Is There Some Problem With Shunyata's Everest Power Conditioner

So after cogitating about it and reading everyone's input, and most important, finding a very nice deal on a used one, and no Denali v2's for sale, I bit the bullet and bought a used Everest and Sigma v2  power cable with it, incoming on Saturday, so I will post my impressions after it is hooked up and settles in from its trip!  Hype or real . . . I'll soon see!

Get back to us in 30 days! Anxious to hear your findings !

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: So I have put the Everest and Sigma v2 power cable (used, so already broken in) into my system and have put about 24 hours of listening in over a week. To recap, my system consists of Sabrina X speakers, ARC REF 6 pre, Pass 250.8 amp, and MSB Discrete DAC with a Premier Power Base, and a full Shunyata loom.

The day I installed it (and ground the components to it), the first thing that I noticed was a "blacker background." The best way to explain this is analogizing it to a picture that is slightly overexposed, and adjusting the white balance. The background was darker black than before, which gave the music a more vivid sound. The other thing that I noticed was that the music was somewhat smoother -- not rolled off, but as if a thin layer of glare was removed. Another thing I noticed right away was negative. It seemed like the soundstage on some recordings collapsed to coming out of the left and right speakers rather than locked into the middle. This varied from album to album. Some still had that "locked in" spatial quality, others were markedly lacking that spatial effect that we refer to as "soundstage." I did not notice any particular change in depth or width of those recordings that still had that spatial effect. Overall, I had mixed feelings. For $7000+, it was by no means "transformative," night and day, or like a new system. The effects described were subtle -- audible but subtle. I began to seriously doubt my decision to blow a wad of cash on this latest manifestation of audiophilia nervosa, and believe, me, I really wanted to like it and think that I made a smart purchase.

So I powered through all week, listening carefully and trying different recordings that I knew had an excellent soundstage to see if it was still there or whether the Everest was actually having a negative effect. It wasn’t, but subjectively it seemed to reduce the soundstage in those recordings that did not seem to have it originally, but left it alone in those that did. Still on the fence about it but thinking more seriously of putting it up for sale.

So, Friday night, I put on a Led Zep soundboard bootleg from their 1975 Fort Worth show, which was pretty well-recorded for a boot. To my surprise, it sounded like a commercial live release. Soundstage was wide and deep, Robert was right in front center although he moved somewhat on the stage. Jimmy was to the right, Bonzo up and behind Robert. The soundstage had real depth and width. Saturday morning, I decided to throw my whole batch of test recordings at it again. Good stuff, medium stuff, bad stuff, stuff I knew lacked soundstage on the recording and stuff that I knew had excellent soundstage. To my surprise, and I really have no explanation for it, everything had good soundstage, wide and deep. The same black background and the music sounded "clearer" and smoother, sort of like silver with a slight tarnish removed. The recordings that had a good soundstage had a great soundstage. The recordings that really didn’t have a good soundstage baked into the recording had a decent soundstage, where the music still came out of the right and left speakers in an identifiable way, but some instruments crossed over into the middle, giving the recording that illusion of dimensionality that I personally love. All of my recordings, good, mediocre or bootleg, sounded better, and particularly my bootlegs (Led Zep and Pink Floyd) sounded better. On the live recordings, such as Bill Evans’ The Complete Vanguard Recordings, I could hear more of the audience chatter between songs that was not there before. Overall, the instruments sounded clearer and did not bleed into the other instruments as much. I left that listening session very pleased.

I cannot explain the improvement from the day I installed the Everest, yet it was there. Mind you, it was a subtle, not a "blow your socks off" type improvement. It is noticeable to me, as I know my music and system inside and out, and would likely be identified by any other critical listener, but as I said, it is not a "wow, what did you do to your system" type change. There was a very noticeable improvement over the week that I found to be unmistakable. People have said that after shipping, a component needs to "settle in." I always thought that was inexplicable BS. But that is really the only explanation that I have for the change after about 24 hours of listening to music and the Everest being left on for a week so far. I don’t know if there is more improvement coming or whether this is it. Whether these changes are "worth it" for $7K+ is a personal thing, but so far, I am pretty happy with the addition to the system!

@rsf507 so what did your friend get instead?

@moto_man ,

Very nice roll-up regarding your experiences with the Everest. I would like to know what power cable are you using from the Pass amp into the Everest? Can you still use a NR variant or do you need to use the XC variant? I ask because the Everest conditioner has the NR technology integrated into the device and obviates the need for any NR technology going into or out. This is my perception, so don’t take that as an absolute statement. 
 

If one owns an Omega QR power cord I assume that you don’t need a conditioner unless you need extra outlets, then you would opt to get the non QR variant of the Omega power cord. Just trying to understand the methodology of using what type of Shunyata power cables going into and out of the Denali and Everest power conditioner. Thank you.