Richard,
Thanks for taking the time to talk the other day. As I mentioned in my conversation, I currently own the Shunyata ZR-1 and the SIDEWINDER VTX power cable (on the Oppo) and both have made a tremendous difference to the sound quality of my system (Pioneer SVX54, Oppo BDP83se, B&W 805, JL Audio Phantom, Cardas Neutral reference interconnects and speaker wire). The key, as you had pointed out with the power cable (and I have tried out 2 other lower models from Shunyata), is the burn-in time. This has made a huge difference.
I would recommend the Shunyata line to anyone wanting a great deal. A small investment in Shunyata can bring you a enormous difference in sound quality clarity, enhanced sound stage and more true to life experience without busting the bank. In these tough economic times its great to see an American company put out quality product.
Anonymous
My cables (ANACONDA speaker cables, COBRA XLR IC’s, 4 COBRA power cords) have been in my all Gamut system about a month. Time is very scarce these past weeks and no letup in sight but I feel I owe you a quick report after all your valuable assistance. I’ll expand on this later.
The stereo is transformed. Everyone who has heard it is as dumbstruck as I am over the improvement. All my system issues prior to purchase of the Shunyata cables gradually resolved as the cables burned in. Lack of bass, being overly bright, distortion, lack of dynamics, uneven frequency response, uninspiring timing, difficulty with speaker placement — all gone.
Acknowledging I have not heard dozens of other high end systems but have heard at least a few very high end systems, I personally have never heard a better sounding stereo when CD is the source.
My only complaint is that the cables did not fix the skip in my CD player or make my girlfriend any easier to comprehend.
Remember me? I always like to keep you guys informed of my opinion of your products. I just received today from Music Direct the above named [BLACK MAMBA] Power Cord. I’m using it from my Magnum Dynalab FM tuner to the TALOS. Right out of the box…BEAUTIFUL. I’ve never heard my FM sound so great…I listen to a local classical music station and you would think I have a CD playing. Your company is the king of power conditioning which is why I have your power cords throughout my entire system. Kindly pass this E-mail on to Grant as I’m sure he would appreciate my comments.
Hi. I recently purchased your VENOM-3 Power Cord (15amp) and love it. I’ll be darned, a power cord really does make a difference. Maybe it’s all in my head, but if so, I like the way you hypnotized me!
I have recently upgraded all of the power cables in my audio system from your Shunyata ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX to your KING COBRA CX. After an extensive “break in” of several weeks, I can emphatically state that the new KING COBRA CX’s are unequivocally better sounding. They have turned a nightly routine into a nightly EVENT! In addition to an unimaginably quieter and blacker background, they have brought forth a whole new layer of new found resolution of spatial and dynamic realism that must be heard to be believed! There are literally vistas of new and musically relevant information on each and every recording that I have played. Sometimes this new found resolution is outright startling!
I have been a music lover for most of my life and an audiophile for thirty five years. I have refined my tastes for what sounds best to my tastes, and have long since exited the “preamp of the month club”, with the purchase of my current electronics (All Mark Levinson Reference) about a decade ago. I purchased that equipment, because I liked how it sounded, I liked how it looks, and I liked the interfacing of the components. I still love what I have and nothing has convinced, nor persuaded me to change my electronics. Most “high end” audio electronics are built to military standards and with proper care will perform for decades. Your KING COBRA CX power cables along with my two V-RAY II’s have allowed my equipment to perform at a much higher level than ever before. It sounds like the already overbuilt power supplies of my electronics were just rebuilt and tripled in their size and at the same time the circuit boards designed to pass more information! I now hear resolution down to the room noise and musicians breathing, instrumental overtones sound more of a piece and simply more “real”, voices more “human”, and dynamics much more alive and vibrant — truly amazing!
These KING COBRA CX cables are expensive, no doubt and for the same money I could have traded in or sold my Levinson electronics and purchased new equipment, but I chose not to do that, as again, I had left the electronics merry-go-round some years ago. I firmly believe that the purity and the amount of power that audio electronics have, the better that they will perform. While I have top notch signal cable, I think that if the electronics are not performing at their fullest potential, then the signal that they are transferring from component to component will be seriously compromised. Power is as key as a properly designed listening room, if one wants to achieve state of the art sound reproduction.
The overall “sonic picture” that I have currently achieved (pun intended!) must not only be heard to be believed, but also warps time, as when I leave the sound room for the evening what seemed like minutes was hours!
Thank you for designing and manufacturing your amazing products! I look forward to continuing the journey with you as you develop even better sounding power products in the future!
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.
You might recall that several weeks ago I sent you two SIDEWINDER CX’s to be converted to BLACK MAMBA’s. Since that time they have come in and have been in my system. I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for this service and to say that these BLACK MAMBA’s are simply glorious. I appreciate yours and your company’s attention to customer service and your staff (Cassandra) was just wonderful and extremely professional.
I finally have about 110 hrs on the cords. Clearly I haven’t been able to listen as much as I would like. The sound did get a little worse by about 24 hrs and then gradually improved. Then, around 85 hrs the sound really opened up. It was so much more resolved and airy but also with better bass definition. The rhythm seems just unstoppable. All the little timing cues are now more apparent. What’s more, a significant grainy veil has been lifted that I didn’t even know was there. It initially sounded a little soft, but then I realized this was lack of grain and harshness in the high frequencies. I definitely wasn’t expecting that much change after so many hours. Now I think the sound isn’t changing so much, but who knows? It could break in more I suppose.
Next, I’m going to plug the Vandersteen subs into the HYDRA 4 to see if that makes a difference.
Having owned and used a Shunyata VENOM power cord and then used Acrolink 4023 PC’s for the last year I’m convinced that power cords make a big difference in sound over stock cords. I don’t understand why or how but that does not matter. When I received the TAIPAN’s I cooked them on a cable cooker for several hours before listening. After hooking them up, what I noticed was a big improvement in the sound stage. I could hear better placement of instruments, studio room size/acoustics, placement of vocals, and that feeling that you are right there in front of BB King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Clearance Brown. Truly, a remarkable experience.
I have done evaluations on tubes, prototype interconnects and PC’s for Ron at Cryoset and auditioned many other brands of cables. It normally takes a lot to impress me but I’m very impressed with the Helix technology and quality of these cables. I’m glad the price was such that I could justify the risk of buying a product that I had not auditioned.
So you know, I’ve had the DARK FIELD’s in my system for five days now. Three under the PYTHON, three under the TAIPAN, the rest separating/lifting the interconnect (Alpha-Core Sapphire) and the speaker cable (Alphacore Boa).
There is no question they make a difference and that it’s positive aross the board. More separation betwen voices and instruments, a broader, deeper soundstage, improved timbres, I could go on. Listening more holistically, the speakers basically vanish even better than before, and it’s just much easier to forget it’s a stereo I’m listening to.
All in all, clear improvements that are worth the price.
Just before I plug my ANACONDA, I was auditionning the Acoustic Zen Tsunami feeding my Simaudio Moon P 8. So I replaced that cable with my ANACONDA. The difference was truly great. Next, I tried the Tsunami with my Moon W 8. The sound was not very good. My wife complained about the hight frequency. The sound was harsh and the singer was short on his legs. She asked me to plug the Tsunami directly to the HYDRA MODEL-6. Just before I did that, it was plugged in the wall’s outlet (VENOM Silver outlet). The differences were instantaneous. The singer was now taller. The harmonics amazing! The same cable with a totally new sound’s signature.
I recently borrowed some power cords from Chad at Alternative Audio. I had the DIAMONDBACK, COPPERHEAD, TAIPAN, and PYTHON for home evaluation. I could not believe the difference that the PYTHON’s made while being attached to my Bluenote Stibbert and Edge G3 with a Copperhead to my Anthony Gallo SA. It made music sound like music and humiliated my existing 3 Crystal Standard power cords. My question for you now is what is the best place to start with Shunyata speaker cables and interconnects?
Take the entire book of known terms people use to try to describe the changes to their system and those words would not be enough to describe the improvements I have witnessed with the simple upgrades. Really that is how I feel because there is so much that has changed and all for the much much better I must say. I am supremely pleased with what these power cords and speaker cables have done for me and I look forward to several more ANACONDA’s finding a home in my simple system. Thank you to all at Shunyata Research for making such great products!
After a strong recomendation from a local dealer, I took the leap of faith and invested in your product. I was impressed with the TAIPAN VX / ALPHA and HYDRA MODEL-2 combination. It wasn’t till I added the TAIPAN HELIX to the mix, did I realize the full potential of this upgrade. The improvement in the micro dynamics was the first change noted. My sound stage grew ten feet. Sonically, theres a kind of “enrobing” effect, I’ve had many different power conditioners over the years, as well as upgraded power cords. With Shunyata, I’ve gone from “thinking” I hear a difference, to knowing it to be fact.
As you know, I have personally evaluated your Power Conditioning HYDRA system with your PowerSnake cables. I was very impressed with the results.
Your system is part of my equipment setup. Especially, with my 2 track tape machines. The sound with your system was definitely more transparent and clearer than the test without any conditioning. I would highly recommend your product to any professional audio/video facility.
Vado Meller, Senior Mastering Engineer
New York, NY
I recently upgraded my system this year [Rotel 1075 amp; Pioneer Elite VSX-55 TXi (using it as a pre/pro — liked it better than the Rotel 1068); Pioneer Elite DV47Ai; Definitive Technology 7002s (main) 2005 (centre) and BPX rears] and wanted a good power conditioner. After reading the many positive reviews on your HYDRA MODEL-8, I tried one out. I originally thought it would be overkill for my otherwise modest system, but after adding it about 2 months ago I was amazed at the improvement that it made to my system. It stayed notwithstanding the fact that it is aimed at audiophile systems. The descriptions of it in the various reviews were pretty accurate as they reflect my experience. It had as big a positive impact as did adding the separate amp.
What caused me to take the time to drop you this note, however, was the addition today of two DIAMONDBACK’s to the system (to the amp and the DVD player). They replaced the stock cords that came with the amp and the DVD player. Out of the box, they were amazing. “Wow” describes my reaction from the first song I listened to. I find it hard to believe that power cords can have such a profound impact, but they most definitely did. I take a company’s advertising claims of their products with a large grain of salt, but if anything, you underplay the impact of these wonderful cords. For the money, I expected a significant impact from the HYDRA MODEL-8 and it delivered. However, and again for the money, the DIAMONDBACK’s are an exceptional value as they delivered far more than what I expected. The review in 6 Moons very accurately describes their impact. Goodness only knows what they’ll be like once they’re broken in.
So, I just wanted to say thank you for 2 wonderful products.
If you’re interested, I purchased them from your dealer in Dundas, Ontario, Mike Occie @ Alternative Audio.
I just got the cables back, and they look great. You guys definitely went beyond the call of duty — adding the new shrinkwraps and reterminating both cables. Not to mention the fact that I bought the cables used. I really appreciate it, and look forward to more great cables from Shunyata.
A tremendous difference to the sound quality
The stereo is transformed
Hello Grant,
My cables (ANACONDA speaker cables, COBRA XLR IC’s, 4 COBRA power cords) have been in my all Gamut system about a month. Time is very scarce these past weeks and no letup in sight but I feel I owe you a quick report after all your valuable assistance. I’ll expand on this later.
The stereo is transformed. Everyone who has heard it is as dumbstruck as I am over the improvement. All my system issues prior to purchase of the Shunyata cables gradually resolved as the cables burned in. Lack of bass, being overly bright, distortion, lack of dynamics, uneven frequency response, uninspiring timing, difficulty with speaker placement — all gone.
Acknowledging I have not heard dozens of other high end systems but have heard at least a few very high end systems, I personally have never heard a better sounding stereo when CD is the source.
My only complaint is that the cables did not fix the skip in my CD player or make my girlfriend any easier to comprehend.
Louis G.
Right out of the box….BEAUTIFUL
Hello Richard,
Remember me? I always like to keep you guys informed of my opinion of your products. I just received today from Music Direct the above named [BLACK MAMBA] Power Cord. I’m using it from my Magnum Dynalab FM tuner to the TALOS. Right out of the box…BEAUTIFUL. I’ve never heard my FM sound so great…I listen to a local classical music station and you would think I have a CD playing. Your company is the king of power conditioning which is why I have your power cords throughout my entire system. Kindly pass this E-mail on to Grant as I’m sure he would appreciate my comments.
Ken
A power cord really does make a difference
Hi. I recently purchased your VENOM-3 Power Cord (15amp) and love it. I’ll be darned, a power cord really does make a difference. Maybe it’s all in my head, but if so, I like the way you hypnotized me!
Sam C.
Truly amazing!
Dear Caelin and Grant,
I have recently upgraded all of the power cables in my audio system from your Shunyata ANACONDA ALPHA HELIX to your KING COBRA CX. After an extensive “break in” of several weeks, I can emphatically state that the new KING COBRA CX’s are unequivocally better sounding. They have turned a nightly routine into a nightly EVENT! In addition to an unimaginably quieter and blacker background, they have brought forth a whole new layer of new found resolution of spatial and dynamic realism that must be heard to be believed! There are literally vistas of new and musically relevant information on each and every recording that I have played. Sometimes this new found resolution is outright startling!
I have been a music lover for most of my life and an audiophile for thirty five years. I have refined my tastes for what sounds best to my tastes, and have long since exited the “preamp of the month club”, with the purchase of my current electronics (All Mark Levinson Reference) about a decade ago. I purchased that equipment, because I liked how it sounded, I liked how it looks, and I liked the interfacing of the components. I still love what I have and nothing has convinced, nor persuaded me to change my electronics. Most “high end” audio electronics are built to military standards and with proper care will perform for decades. Your KING COBRA CX power cables along with my two V-RAY II’s have allowed my equipment to perform at a much higher level than ever before. It sounds like the already overbuilt power supplies of my electronics were just rebuilt and tripled in their size and at the same time the circuit boards designed to pass more information! I now hear resolution down to the room noise and musicians breathing, instrumental overtones sound more of a piece and simply more “real”, voices more “human”, and dynamics much more alive and vibrant — truly amazing!
These KING COBRA CX cables are expensive, no doubt and for the same money I could have traded in or sold my Levinson electronics and purchased new equipment, but I chose not to do that, as again, I had left the electronics merry-go-round some years ago. I firmly believe that the purity and the amount of power that audio electronics have, the better that they will perform. While I have top notch signal cable, I think that if the electronics are not performing at their fullest potential, then the signal that they are transferring from component to component will be seriously compromised. Power is as key as a properly designed listening room, if one wants to achieve state of the art sound reproduction.
The overall “sonic picture” that I have currently achieved (pun intended!) must not only be heard to be believed, but also warps time, as when I leave the sound room for the evening what seemed like minutes was hours!
Thank you for designing and manufacturing your amazing products! I look forward to continuing the journey with you as you develop even better sounding power products in the future!
RAC
Excellent advice on selecting power cords
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.
Los Angeles, CA
These BLACK MAMBA’s are simply glorious
Grant,
You might recall that several weeks ago I sent you two SIDEWINDER CX’s to be converted to BLACK MAMBA’s. Since that time they have come in and have been in my system. I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for this service and to say that these BLACK MAMBA’s are simply glorious. I appreciate yours and your company’s attention to customer service and your staff (Cassandra) was just wonderful and extremely professional.
George H.
Thank you for the PYTHON CX
Shunyata,
Your newest products have been amazing in my system. Thank you for the PYTHON CX.
Matt B.
The rhythm seems just unstoppable
Hi Grant,
I finally have about 110 hrs on the cords. Clearly I haven’t been able to listen as much as I would like. The sound did get a little worse by about 24 hrs and then gradually improved. Then, around 85 hrs the sound really opened up. It was so much more resolved and airy but also with better bass definition. The rhythm seems just unstoppable. All the little timing cues are now more apparent. What’s more, a significant grainy veil has been lifted that I didn’t even know was there. It initially sounded a little soft, but then I realized this was lack of grain and harshness in the high frequencies. I definitely wasn’t expecting that much change after so many hours. Now I think the sound isn’t changing so much, but who knows? It could break in more I suppose.
Next, I’m going to plug the Vandersteen subs into the HYDRA 4 to see if that makes a difference.
Jim D.
Truly, a remarkable experience
To Whom It May Concern:
Having owned and used a Shunyata VENOM power cord and then used Acrolink 4023 PC’s for the last year I’m convinced that power cords make a big difference in sound over stock cords. I don’t understand why or how but that does not matter. When I received the TAIPAN’s I cooked them on a cable cooker for several hours before listening. After hooking them up, what I noticed was a big improvement in the sound stage. I could hear better placement of instruments, studio room size/acoustics, placement of vocals, and that feeling that you are right there in front of BB King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Clearance Brown. Truly, a remarkable experience.
I have done evaluations on tubes, prototype interconnects and PC’s for Ron at Cryoset and auditioned many other brands of cables. It normally takes a lot to impress me but I’m very impressed with the Helix technology and quality of these cables. I’m glad the price was such that I could justify the risk of buying a product that I had not auditioned.
John T.
Clear improvements that are worth the price
So you know, I’ve had the DARK FIELD’s in my system for five days now. Three under the PYTHON, three under the TAIPAN, the rest separating/lifting the interconnect (Alpha-Core Sapphire) and the speaker cable (Alphacore Boa).
There is no question they make a difference and that it’s positive aross the board. More separation betwen voices and instruments, a broader, deeper soundstage, improved timbres, I could go on. Listening more holistically, the speakers basically vanish even better than before, and it’s just much easier to forget it’s a stereo I’m listening to.
All in all, clear improvements that are worth the price.
Matthew K.
Great product!
Unbelievable… how a $99.00 power cord can improve a system’s sound so much!
Bob O.
The harmonics amazing!
Just before I plug my ANACONDA, I was auditionning the Acoustic Zen Tsunami feeding my Simaudio Moon P 8. So I replaced that cable with my ANACONDA. The difference was truly great. Next, I tried the Tsunami with my Moon W 8. The sound was not very good. My wife complained about the hight frequency. The sound was harsh and the singer was short on his legs. She asked me to plug the Tsunami directly to the HYDRA MODEL-6. Just before I did that, it was plugged in the wall’s outlet (VENOM Silver outlet). The differences were instantaneous. The singer was now taller. The harmonics amazing! The same cable with a totally new sound’s signature.
Michel V.
It made music sound like music
Hi Grant,
I recently borrowed some power cords from Chad at Alternative Audio. I had the DIAMONDBACK, COPPERHEAD, TAIPAN, and PYTHON for home evaluation. I could not believe the difference that the PYTHON’s made while being attached to my Bluenote Stibbert and Edge G3 with a Copperhead to my Anthony Gallo SA. It made music sound like music and humiliated my existing 3 Crystal Standard power cords. My question for you now is what is the best place to start with Shunyata speaker cables and interconnects?
Vern
Supremely pleased
Take the entire book of known terms people use to try to describe the changes to their system and those words would not be enough to describe the improvements I have witnessed with the simple upgrades. Really that is how I feel because there is so much that has changed and all for the much much better I must say. I am supremely pleased with what these power cords and speaker cables have done for me and I look forward to several more ANACONDA’s finding a home in my simple system. Thank you to all at Shunyata Research for making such great products!
Marcel (Pete) St. Pierre
C.E.T.
I was impressed
After a strong recomendation from a local dealer, I took the leap of faith and invested in your product. I was impressed with the TAIPAN VX / ALPHA and HYDRA MODEL-2 combination. It wasn’t till I added the TAIPAN HELIX to the mix, did I realize the full potential of this upgrade. The improvement in the micro dynamics was the first change noted. My sound stage grew ten feet. Sonically, theres a kind of “enrobing” effect, I’ve had many different power conditioners over the years, as well as upgraded power cords. With Shunyata, I’ve gone from “thinking” I hear a difference, to knowing it to be fact.
Peter C.
Jersey City, NJ
Your system is part of my equipment setup
Dear Grant,
As you know, I have personally evaluated your Power Conditioning HYDRA system with your PowerSnake cables. I was very impressed with the results.
Your system is part of my equipment setup. Especially, with my 2 track tape machines. The sound with your system was definitely more transparent and clearer than the test without any conditioning. I would highly recommend your product to any professional audio/video facility.
Vado Meller, Senior Mastering Engineer
New York, NY
Out of the box, they were amazing
Dear Grant,
I recently upgraded my system this year [Rotel 1075 amp; Pioneer Elite VSX-55 TXi (using it as a pre/pro — liked it better than the Rotel 1068); Pioneer Elite DV47Ai; Definitive Technology 7002s (main) 2005 (centre) and BPX rears] and wanted a good power conditioner. After reading the many positive reviews on your HYDRA MODEL-8, I tried one out. I originally thought it would be overkill for my otherwise modest system, but after adding it about 2 months ago I was amazed at the improvement that it made to my system. It stayed notwithstanding the fact that it is aimed at audiophile systems. The descriptions of it in the various reviews were pretty accurate as they reflect my experience. It had as big a positive impact as did adding the separate amp.
What caused me to take the time to drop you this note, however, was the addition today of two DIAMONDBACK’s to the system (to the amp and the DVD player). They replaced the stock cords that came with the amp and the DVD player. Out of the box, they were amazing. “Wow” describes my reaction from the first song I listened to. I find it hard to believe that power cords can have such a profound impact, but they most definitely did. I take a company’s advertising claims of their products with a large grain of salt, but if anything, you underplay the impact of these wonderful cords. For the money, I expected a significant impact from the HYDRA MODEL-8 and it delivered. However, and again for the money, the DIAMONDBACK’s are an exceptional value as they delivered far more than what I expected. The review in 6 Moons very accurately describes their impact. Goodness only knows what they’ll be like once they’re broken in.
So, I just wanted to say thank you for 2 wonderful products.
If you’re interested, I purchased them from your dealer in Dundas, Ontario, Mike Occie @ Alternative Audio.
Murray Box
Mississauga, ON
You guys definitely went beyond the call of duty…
I just got the cables back, and they look great. You guys definitely went beyond the call of duty — adding the new shrinkwraps and reterminating both cables. Not to mention the fact that I bought the cables used. I really appreciate it, and look forward to more great cables from Shunyata.
Jason
Blew myself away
I recently traded in my PS Audio cords for Shunyata cords and not only blew myself away, but my local shop in Eugene, OR as well. Thanks!
John L.