupid test. 😀
Anyway, any comments and shared experiences will be appreciated. Thanks for reading!
@curiousjim, if you read my original post, I kind of have the same thinking as you. I always thought that the power source of my home is pretty good. That led me to believe that is why I don't get the kind of sound improvement of changing power cords or conditioner. So long story short, I simply want to explore whether higher end power cords and conditioner will improve my overall SQ. @willgolf, I've never heard of Inakustic, but will check it out. Thanks! |
I didn't think I needed cleaner power as I live in a modern home. I purchased a used Ps Audio P10 and the improvement was so vast I vowed to never be without one. Then I tried the Denali V2 and it was like I unlocked another level of detail and nuance I've never heard before. I called Shunyata to discuss the purchase before I made the leap and Grant discussed the benefits to me and explained to avoid making half steps with unknown mixing of cables from other brands and to just wait until I could buy a full Shunyata set up, I didn't listen. Originally I ran the Denali V2 with a 20A to 15A adapter as I didn't want to invest in the cable if the improvement wasn't there. Well that bested the P10 and only got better when I purchased a Shunyata Delta XC. I kind of figured what the heck and then moved to the Alpha XC and have found my happy place. The Denali is light-years ahead of my P10 and just plugged into the wall. My test record was Classic Records 180g Led Zeppelin III and after hearing the improvement, I couldn't and won't go back to running just off the wall. Hope this helps. |
Wow! Thanks so much @j-wall for sharing your experience! You have just pushed me closer to going for the Denali V2. Sounds like you are happy with pairing it with the Alpha XC? I was originally thinking to pair it with the Sigma XC if I were to go with the Denali, and pair the Hydra Delta D6 with Alpha XC if I were to go with the Hydra. But if the Alpha XC is good enough for the Denali, then I’ll save myself $1K. Actually another question if you don’t mind. Have you migrated all of your other cables for your components to Shunyata? and if so, do you hear improvements in SQ for your components? Thanks! |
I began with a Puritan 156 and it was good. Then I had the opportunity to do a A:B test with the Shunyata Denali. The Denali was at least 2x better. Then I compared the Denali with the Everest. The latter was another 20% better. Importantly, the Puritan was using a Nordost Valhalla power cable, whereas the Shunyata had the Sigma XC. I then tried the Everest with an Omega XC cable and heard at least 10-15% further improvement. So, I decided to try and determine if this was "real" or listening bias. My local audio store (NOT a Shunyata dealer) loaned me their device that can actually measure noise on the line. The device plugs into the receptacle and gives both an auditory and decimal "read out" of the noise. I have a dedicated 20A line with a Shunyata receptacle. The device plugged directly into the wall read "450" out of a 1000. Plugged into any of the Everest receptacles, it read 0... yes 0. I then went to a separate 20A dedicated line with a PS Audio receptacle. This too read "450" and in fact, I could at times hear actually voices carrying on a conversation! I then plugged the Shunyata into the wall and the testing device into the Shunyata.. again 0 absolute silence. So, I saved up and bought the Everest and eventually upgraded to the Omega XC power cord. The improvement is not subtle. Note I plug everything into the Everest, even my Rogue Audio Apollo Dark mono amps. I was so impressed that I sold all my Nordost Valhalla cables and bought Shunyata Sigma NR power cords for the components. Each made a significant difference. I have recently changed the interconnects and speaker cables from Nordost Valhalla to Shunyata Sigma and am enjoying outstanding sound in every way. Note: If you have a Denali or Everest, do NOT use Omega cables to components. Only use a Omega from conditioner to wall. The component cables should be Sigma NRs (or one of the lower versions). |
