Is Grant sam still with company?...he was great info source.I think the thing is that nuances are the benefit.Those small things that have you saying nice,alright!...sweet.
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!
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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). |
Wow! thanks @craig for sharing your experience! Another incredible story! Everest + Omega is out of my reach for my budget. Also I don’t really have enough space to accommodate the tower form factor. I better start thinking about how big a dent is going to make to my retirement savings if I’m gonna go with the Denali + converting all my components’ power cables. 😀 Cheers! |
With limited funds, go with the Denali and a Sigma XC cord (or if you can, the Omega XC) to the wall. I have seen several of these for sale used for good prices (make sure to get the latest version of both the Denali and the cords). Then, gradually switch the other cords and cables in your system. If the system is "revealing enough", you will be amazed at the improvement. I thought I needed to upgrade my components, but after switching to the Shunyata, I realized I do not! Incidentally, you can run a ground wire from your components to the grounding plug on the Denali and get the benefits of a "star-ground" system at no extra cost. Even a simple homemade ground wires help, although the Shunyata ones did sound better. (Several ground wires can be connected to each ground plug.) If you find you need an even a better grounding system, I recently got the Altaira ground unit and it really helped my system. The cords and cables and Denali are expensive, but no where near the cost of an upgrade to the amps, speakers or preamp. |
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