How many us a Line Conditioner with a Big SS Amp

Joe, I'm just curious, which Hydra were you using that 'crapped out' on you? Was it the Hydra 2? If so, what power cord were you using?

I ask, because this is the one that has the least amount of filtration, and is specifically designed for the high current amp applications, similar to the Duke in the RSA line.

In your application, the Hydra 2 is the only one in the Hydra line to try, and the Duke would be the only one I'd recommend in the RSA Line. Shunyata really should change the names of all of their conditioners like the RSA line, to avoid the confusion of just the one name. Different Shunyata power conditioners are for different applications in an audio system, just like the RSA line. RSA helps the consumer by giving their products different names, Haley/Duke/Jaco/etc. Shunyata confuses folks because the Hydra 2/4/6/8 have different applications, but some people just refer to them as Hydra's.
So if you didn't specifically listen to a Hydra 2, then you didn't hear Shunyata's best power conditioner for high current amplification. It's also best to use with a high current power cord, obviously. Many make the mistake of using the Hydra 2 with an inexpensive, 14 gauge cord, which obviously will restrict the performance.

I'd prefer not to be labeled Mr. Shunyata, but I do want to make sure we're comparing apples with apples. I would compare the RSA Duke with the Hydra 2, for ultra high current applications. I would compare the RSA Jaco with the Hydra 8 for full system's with standard high current requirements. The RSA Haley competes with the Hydra 6 as a full system with average current requirements.

John

Maybe a tad offtopic but anyone with experience or an opinion on using a MIT Shotgun AC1 power cord with their big or bigger or biggest amps? I use one with a Citation 7.1 amp. However I really have never compared it to anything else.

OH... GO GATORS! 41 - 10

This might be geographically situated however I have always found that my amps (SS & tube) sounded better out of a dedicated (high end) AC outlet on dedicated breakers.

OH... GO GATORS! 41 - 10
Sailfishben

I thought the final was 41-14.

Congrats to your Gators, who are the first team to currently own the NCAA Division I Bastketball and Football titles at the same time.

I had a similar experience with power amps and some of the conditioners mentioned. Two different amps (BAT VK150 tubes and Boulder 2060=qualifies as big (a)SS amp) and 2 different line conditioners (Shunyata hydra 8 and Running Springs Duke). Interestingly during this process I added dedicated lines (20A) for each component. I found that the Shunyata made the BAT amps sound worse. I then added the dedicated lines and the sound was improved. Retried Shunyata and worse again. Now have Boulder, initially without conditioning and now with RSA Duke. I cannot tell the difference with or without the Duke yet. Still sounds great; neutral powerful and articulate. During my frustration with the Hydra, I spoke to the folks at Shunyata several times (very nice and helpful group), they always said (contrary to an earlier post) that the Hydra 8 should perform better than the Hydra 2 on power amps. I got the same response from RSA when deciding whether to put my Jaco on the front end (or on the theater which has more stuff) or to use a Duke because I only need 2 outlets for transport and preamp. They told me that the 2 units were the same, one just had more outlets.