Ladies & Gents:
I recently purchased a new HYDRA 6 with the VENOM HC power cord. It replaced a APC H10 power conditioner. I was expecting an improvement. I was shocked at how big of an improvement this device has made. It is not broken in yet but already there are great improvements being experienced. The bass is tighter, clearer, fuller and more detailed. Of course the soundstage is wider and deeper.
There were some cds I could not play properly especially with low bass. Now they play fine and can be enjoyed.
Even the volume level has increased. More music is being heard at all levels.
Keep up the good work.
David R.
USA
I believe rotating the cable 45 degrees will do the trick. The area behind my 3 stereo stands will look like the jungle when I have 1 PYTHON and 3 or 4 COBRA’s. I will call the area the snake pit. Feel free to post my comments on your website. The staff at Sound Hounds are very exited about your products as well. I can’t wait get the COBRA ΞTRON™ power cables and hopefully your speaker cable. I will order one every couple of months. The sound through my Simaudio Moon equipment and B&W 804 S speakers will be even more fantastic.
Your work is truly bringing us all into a new age. Just maybe the sound puzzle we have been working on all our lives is nearing completion.
This is the most dynamic piece of equipment (and cable) I have ever purchased, it’s remarkable. It has made my theater experience explode with vibrancy — and I’m still burning it in.
Please continue engineering such fine products!
From a consumer point of view I like them because they are not mechanical. I will own the HYDRA and my cords for decades, and never worry about wear and tear, or mech. failure. Therefore it is a well justified long-term investment. Fantastic!
Also thanks for providing all these details about break-in. First six hours sounded like mud, and I was concerned. I dedicated the weekend to being a full on marathon, and last night it changed a bit.
I have a gut feeling this thing is going to blossom. A couple gunshot scenes in a movie last night had me jump off the couch thinking I truly was under fire. This is yet to EVER happen.
I’m really excited and can’t wait to see all the break-in stages.
I am a huge fan of your products, and talk to all tech fans about them. Every time I read blogs about with snake oil nay-sayers I smile and think how some people have no clue. If I were to wire up with all OEM cords, my system would be a 2009 Honda. With Shunyata products, it’s a Porsche Turbo.
I would like to let you know how things are working out with the new TRITON, TYPHON, and the ΞTRON™ Powersnakes. In one word: remarkable!!
The TRITON/TYPHON combination is simply amazing. The noise floor in my system is now vanishingly low. I am an Electrical Engineer and I have been an audiophile for more than thirty years, and to say the noise floor is vanishingly low is something I never thought I would say about any system.
Please give my warmest regards to Caelin Gabriel and everybody else at Shunyata!
I’m a skeptic when it comes to electrical cables and audio benefits. I have a decent system made up of Bryston components with Vienna Acoustics speakers. Its sound was fairly decent to begin with. So, when my dealer recommended that I hook up a TRITON with COBRA C19 to the wall outlet and COBRA ΞTRON™’s for my amp and DAC, I was skeptical. How can a line conditioner boost that ever-elusive trait that we audiophiles call “musicality”?
After breaking in the TRITON and COBRA cables for about 50 hrs, I was floored. The sonic improvements that I heard were simply astonishing. Vocals and string instruments were clearer and had startling 3-D-like images in my room. The amounts of rich detail I was able to hear in choral, chamber, and pop/rock FLAC and CD recordings were enhanced significantly. Even my LPs, played on a modest Concept turntable, sounded much better, with improved soundstage all around. Reverberations, especially with string instruments, seemed to linger longer, enhancing my experience of a live-performance recording. It was like lifting a veil that masked parts of the music. The opening-up of panoramic vistas of sonic detail from the recordings was truly remarkable. How can a cleaned-up, two-dimensional electrical signal reveal such amazing detail? My listening pleasure has never been better!
I just wanted to congratulate you and your staff for the efforts you all have put into your products. I cannot fathom going back to stock cords. I may never attend another live chamber or vocal concert again (just joking)! And I look forward to further technical developments from your group.
I appreciate the outstanding service. I always thought Shunyata products were some of the best out there….. your new line may be the best!
I soon will be purchasing a set of your jumpers and sometime next year a TRITON power conditioner.
What a MAJOR difference! As my HYDRA 6 burns in, it gets better and better. Cannot wait to upgrade to PYTHON’s later in 2011. I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times but THANKS for the upgrade!
This is a follow up comment to my previous comment that I had made about the two TRITON’s that I had installed in my main system. As I had commented, I had on order a third TRITON power conditioner for my workshop audio system.
I spend between 20 and 25 hours a week in my workshop as part of a process of earning my livelihood. This past year, I installed an audio system in my workshop consisting of basically a recent vintage Audio Research Reference tube line stage, and Audio Research CD player, and an Audio Research power amp. Speakers are Magnepans, suspended and angled from the ceiling of my work area. Power cables are Shunyata KING COBRA CX’s. I have two dedicated lines — one for the amp and one for the TRITON which powers everything else.
While my main system is for dedicated listening only, that system was put together for a “fidelity to the master tape” sound. The workshop system was put together for a “beauty of tone” sound. Listening to music on the main system is the activity in and of itself, while the secondary system is to provide some element of nourishment, stimulation, relaxation, and fun while I am working. Music is secondary to my working, but I still wanted a sound that made that music sound more accessible. This system is on all the time while I am working and as such I did not want it to be fatiguing in any way, nor did my family need excess bass traveling to other parts of our home.
Simply put, the addition of the TRITON in that secondary system increased the accessibility of the music. There is clearly a resultant denser quality of tone to the overall sound. Futher, there is an intensified the interplay of those tones, not only of total musical presentation, but of individual instrumentation as well. For example the tonal interplay of a guitar’s strings and how they resonate with the guitar’s body or a piano’s tonal interplay of hammers, strings, and sound board are now vividly more apparent. Vocalists have taken on a greater three dimensionality and focus. The sound stage is wider. There is also more information that populates that widened stage. The aggregate result is that I now find myself connecting with the music on a much more intensely emotional level similar to what I have I have regularly experienced on my main system.
The sound is now so intense that at times it is outright distracting! I find that I stop working for a moment or two and just revel in the beauty of the song being played, whether the lyric, the vocalist, or the instrumentalist. I feel the fun, joy, sadness, sorrow, longing, splendor, pulse, and whatever other emotions the performers are expressing. An emotional connection to the music is a good thing, when you get right down to it, that is what this hobby is all about! The addition of the TRITON to my workshop has tremendously enhanced how I spend 25 hours of my life every week. I listen to the secondary system for many more hours than the primary system, and as such the TRITON was not only worth every penny that I had paid for it, when put on an hourly basis will prove to be a bargain!
As you know, I have commented on your wonderful power conditioning products in the past. I am fortunate to have a dedicated purpose built listening room, which includes ten dedicated lines that run in close proximity from an isolated and separately earth grounded sub panel with a very high grade electric in-wall wiring that is purpose built for optimum power delivery with low noise. All power of my power cords are your KING COBRA CX series, which I have also commented on in the past.
Recently when the TRITON power conditioners became available, I had ordered two from my dealer, without an audition. This was based simply on my experience with your past power conditioning products from the HYDRA to the V-RAY to the V-RAY VII. I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical as to any improvement, as truth tell, I was very satisfied with my two V-RAY VII conditioners. I use one conditioner for my analogue front end equipment and another for my digital equipment, as I discovered several years ago through experimentation with two of your V-RAY conditioners that isolating these on separate lines rendered an across the board improvement in sound.
While my TRITON’s were waiting to be being built, I had taken delivery on a new pair of Magico Q5 loudspeakers, which had replaced my Magico V3 loudspeakers. After a week or so of initial break in, I was shocked at the overall improvement that the new Magico’s had wrought. About a month into the loudspeaker break in period, my TRITON’s had finally arrived. I installed them and turned the system back on, not expecting to hear that much of an improvement — perhaps something along the lines of an improvement from your excellent ANACONDA CX to the KING COBRA CX. I had plans to sell one of my V-RAY VII’s and keep the other one for an auxiliary system that I enjoy in my workshop. (This auxiliary system is actually used more than my main system as it is on while I work, while my main system is for leisure time — something that I have precious little of.)
Upon listening to the system with the TRITON’s installed, my jaw nearly hit the floor! These new power conditioners were rendering an improvement to my system that was of the same magnitude as the jump from the Magico V3 to the Q5! I was in shock!!! The sound stage had widened, heretofore buried information became crystal clear, the noise floor (which I had already thought was in the basement) had dropped considerably more, the system’s dynamics and dynamic expressions of the musicians on every recording played became even more apparent, and the density of tone took on another dimension that was much closer to “live”. As the TRITON’s burned in over the next month my system’s presentation became simply more relaxed, effortless, and overall easy to listen to.
In fact, the system now sounds so good, that upon a recent visit to my sound room, my dealer had commented that it was the best sounding system that he has heard in a client’s home! He had also commented that it is a shame that more of his customers don’t bother to try Shunyatapower conditioning equipment, or power conditioning in general, as it is just not as “sexy” as a new preamp or disc player. We both know that adding Shunyata power conditioning to an existing audio system will render a bigger improvement (not difference, but real improvement) than “upgrading” that system’s components.
I was so impressed by the improvement of your new TRITON’s, that I ended up selling both of my V-RAY VII’s and ordered a TRITON to use on my workshop system! In fact I am still so impressed with your KING COBRA CX power cords, that they are used on that system as well. As I write this, I am awaiting the delivery of the TRITON for my secondary system, actually more exited than when I had ordered the TRITON’s for my main system, as I now know what is in store!!!
As a lifetime avid music lover and an audiophile with 35 years of serious listening experience, I have come to the conclusion that your power conditioning equipment is a great equalizer of the different brands of audio electronics. That is, the positive effects and improvements wrought are similar regardless of what brand of electronics they are conditioning. When Shunyata is powering “it” and conditioning “it”, the results will be clearly and demonstrably similar: Wider dynamics, greater detail retrieval, blacker silences, increased dimensionality, greater density and purity of tone, wider sound stage and more precise imaging within that sound stage. My experienced advice to those who are reading this comment — don’t change your electronics — improve the electricity that they are being fed, as without Shunyata, they are not performing anywhere near their full potential!
Listening to music, or I should say properly reproduced music, is of paramount importance to me, and probably anyone who is reading this. It is one of the true pleasures that enhances my life. Your products go a long way to increasing that pleasure and enjoyment. Keep up the good work!
At this point in my life, one of the greatest pleasures and passion I have is my audio system and the beauty of rich, clear and accurate sound.
After several upgrades this year I am curious as to how much better the beautiful sound could get?
I had researched power conditioners and have read and tried to understand what power conditioners are and how they could improve my audio system. As I compared products for a power conditioner I was impressed with the Shunyata Research information available. The research and technology in your products was to me very impressive, not to mention the excellent reviews, endorsements and awards over the years that finally assured me that Shunyata Research is producing a high quality product. I was skeptical but one has to hear it to believe and so with permission from my wife, I decided to add to my system a HYDRA MODEL-6 with a BLACK MAMBA high current CX power cord and I also improved the wall plug with a audiophile grade wall receptacle. As I get home and unpack the new items, I am extremely excited to hear what Shunyata is all about. I carefully arrange the cords and plug them into the HYDRA 6. I put on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon released on SACD. My jaw dropped! What I heard was beautiful sound.
There was an unbelievable quietness — no noise just clear sound. The dynamic range was greater, the sound was more colorful and smooth. The soundstage was also improved — with greater detail and more refined, I could now hear the drummer going from left to right on the kit, the instruments in behind were at lower levels were more evident. The difference was considerably noticeable and I am much happier as a result. An unexpected bonus was the picture quality I observed on our Samsung Ultra Slim 58″ Plasma HD TV. The picture was more detailed with brighter and more vivid color. The resolution was far better with the HYDRA in the system. I was so impressed with the HYDRA 6 I could not help but wonder how the HYDRA Talos would perform and so with permission from my wife to spend the kids university money — kidding — I upgraded to the HYDRA TALOS. I am extremely pleased with the addition of the Shunyata products — they really make a difference that you will notice.
As I continue in my pursuit to achieve the best possible quality music sound reproduction, I am thankful that Shunyata Research has helped me on to the right path.
My joy with the beautiful sound your products has helped me achieve has improved my outlook on life!
I installed the Shunyata TRITON in my system yesterday and have bee listening to it over the evening and through the day. As you recall I had the Shunyata HYDRA-8, ANACONDA/PYTHON power cabling, of which I have been extremely pleased, along with the latest ARC Reference gear and Wilson speakers. Out of the box the Triton’s physical appearance and weight is truly impressive. More importantly though, the improved effects on power conditioning were clearly audible. The imaging, the palpable presence of voices and instruments, and the dynamic shifts in music were all improved. The bass was more extended and quicker. It felt as if my Reference Anniversary had more power and speed available to it through the TRITON. The background noise is indeed quieter on the TRITON. Well, as you can tell I’m sold on the new technology and what it delivers to my system. Thank you again for all your help in assisting me in the selection of these outstanding products. Give the guys at Shunyata a high-five for this one!
Just wanted to let you know that this system is sounding fabulous and these guys aren’t even broken in yet. This is day 3 so I guess in another couple of days we’ll really be smokin’. I’m sure when I put in the 2 CX’s and the re-terminated HELIX ALPHA, it’s going to be absolutely awesome. Thanks for doing such a great job in the products you make as well as the outstanding service. You guys are GREAT!
1. Used the new 20A power cord you sent (Belden) and plugged the HYDRA into same outlet as before. Powered up HYDRA and no issues.
2. Turned switch off on HYDRA, and plugged in all 6 components. Flipped the switch on the HYDRA and no issues. Powered up all 6 components, no issues.
3. Played some tunes for 10-15 minutes – no issues. Powered down all 6 components.
4. Turned switch off on HYDRA and plugged in the 20A PYTHON ALPHA HELIX. Flipped the switch on the HYDRA and no issues. Powered up all 6 components, no issues.
5. Playing tunes now and no issues.
Thank you again, to you and the people at Shunyata. It has been a pleasure to deal with such a great company, and one that still provides great customer service (something that seems to be lost today in the audio world).
I just wanted to thank you for your patient listening and excellent advice on selecting power cords for my system. I ended up buying HYDRA V-RAY and two ANACONDA’s one for the amp and the other for HYDRA. Now I have the entire power distribution system from Shunyata with good combination of shielded and CX cables based on your feedback. The audio video experience has changed so dramatically that I have no words except WOW. We were planning to buy a new TV but now we feel there is no need.
Thanks again and convey my appreciation to your production team — they are the best.
I have been an avid audiophile for over thirty years. I have been fortunate to have the ability and means to own reference grade electronic and loudspeakers and have a purpose built, sound treated listening room outfitted with an electrical sub panel, grounding system, and more than enough dedicated electric lines.
Around 1986 I got into digital, scraping my Goldmund turntable, as I found that records, no matter how good they sounded, always contained some amount of background noise or either in the form of tick and pops, or just plain old low level rumble. The problem with digital is that it created a noise of its own — grunge back on the electric line. I have used various manufactures’ power conditioning equipment over the years, but it was not until I wired my entire system with your ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX power cables, V-RAY conditioner for the front end and HYDRA 2 for the amplification, did I realize just how damned great my digital now sounds! My listening room is library quiet — almost eerily so, as again it is an isolated room both acoustically and eclectically from the rest of my home.
This room quiet, really allows your Shunyata power conditioning equipment to make my system sound like the sonic equivalent of watching a 35MM film. Everything is simply layered bare in front of me in a 180 degree and three dimensional panoramic vista of sound that is outright scary!!! Voices and musical instruments just hang in air, and when the music gets complex, it is only complex in its composition and performance, not in its conveyance through my loudspeakers. Everything is dead quiet. The high notes sparkle and the low notes growl. Your power conditioning equipment simply makes the music easy on the ears, as the brain has so much less work to do in deciphering the music and its inherent complexities of dynamics, micro dynamics, rhythmic interaction, image placement, sound staging, harmonic nuance, cohesiveness, correctness of timber, and an overall finely delineated “wholeness”. My audio system not only has been elevated to a whole different and much higher level, but it is at a level that I have never heard from any other audio system before!
Last week a good friend came over for a visit, and we listened to the music system for several hours. He initially commented on how shockingly quiet my audio system now sounds. After further listening he commented that there was now so much more information coming through my speakers that it was now hard to process — he was hearing familiar recordings that were, in his experience, revealed with much greater fidelity and resolution. At the end of our listening session he commented — Wow! Thank you for sharing that with me! What a treat!!!
A few further thoughts — I lived with a HYDRA 8 for a couple of months before I upgraded to the V-RAY. While the HYDRA 8 was excellent, the V-RAY’s performance is a definite across the board sonic upgrade, easily that of upgrading a major component. I also tried the PYTHON HELIX power cables, and I must disagree with Robert Harley’s assessment in Issue 168 of “The Absolute Sound” magazine, where he writes that the PYTHON is 98% of the ANACONDA’s performance. From my experience the PYTHON, while a most excellent power cable (better than anything else that I have ever used before it!), does not deliver the bottom half octave of bass nor the micro dynamics of the entire audio range with the same authority of the ANACONDA power cable. Perhaps a 20% performance upgrade from the PYTHON to the ANACONDA is a more appropriate percentage relationship. In the context my system, where I am using eight Anacondas, all of those 20% performance differentials add up to a huge and stunning total performance upgrade.
In summation, I am so pleased with your top grade power conditioning equipment, that it makes all other power conditioning gear that I have employed in my audio system over the past three decades sound simply wrong. I now have a mistrust of all audio reviews that I currently read that were written by reviewers who are not using Shunyata for their power conditioning, as they are not getting a true “read†on the products that they are reviewing without your equipment to properly condition the power!
I want to thank you for designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing such amazing equipment that allows me to enjoy and appreciate my music collection as never before!
Thank you for your reply. I know you must get many emails. I have purchased the PYTHON ALPHA HELIX and it will arrive tomorrow. I’m so glad that I took the time to audition the HYDRA MODEL-8 and ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX. I was ready to buy an Exactpower (EP 15) and decided to try the HYDRA in my system. After listening to the HYDRA, there was not doubt. It was superior in every musically meaningful way.
Thanks again for your help. You now have another loyal customer who will spread the word.
I did my true listening of the HYDRA MODEL-6 this weekend after owning the piece for two months. For reasons beyond this email I could not listen to it before however I finally connected my system and all I can say is WOW!
Really, I did not imagine this product could make such a difference. The low end is super detailed. The midrange is clearer and the highs are absolutely delicate now. It is simply amazing. The background is so low now that it is definitely inaudiable.
…I first installed the HYDRA MODEL-2… keeping in mind your recommendation to elevate and isolate the unit.I’ve since made enough room to put the HYDRA on its feet with the help of 3 small aluminim cones. Well, you guys weren’t kidding. The detail, soundstage and bass detail improved ten fold. I am simply shocked by the improvement. I called the audio sales man that sold me these units and urged him to advise customers to pay close attention to this step. The improvement was not subtle, it was a critical optimization of your excellent product.
All of the products are in my system now. I must tell you I AM FLOORED by the differece the ANACONDA’s make over anything else I have ever had. Same goes for the HYDRA 8 the improvments are jaw dropping. I dont know why evreyone does not do this. I think now it is the most important change you make in upgrading your system. It is also the most cost effective as well. When you think that people change their amps, speakers and the like. I want to take this oppertunity to tell you I think your company is changing the way people hear music and home audio. I can tell you it has changed mine forever, and I can’t thank you enough.
Keep up the good work
The Snake Pit
Hi Richard,
I believe rotating the cable 45 degrees will do the trick. The area behind my 3 stereo stands will look like the jungle when I have 1 PYTHON and 3 or 4 COBRA’s. I will call the area the snake pit. Feel free to post my comments on your website. The staff at Sound Hounds are very exited about your products as well. I can’t wait get the COBRA ΞTRON™ power cables and hopefully your speaker cable. I will order one every couple of months. The sound through my Simaudio Moon equipment and B&W 804 S speakers will be even more fantastic.
Your work is truly bringing us all into a new age. Just maybe the sound puzzle we have been working on all our lives is nearing completion.
Mike M.
Victoria, BC
Please continue engineering such fine products!
This is the most dynamic piece of equipment (and cable) I have ever purchased, it’s remarkable. It has made my theater experience explode with vibrancy — and I’m still burning it in.
Please continue engineering such fine products!
From a consumer point of view I like them because they are not mechanical. I will own the HYDRA and my cords for decades, and never worry about wear and tear, or mech. failure. Therefore it is a well justified long-term investment. Fantastic!
Klaus H.
Anaheim, CA
I’m really excited…
Thx for the reply! Hope all went well in Germany.
Also thanks for providing all these details about break-in. First six hours sounded like mud, and I was concerned. I dedicated the weekend to being a full on marathon, and last night it changed a bit.
I have a gut feeling this thing is going to blossom. A couple gunshot scenes in a movie last night had me jump off the couch thinking I truly was under fire. This is yet to EVER happen.
I’m really excited and can’t wait to see all the break-in stages.
I am a huge fan of your products, and talk to all tech fans about them. Every time I read blogs about with snake oil nay-sayers I smile and think how some people have no clue. If I were to wire up with all OEM cords, my system would be a 2009 Honda. With Shunyata products, it’s a Porsche Turbo.
Cheers,
Klaus H.
Anaheim, CA
Remarkable!
Hi Richard:
I would like to let you know how things are working out with the new TRITON, TYPHON, and the ΞTRON™ Powersnakes. In one word: remarkable!!
The TRITON/TYPHON combination is simply amazing. The noise floor in my system is now vanishingly low. I am an Electrical Engineer and I have been an audiophile for more than thirty years, and to say the noise floor is vanishingly low is something I never thought I would say about any system.
Please give my warmest regards to Caelin Gabriel and everybody else at Shunyata!
Robert O.
USA
My listening pleasure has never been better!
Dear Grant and Caelin,
I’m a skeptic when it comes to electrical cables and audio benefits. I have a decent system made up of Bryston components with Vienna Acoustics speakers. Its sound was fairly decent to begin with. So, when my dealer recommended that I hook up a TRITON with COBRA C19 to the wall outlet and COBRA ΞTRON™’s for my amp and DAC, I was skeptical. How can a line conditioner boost that ever-elusive trait that we audiophiles call “musicality”?
After breaking in the TRITON and COBRA cables for about 50 hrs, I was floored. The sonic improvements that I heard were simply astonishing. Vocals and string instruments were clearer and had startling 3-D-like images in my room. The amounts of rich detail I was able to hear in choral, chamber, and pop/rock FLAC and CD recordings were enhanced significantly. Even my LPs, played on a modest Concept turntable, sounded much better, with improved soundstage all around. Reverberations, especially with string instruments, seemed to linger longer, enhancing my experience of a live-performance recording. It was like lifting a veil that masked parts of the music. The opening-up of panoramic vistas of sonic detail from the recordings was truly remarkable. How can a cleaned-up, two-dimensional electrical signal reveal such amazing detail? My listening pleasure has never been better!
I just wanted to congratulate you and your staff for the efforts you all have put into your products. I cannot fathom going back to stock cords. I may never attend another live chamber or vocal concert again (just joking)! And I look forward to further technical developments from your group.
Keep up the great work.
Pete N., PhD
USA
Shunyata Products
Thank you Richard,
I appreciate the outstanding service. I always thought Shunyata products were some of the best out there….. your new line may be the best!
I soon will be purchasing a set of your jumpers and sometime next year a TRITON power conditioner.
Bill Thom
USA
What a MAJOR difference!
Dear All,
What a MAJOR difference! As my HYDRA 6 burns in, it gets better and better. Cannot wait to upgrade to PYTHON’s later in 2011. I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times but THANKS for the upgrade!
Dave G.
USA
An emotional connection to music…
Dear Caelin, Grant, and Richard,
This is a follow up comment to my previous comment that I had made about the two TRITON’s that I had installed in my main system. As I had commented, I had on order a third TRITON power conditioner for my workshop audio system.
I spend between 20 and 25 hours a week in my workshop as part of a process of earning my livelihood. This past year, I installed an audio system in my workshop consisting of basically a recent vintage Audio Research Reference tube line stage, and Audio Research CD player, and an Audio Research power amp. Speakers are Magnepans, suspended and angled from the ceiling of my work area. Power cables are Shunyata KING COBRA CX’s. I have two dedicated lines — one for the amp and one for the TRITON which powers everything else.
While my main system is for dedicated listening only, that system was put together for a “fidelity to the master tape” sound. The workshop system was put together for a “beauty of tone” sound. Listening to music on the main system is the activity in and of itself, while the secondary system is to provide some element of nourishment, stimulation, relaxation, and fun while I am working. Music is secondary to my working, but I still wanted a sound that made that music sound more accessible. This system is on all the time while I am working and as such I did not want it to be fatiguing in any way, nor did my family need excess bass traveling to other parts of our home.
Simply put, the addition of the TRITON in that secondary system increased the accessibility of the music. There is clearly a resultant denser quality of tone to the overall sound. Futher, there is an intensified the interplay of those tones, not only of total musical presentation, but of individual instrumentation as well. For example the tonal interplay of a guitar’s strings and how they resonate with the guitar’s body or a piano’s tonal interplay of hammers, strings, and sound board are now vividly more apparent. Vocalists have taken on a greater three dimensionality and focus. The sound stage is wider. There is also more information that populates that widened stage. The aggregate result is that I now find myself connecting with the music on a much more intensely emotional level similar to what I have I have regularly experienced on my main system.
The sound is now so intense that at times it is outright distracting! I find that I stop working for a moment or two and just revel in the beauty of the song being played, whether the lyric, the vocalist, or the instrumentalist. I feel the fun, joy, sadness, sorrow, longing, splendor, pulse, and whatever other emotions the performers are expressing. An emotional connection to the music is a good thing, when you get right down to it, that is what this hobby is all about! The addition of the TRITON to my workshop has tremendously enhanced how I spend 25 hours of my life every week. I listen to the secondary system for many more hours than the primary system, and as such the TRITON was not only worth every penny that I had paid for it, when put on an hourly basis will prove to be a bargain!
All my appreciation!
RAC
Overall easy to listen to
Dear Caelin, Grant, and Richard,
As you know, I have commented on your wonderful power conditioning products in the past. I am fortunate to have a dedicated purpose built listening room, which includes ten dedicated lines that run in close proximity from an isolated and separately earth grounded sub panel with a very high grade electric in-wall wiring that is purpose built for optimum power delivery with low noise. All power of my power cords are your KING COBRA CX series, which I have also commented on in the past.
Recently when the TRITON power conditioners became available, I had ordered two from my dealer, without an audition. This was based simply on my experience with your past power conditioning products from the HYDRA to the V-RAY to the V-RAY VII. I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical as to any improvement, as truth tell, I was very satisfied with my two V-RAY VII conditioners. I use one conditioner for my analogue front end equipment and another for my digital equipment, as I discovered several years ago through experimentation with two of your V-RAY conditioners that isolating these on separate lines rendered an across the board improvement in sound.
While my TRITON’s were waiting to be being built, I had taken delivery on a new pair of Magico Q5 loudspeakers, which had replaced my Magico V3 loudspeakers. After a week or so of initial break in, I was shocked at the overall improvement that the new Magico’s had wrought. About a month into the loudspeaker break in period, my TRITON’s had finally arrived. I installed them and turned the system back on, not expecting to hear that much of an improvement — perhaps something along the lines of an improvement from your excellent ANACONDA CX to the KING COBRA CX. I had plans to sell one of my V-RAY VII’s and keep the other one for an auxiliary system that I enjoy in my workshop. (This auxiliary system is actually used more than my main system as it is on while I work, while my main system is for leisure time — something that I have precious little of.)
Upon listening to the system with the TRITON’s installed, my jaw nearly hit the floor! These new power conditioners were rendering an improvement to my system that was of the same magnitude as the jump from the Magico V3 to the Q5! I was in shock!!! The sound stage had widened, heretofore buried information became crystal clear, the noise floor (which I had already thought was in the basement) had dropped considerably more, the system’s dynamics and dynamic expressions of the musicians on every recording played became even more apparent, and the density of tone took on another dimension that was much closer to “live”. As the TRITON’s burned in over the next month my system’s presentation became simply more relaxed, effortless, and overall easy to listen to.
In fact, the system now sounds so good, that upon a recent visit to my sound room, my dealer had commented that it was the best sounding system that he has heard in a client’s home! He had also commented that it is a shame that more of his customers don’t bother to try Shunyatapower conditioning equipment, or power conditioning in general, as it is just not as “sexy” as a new preamp or disc player. We both know that adding Shunyata power conditioning to an existing audio system will render a bigger improvement (not difference, but real improvement) than “upgrading” that system’s components.
I was so impressed by the improvement of your new TRITON’s, that I ended up selling both of my V-RAY VII’s and ordered a TRITON to use on my workshop system! In fact I am still so impressed with your KING COBRA CX power cords, that they are used on that system as well. As I write this, I am awaiting the delivery of the TRITON for my secondary system, actually more exited than when I had ordered the TRITON’s for my main system, as I now know what is in store!!!
As a lifetime avid music lover and an audiophile with 35 years of serious listening experience, I have come to the conclusion that your power conditioning equipment is a great equalizer of the different brands of audio electronics. That is, the positive effects and improvements wrought are similar regardless of what brand of electronics they are conditioning. When Shunyata is powering “it” and conditioning “it”, the results will be clearly and demonstrably similar: Wider dynamics, greater detail retrieval, blacker silences, increased dimensionality, greater density and purity of tone, wider sound stage and more precise imaging within that sound stage. My experienced advice to those who are reading this comment — don’t change your electronics — improve the electricity that they are being fed, as without Shunyata, they are not performing anywhere near their full potential!
Listening to music, or I should say properly reproduced music, is of paramount importance to me, and probably anyone who is reading this. It is one of the true pleasures that enhances my life. Your products go a long way to increasing that pleasure and enjoyment. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for doing what you do.
RAC
There was an unbelievable quietness…
At this point in my life, one of the greatest pleasures and passion I have is my audio system and the beauty of rich, clear and accurate sound.
After several upgrades this year I am curious as to how much better the beautiful sound could get?
I had researched power conditioners and have read and tried to understand what power conditioners are and how they could improve my audio system. As I compared products for a power conditioner I was impressed with the Shunyata Research information available. The research and technology in your products was to me very impressive, not to mention the excellent reviews, endorsements and awards over the years that finally assured me that Shunyata Research is producing a high quality product. I was skeptical but one has to hear it to believe and so with permission from my wife, I decided to add to my system a HYDRA MODEL-6 with a BLACK MAMBA high current CX power cord and I also improved the wall plug with a audiophile grade wall receptacle. As I get home and unpack the new items, I am extremely excited to hear what Shunyata is all about. I carefully arrange the cords and plug them into the HYDRA 6. I put on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon released on SACD. My jaw dropped! What I heard was beautiful sound.
There was an unbelievable quietness — no noise just clear sound. The dynamic range was greater, the sound was more colorful and smooth. The soundstage was also improved — with greater detail and more refined, I could now hear the drummer going from left to right on the kit, the instruments in behind were at lower levels were more evident. The difference was considerably noticeable and I am much happier as a result. An unexpected bonus was the picture quality I observed on our Samsung Ultra Slim 58″ Plasma HD TV. The picture was more detailed with brighter and more vivid color. The resolution was far better with the HYDRA in the system. I was so impressed with the HYDRA 6 I could not help but wonder how the HYDRA Talos would perform and so with permission from my wife to spend the kids university money — kidding — I upgraded to the HYDRA TALOS. I am extremely pleased with the addition of the Shunyata products — they really make a difference that you will notice.
As I continue in my pursuit to achieve the best possible quality music sound reproduction, I am thankful that Shunyata Research has helped me on to the right path.
My joy with the beautiful sound your products has helped me achieve has improved my outlook on life!
Mario
Winnipeg, MB
Give the guys at Shunyata a high-five for this one!
I installed the Shunyata TRITON in my system yesterday and have bee listening to it over the evening and through the day. As you recall I had the Shunyata HYDRA-8, ANACONDA/PYTHON power cabling, of which I have been extremely pleased, along with the latest ARC Reference gear and Wilson speakers. Out of the box the Triton’s physical appearance and weight is truly impressive. More importantly though, the improved effects on power conditioning were clearly audible. The imaging, the palpable presence of voices and instruments, and the dynamic shifts in music were all improved. The bass was more extended and quicker. It felt as if my Reference Anniversary had more power and speed available to it through the TRITON. The background noise is indeed quieter on the TRITON. Well, as you can tell I’m sold on the new technology and what it delivers to my system. Thank you again for all your help in assisting me in the selection of these outstanding products. Give the guys at Shunyata a high-five for this one!
Len L.
USA
You guys are GREAT!
Good morning gentlemen,
Just wanted to let you know that this system is sounding fabulous and these guys aren’t even broken in yet. This is day 3 so I guess in another couple of days we’ll really be smokin’. I’m sure when I put in the 2 CX’s and the re-terminated HELIX ALPHA, it’s going to be absolutely awesome. Thanks for doing such a great job in the products you make as well as the outstanding service. You guys are GREAT!
Ken
Great customer service
Richard,
HYDRA arrived today with no issues from shipping.
1. Used the new 20A power cord you sent (Belden) and plugged the HYDRA into same outlet as before. Powered up HYDRA and no issues.
2. Turned switch off on HYDRA, and plugged in all 6 components. Flipped the switch on the HYDRA and no issues. Powered up all 6 components, no issues.
3. Played some tunes for 10-15 minutes – no issues. Powered down all 6 components.
4. Turned switch off on HYDRA and plugged in the 20A PYTHON ALPHA HELIX. Flipped the switch on the HYDRA and no issues. Powered up all 6 components, no issues.
5. Playing tunes now and no issues.
Thank you again, to you and the people at Shunyata. It has been a pleasure to deal with such a great company, and one that still provides great customer service (something that seems to be lost today in the audio world).
Dan
I have no words except WOW
Grant,
I just wanted to thank you for your patient listening and excellent advice on selecting power cords for my system. I ended up buying HYDRA V-RAY and two ANACONDA’s one for the amp and the other for HYDRA. Now I have the entire power distribution system from Shunyata with good combination of shielded and CX cables based on your feedback. The audio video experience has changed so dramatically that I have no words except WOW. We were planning to buy a new TV but now we feel there is no need.
Thanks again and convey my appreciation to your production team — they are the best.
Akbar A.
Across the board sonic upgrade
Dear Caelin, Grant, and Matt,
I have been an avid audiophile for over thirty years. I have been fortunate to have the ability and means to own reference grade electronic and loudspeakers and have a purpose built, sound treated listening room outfitted with an electrical sub panel, grounding system, and more than enough dedicated electric lines.
Around 1986 I got into digital, scraping my Goldmund turntable, as I found that records, no matter how good they sounded, always contained some amount of background noise or either in the form of tick and pops, or just plain old low level rumble. The problem with digital is that it created a noise of its own — grunge back on the electric line. I have used various manufactures’ power conditioning equipment over the years, but it was not until I wired my entire system with your ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX power cables, V-RAY conditioner for the front end and HYDRA 2 for the amplification, did I realize just how damned great my digital now sounds! My listening room is library quiet — almost eerily so, as again it is an isolated room both acoustically and eclectically from the rest of my home.
This room quiet, really allows your Shunyata power conditioning equipment to make my system sound like the sonic equivalent of watching a 35MM film. Everything is simply layered bare in front of me in a 180 degree and three dimensional panoramic vista of sound that is outright scary!!! Voices and musical instruments just hang in air, and when the music gets complex, it is only complex in its composition and performance, not in its conveyance through my loudspeakers. Everything is dead quiet. The high notes sparkle and the low notes growl. Your power conditioning equipment simply makes the music easy on the ears, as the brain has so much less work to do in deciphering the music and its inherent complexities of dynamics, micro dynamics, rhythmic interaction, image placement, sound staging, harmonic nuance, cohesiveness, correctness of timber, and an overall finely delineated “wholeness”. My audio system not only has been elevated to a whole different and much higher level, but it is at a level that I have never heard from any other audio system before!
Last week a good friend came over for a visit, and we listened to the music system for several hours. He initially commented on how shockingly quiet my audio system now sounds. After further listening he commented that there was now so much more information coming through my speakers that it was now hard to process — he was hearing familiar recordings that were, in his experience, revealed with much greater fidelity and resolution. At the end of our listening session he commented — Wow! Thank you for sharing that with me! What a treat!!!
A few further thoughts — I lived with a HYDRA 8 for a couple of months before I upgraded to the V-RAY. While the HYDRA 8 was excellent, the V-RAY’s performance is a definite across the board sonic upgrade, easily that of upgrading a major component. I also tried the PYTHON HELIX power cables, and I must disagree with Robert Harley’s assessment in Issue 168 of “The Absolute Sound” magazine, where he writes that the PYTHON is 98% of the ANACONDA’s performance. From my experience the PYTHON, while a most excellent power cable (better than anything else that I have ever used before it!), does not deliver the bottom half octave of bass nor the micro dynamics of the entire audio range with the same authority of the ANACONDA power cable. Perhaps a 20% performance upgrade from the PYTHON to the ANACONDA is a more appropriate percentage relationship. In the context my system, where I am using eight Anacondas, all of those 20% performance differentials add up to a huge and stunning total performance upgrade.
In summation, I am so pleased with your top grade power conditioning equipment, that it makes all other power conditioning gear that I have employed in my audio system over the past three decades sound simply wrong. I now have a mistrust of all audio reviews that I currently read that were written by reviewers who are not using Shunyata for their power conditioning, as they are not getting a true “read†on the products that they are reviewing without your equipment to properly condition the power!
I want to thank you for designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing such amazing equipment that allows me to enjoy and appreciate my music collection as never before!
RAC
Superior in every musically meaningful way
Thank you for your reply. I know you must get many emails. I have purchased the PYTHON ALPHA HELIX and it will arrive tomorrow. I’m so glad that I took the time to audition the HYDRA MODEL-8 and ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX. I was ready to buy an Exactpower (EP 15) and decided to try the HYDRA in my system. After listening to the HYDRA, there was not doubt. It was superior in every musically meaningful way.
Thanks again for your help. You now have another loyal customer who will spread the word.
John A.
It is simply amazing
I did my true listening of the HYDRA MODEL-6 this weekend after owning the piece for two months. For reasons beyond this email I could not listen to it before however I finally connected my system and all I can say is WOW!
Really, I did not imagine this product could make such a difference. The low end is super detailed. The midrange is clearer and the highs are absolutely delicate now. It is simply amazing. The background is so low now that it is definitely inaudiable.
Adrian L.
I am simply shocked by the improvement
…I first installed the HYDRA MODEL-2… keeping in mind your recommendation to elevate and isolate the unit.I’ve since made enough room to put the HYDRA on its feet with the help of 3 small aluminim cones. Well, you guys weren’t kidding. The detail, soundstage and bass detail improved ten fold. I am simply shocked by the improvement. I called the audio sales man that sold me these units and urged him to advise customers to pay close attention to this step. The improvement was not subtle, it was a critical optimization of your excellent product.
Peter Cummings
I can’t thank you enough
Dear Grant,
All of the products are in my system now. I must tell you I AM FLOORED by the differece the ANACONDA’s make over anything else I have ever had. Same goes for the HYDRA 8 the improvments are jaw dropping. I dont know why evreyone does not do this. I think now it is the most important change you make in upgrading your system. It is also the most cost effective as well. When you think that people change their amps, speakers and the like. I want to take this oppertunity to tell you I think your company is changing the way people hear music and home audio. I can tell you it has changed mine forever, and I can’t thank you enough.
KEEP UP THE FINE WORK.
David Zucker