In the "For what it's worth" department, I suppose I should follow up on my querry based upon actual comparisons and an at length monolouge to that end will soon be posted in the reivews section here at Audiogone. Suffice it to say that personal experience with Shunyata revealed to me a company willing to go that extra mile to accomodate it's customers. Additionally, to resolve issues surrounding 'mis-imformation'. It is certainly most energizing to see a company initiate and maintain such a posture. Bravo!
On the Question portion... How do you know what a Hydra does if no cord is supplied with it?
Naturally as is posted above, that error is or has been remedied. A Venom cord, as was related to me can be had as standard issue. In the case of the passive conditioner, I found a lean towards more the smoother end in my system, and less a dynamic addition. This notation is subjective of course and was based upon a comparison to a PS audio UPC 200, both conditoners using the same power cord itteration, save one of the two cords was set to accomodate a 20A IEC fitting for connection to the Hydra while the other like wise cord was fitted with a 15A IEC connection. Apart from the plugs being dissimilar on one end they were identical.
Another point I'd make is that the conditioners, both UPC200 & HYDRA, take on the character of the cord and integrate that aspect into the system. Certainly they do a more than fair job of reducing hash & junk from off the power line as is their purpose. Attaching different cords to the passive conds allowed for some interesting results. Still in all I found the UPC to be more the dynamic of the two units. The Hydra being the more 'refined'... both units atttenuate noise, and add a factor of smoothing to the soundscape. I was limited to the one identical power cord testing episode though. I've tried several cords on the UPC and all have impacted the system with the character of the cord being the predonminate 'change' in the system... I do not doubt one bit that a more dynamic cord applied to the Hydra would provide a more dynamic impact to one's system, however.
The bottom line as I see it is that passive conditioners are substantially dependant upon the supply cord to a system than is their own subtractive impact upon power line abberations.
both units have options the other does not... and they also have their own 'character' with or without a cord being supplied. the Hydra additionally 'filters' both ways, coming and going and reamins steady in it's 'quieting' function, the UPC tends to slowly develop it's level of quieting to it's peak, hence power outages (however brief), temporairly detract from it's performance level as it has then to regain it's peak once more. the Hydra seemed unaffected by outages once broken in. one last note here is that the Hydra configuration differs from the UPC in that the supply cord enters the unit in the rear, and the supplied cords enter on the opposite side of the conditioner... this can be quite the useful method for connecting devices. All the supplys and supplied cords on the UPC are on the same side and may or may not pose an issue for connecting gear.
Lastly ... the UPC 200 has one option the Hydra does not have, it can be relegated to one of two levels of quieting via a switch underneath the unit. In HIGH CURRENT, all four outlets are in parallel. you get the highest level of quieting according to the manufacturer there... as much as 60db. using the DUAL MODE setting, the pair of outlets are separated for use with dissimilar devices, ie., digital and analog. The quieting factor is diminished as well by about 20db... again according to PS audio... according to me, yeah, it does lessen the quieting a touch by going to the DUAL MODE function. In dual mode the hydra and UPC are about the same to these ears in terms of the elimination of power line problems..
There are a few more items separating the two units from one another and I'll describe them where they should be described... Hopefully in a head-to-head review of the two units shortly in the Audiogone review section...
AS with all of this high end audio hobby, results are subjectively determined. As is seen in just this one thread from the "threadees" posts. The concrete answer though is "Yes. the Hydra does add an element of conditioning to the system, and does quite the job too for a passive unit. The cord one chooses to use will also become a factor." Just how much a difference this will make in a system depends... So is it "The real deal?" Well, it certinaly is "A real deal", to be sure. Whether or not it is 'the' deal is once more 'the' subjective decision.
Again many thanks for those who contributed here and continue to contribute, I thank you all. Especially Shunyata for their hands on approach to clear the air as to their products applications and use, as wella as their stance on attending to customer inquiries and satisfaction. Were it so with the rest of manufacturers out there... audiophillia would be a lot more fun.
