I am using the Venom V16 Power Conditioner with their Alpha XC cable and it's incredible. That's at their low-middle range. I can only imagine the benefits at their higher range, especially with the more advanced filtering tech they use.
I don't think you'll go wrong with either.
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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Thanks @craig, I'm thinking the same thing if I were to upgrade my power cords to a better conditioner (i.e. Denali). I think I probably going to start with my power amp first (Parasound JC5), and then follow by my preamp (Cary SLP-05), and finally my digital and analog sources. Interesting advice on the grounding plugs. I know nothing about grounding, but good to know that Denali has a good grounding system. I need to read up on grounding in general. Thanks @guakus for sharing your experience. What really interests me about Shunyata power products is that I don't think I've read any negative comments at all. I'm sure there might be some negative reviews out there, but I have not seen one yet. |
Hey @craig how's the Altaira grounding system working out for you? I was just starting to do research, but the info out there is very thin. |
The Altaira makes a significant difference, even with the Everest and Shunyata power and interconnects. The noise level is lowered which translates into a clearer more articulate bass, greater resonance and better "decay" for string instruments and piano, more separation and somewhat improved (or more noticeable) soundstage. I do not know how much difference there would be between the different levels of grounding cables (eg alpha, sigma, omega) since I have not had the opportunity to do this experiment. Hopefully, I will be receiving some sigma grounding cables to compare with the alpha cables I am currently using. I would think that the "best" ground cable should go from the altaira to the ground point (in my case, the Everest's grounding plug). This does raise the issue as to where the ultimate ground is located-- obviously need a good ground point for the altaira to connect to. If you have a Denali or Everest, use that ground plug. As to connecting components to the Altaira, this can be done in several ways: (1) If the component has a ground plug, use it, e.g. my phono amp's ground plug has both the turntable cable's ground and the altaira ground; (2) Any chassis screw that with a ohm meter measures a "ground" between the third pin on the power cable's connection and the screw; (3) Shunyata also makes adapters so you can plug the grounding cable into a RCA or XLR "port" or connection on the component. BUT, you should check that there is no current coming out from the connection. Richard at Shunyata has compiled a list of many components and the best way to connect them to the Altaira. Of course, whether you will hear a difference does depend on the resolution of your system, and its constituents. My system consists of : AMG Viella turntable with Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge and its associated "phono amp", dCS Rossini apex DAC, ARC Ref6SE preamp, Rogue Audio Apollo Dark mono block amps and Sonus Faber Il Cremonese speakers. Now all cabling is Shunyata except the tonearm cable with is Cardas because Shunyata does not make a DIN connector.
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