So, has anyone else gotten any of Shunyata's new Z-Tron series power cords? I'm sure I'm not the only person who has them. I got a 3rd Z-Tron, which, after putting them on the CD player, and preamp, I put on the power outlet (Quantum with the 2 QV2 Harmonizers; one in the Quantum outlet and one in the wall). The 3rd cord is less than 24 hours into break-in, and...well, it's almost absurd to spout furthur paeans, but I guess putting it in the wall outlet improved - greatly - the CX power cords I have on the amps. One can "see" furthur into the soundstage, and the sense of "airiness" has increased the sense of height of the soundstage, which makes back row instruments more "rounded" or, to use audiophile language, 3-D, since ambience allows instruments to separate themselves from the dead space around them (probably why tubes have a more 3-D presentation than all but the best solid state). But, more than that, the midbass is stronger with this third cord in place, sort of giving the CX cord a "jump-start" in energy it did not have before putting the Cobra on the outlet. I had originally plugged the CX into the outlet, then taken it out and put it directly into the wall, but as it turns out, it's was cleaner going thru the outlet, and now is superior to what it sounded like before when I had a CX powering the outlet, or, after selling the CX, I used an ESP power cord, as well as the PS Audio Statement (I liked the Statement less than the ESP, which worked surprisingly well, but it's no surprise that the synergy of Shunyata power cords creating a cumulative effect would make a bigger improvement).
While I always loved Shunyata's cords before now, I would say they have entered into the realm of reality in a way they did not before. This is not a matter of "better bass" or those other pronouncements audiophiles love to make (besides "better bass" can mean a midbass hump, and I don't hear that in concert halls: I'm more likely to hear midbass suckout in Davies Hall in San Francisco, depending on where I sit). I mean a sense of continuousness, in the way that, if you closed your eyes at a live music event without speakers, microphones and the like, you could instantly recognize that the music was live by the way the sound moves thru the air.
Of course, it didn't hurt that I changed the fuses on everything to the HiFi Tuning Supremes, but lets just say the cumulative effect has me saying, I could live with this for a long time (after I upgrade the First Sound to MK III status) and get a pair of Magnepan 1.7s, which will have, no doubt, much higher resolution than my trusty Hale Revelation 3s, or even my Nola Vipers (I no longer know what model I have since Nola changed the names on even the old line: lets just say its the version they had in 2005 with Alnico tweeters and midrange). I'm prepared to swoon into the listening chair after getting the Magnepans from the improvement, and I imagine the Cobras will be quite standard-setters for power cords. Given the 1k price, it should make other manufacturers rather unhappy. There's no straining to hear the order-of-magnitude improvements: it didn't take any time to hear that at all, but Shunyata power cords (and speakers and interconnects) require at least an hour of "settling" time if you move them around even a little. Every time I accidentally kick a speaker cable, I find myself grinding my teeth for a few seconds. But a little tiny move, when I replay the passage, doesn't seem to affect it. However, if you move the cord as in lifting it so it doesn't touch another one, well...just accept that an immediate replay of the passage you just played may not move you to tears.
Anyone else going to chime in with their experiences?
