I recently replaced all of my PS Audio power cords with Shunyata cords, and sold my Richard Gray Power Center in order to run the HYDRA MODEL-4. Wow. I’d always thought that adding clarity involved sacrificing musicality, particularly with rock recordings. No more. The Shunyata gear, across the board, broadened the soundstage, deepened and distinguished the images, and lowered the noise floor, and that translated into remarkable gains in musicality. And just to make sure I wasn’t crazy, I carted the cords off to some other systems, only to find the same kind of improvements. For example, vocal harmonies, whether two part, five part, or spread across double choirs, now arrive like real voices in dialogue with one another. Similarly, saxaphone choruses, even without harmonies, now greet me less as a wall than as distinct instruments playing together. And with orchestral, performances, well, it’s like hearing them for the first time — conversations within conversations, laid out and palpably present. And yet, with all this added detail, I’ve never encountered added grain or edginess. In fact, quite the reverse. My system sounds significantly more relaxed and natural. In a favorite rock recording, Sparklehorse’s *It’s A Wonderful Life,* once abrasive bells now ring true with a startling degree of three-dimensionality. And on the low end, acoustic bass notes, plucked or bowed, unfold with melodic precision and decay with ambient details I hadn’t heard before. I was happy as a clam with my previous cords and line conditioner, but I had no idea what my system was capable of until I added the Shunyata gear. Now I’m even happier than a clam.
John Lysaker