Is There Some Problem With Shunyata's Everest Power Conditioner

Friend had one and he was underwhelmed. Sold it not sure what he got but will check with him and get back to this thread.

I don't have one but I have had a Denali for a few years and it cleaned up the sound noticeably but not to jaw dropping level.  They are a very simple device.  I don't know how they work, but if you're looking for something that runs the electricity through chokes, power supplies, etc., etc., the Everest is probably not it.

@tomcy6, I have been looking for a Denali v2 which is substantially less expensive than the Everest.  Neither the Denali nor the Everest use chokes, and all of that. They both appear to have some real technology, not mumbo jumbo.  Whether that tech works or not is a different story.  Probably comes down to how resolving the system is I suppose.  This seems like something that one should demo if at all possible.  Would you say that your Denali was worth the cost?

Hello @moto_man, about a month ago I ordered a Denali v2 while 20% off from music direct.  I got it to take to my weekend home which has much more power outages and thunder storms.  Since it was delivered to my main house, I decided to try it out here first.  I left my Audionet Max amps plugged into one dedicated 20 amp outlet and then plugged the Denali into my other dedicated outlet.  Into the Denali I plugged in my Mola Mola Makua preamp with onboard Tambaqui DAC, My Grimm MU1 Streamer, and TV.  I have Revel Salon 2 speakers in this system.

Everything immediately sounded better.  Clearer, cleaner, crisper, better soundstage, better defined from top to bottom.  My wife perked up not knowing what I had done and said wow.  So I then took it to the Lake and had the same experience.  So I ordered a second Denali v2.

Interestingly, I did try it in my reference system, where I have YG Hailey speakers and uber fast and resolving Audionet Stern and Heisenbergs.  I actually found the Denali here to be a bit much and not needed. 

…at the Lake house I used the Denali to power my Soulnote A2 integrated amp,  Auralic Altair streaming DAC, AND CD player.  The amp showed no issues being run through the Denali, only clearer sounding.

This seems like something that one should demo if at all possible. Would you say that your Denali was worth the cost?

Hi moto_man, Definitely demo it if you can. Like most things the effect will vary from system to system as fastfreight discovered. I bought mine used and I don’t have the price I paid available, but yes it was a big enough improvement that I think it was worth it.

I have a Denali v2, and it is definitely worth the cost.

The Everest is probably great, but not end of the line.

There are much more expensive power conditioners out there, like those from Ansuz (D-TC Gold Signature) and Telos (Monster Power Station). Everest is a bargain in comparison.

Shunyata equipment is absolutely superb and, as Chadsort, says is not outlandishly priced in the context of competing products. And to be fair to Shunyata, they make less expensive products as well. I have been auditioning the recently introduced Typhon T30 supplying my Pass XA60 monoblocs and it makes a significantly positive improvement. One specific illustration - voices are more natural sounding, both tonally and in respect of the kind of dynamics you hear in real life.

I suppose that there are always more expensive anything out there, no matter what.  If cost is no object, there is always something to blow money on.  At $8k plus the cost of a PC, it’s hard to envision spending much more on a power conditioner.  However, that is beside the point.  I guess that no one is aware of problems with the Everest that would account for so many being available at one time.  The extent to which the Everest makes a substantial difference seems to be a matter of system integration and, I suppose, quality of the power coming in.

@yoyoyaya, how did you arrange an audition of the Typhon? And why the Typhon instead of the Denali or the Everest?

@OP - I specifically wanted the Typhon for my power amps but I'll be adding a Denali or Everest for the rest of the system. My dealer never has a problem with loaning equipment for home trial. BTW I have no obvious issues with mains quality  and my power installation it top class - four dedicated spurs running from a dedicated consumer unit coming pretty much directly from the meter tails with the power into the house being located on the other side of the listening room wall (in my garage).

In my experience, Shunyata conditioners require a loooong burn-in. I am using some ancient Hydra 4's which definitely have their uses, but I have heard new conditioners that sound like they need more burn-in.

The Everest looks cool, like a big metronome. 

I have a AudioQuest Niagara 7000 (the price has gone way up and  it's in the class same as the Everest ) and Puritan Audio Labs PSM 156

The Puritan Audio Labs PSM 156 is as good as the Niagara 7000 according to my testing. YMMV,

Music direct has a 60 day return policy. Pretty low risk.

This would be a concern for me "Output Current Ratings: Max Current/Outlet: 15A"  my amp needs a 20A supply and at $10K you would think it would be rated to at least 20A. 

It is interesting how they cryo thier parts.as I understand that process it puts atoms in thier proper lattice structure to have better flow and quality.thats the extra mile.enjoy the music

Haven't heard this yet but love all Furutech items.

https://www.furutech.com/2024/05/01/23901/

Have heard it's predisesor the PurePower 6 and while out of my price range it was amazing.

I too have a Denali and love what it has done for my system.  The only reason I do not have an Everest is the cost,

I also have a Denali, vastly better than the PS Audio P10 I had before. Even with a cheap power cord it was better, improvement with better cords. I would like to move up to the Everest, but can't imagine the difference, but I have heard it is a progression over the Denali. I'll test one day. 

Hi,  So I did some comparing of the Everest and the Denali V2 on Shunyata's website.  I had pretty much thought they were very similar except the Everest has 8 outlets vs 6 for the Denali V2, and of course the style difference as to where you place them.  I like getting easily to the back of the Denali vs down there with the Everest. (seems like an oxymoron?).

Anyway, almost ever feature is identical back and forth except a grounding feature:

The Everest has

GP-NR Noise Reduction

Significant amounts of noise exist on the ground plane of power lines. The ground wires can act as antennae, picking up electrical noise that can degrade the performance or operation of the electronic components. Ground Plane Noise Reduction (GP-NR™) is a proprietary technology developed by Shunyata Research to significantly reduce ground-plane noise; improving low-level resolution and clarity. The system includes one to four terminals, depending on the model, to connect as many as 12 audio components. We offer several models of CGC chassis grounding cables each made to your custom length and termination requirements.

The Denali V2 has:

CGS - Chassis Grounding System

Significant amounts of noise exist on the ground plane of power lines. The ground wires can act as antennae, picking up electrical noise that can degrade the performance or operation of the electronic components. The CGS — Chassis Ground System is a proprietary feature developed by Shunyata Research to significantly reduce ground-plane noise; improving low-level resolution and clarity.

Click here to read the CGS Application Guide (PDF)

Many Shunyata Research power conditioners have one to four terminals that allow all system component chassis to be interconnected to a common earth ground. We offer several models of CGC chassis grounding cables each made to your custom length and termination requirements.

I really think style and number of outlets should be a major deciding factor.

I bought my old Hydra 4's (with the Trident Defense) used on Ebay about 5 years ago. Current prices are the same as when I bought mine - about $900.00. They can come in very handy especially when the local grid is sagging. They are also a handy place to park all your equipment in lightning storms when you don't want to turn your equipment off.

I have been a happy Everest user for about 4 years. I was offered an in-home demo of two 30 amp Typhon 2s. I did the kind of evaluation I didn't do with the Everest. I first added one with both cords plugged oof my Gryphon Antileon EVO plugged into onee Typphon 2.  The sound was better, but only slightly. When I added the second Typhon 2 using the two 30 amp umbilicals, one for each side of the Gryphon, the amp opened up with more headroom and air. This change was significantly better than the two cords being plugged into the Everest or plugged into the two dedicated 20 amp AC wall sockets. As my system is quite limited in terms of AC plugs, I use the two umbilical cords for the amp and the four ac sockets on the back of the Typhons for my streamer,DAC and switch. The power to my amp has made a significant inprovement in the dynamics and tone with sibilence virtually gone. The power chain I have now is each Typhon 2 has it's own dedicated 10G wire 20amp breaker, the Typhon 2s plug into a double duplex box and each is loaded with the umbilical cord for the Typhon 2 and two Purons and a Snubway, a Swiss Digital fuse is connected to the outgoing 30 amp umbilical, the outbound end of the SDF is connected to an Audioquest Variable Power Dragon which is plugged into the amp. The amp has Graphene suggos that are made safe to use with the properly programed SDF. This is a very large investment in power, but it produces a stress free sound that I love. 

This is why I sold my Everest.

@wokeuptobose, someone is obsessed with power, LOL!  How did you feel about the performance of the Everest, and did you do all of the dedicated lines before or after the Everest?  What PC did you use for it? Also, I currently have a TippLite Isolation Transformer for my preamp and DAC, Pass 250.8 into the wall and I have a Puron plugged into the TrippLite and into a wall outlet.  Did you try putting one of the Purons into the Everest?

I wasn't always a believer. I bought a 3000K shunyata conditioner and 5 first gen shunyata Venoms. I was very unimpressed. I bought this gear as I had a voltage surge and turned that into a WAFactor for support to buy it as protection. I was a follower at the time, reading reveiws and taking them as truth... I then started up the Shunyata power cord ladder. Alpha gen 1 followed by Sigma Gen 1 then all Sigma V2. Frankly, I didn't do a pre-purchase listen to the Everest before I bought it, so I'm not the best before and after person for that product. I did listen like a crazy person to all the cables, all as I was supposed to...each on its own, back and forth. Over time the resolution of my system has improved. My wife and I have a huge problem with sibilence/harsness/brightness. I am convinced that Shunyata's house sound 4 years ago (certainly the NR) products were focused at taming grunge, espsially digital. When you see a gen 1 dCS Vivaldi and SS electronics in Shunyata's sound room it's easy to understand why they felt they needed to round the sound. I've never seen a tube in there, but maybe they have more diverse equipment than I have seen.

I was able to try a full loom of AQ Dragon power cords and they changed my ideas about Shunyata being the best cords for my emerging system. I also tried an XLR dragon between my Gryphon and Lampizator DAC. Before the change to the Typhon 2s and the Dragon power cords, it was too bright, a little too much on female voices. After the power revision to Typhon/dragon and SDFuses, I tried the Dragon XLR again and its wonderful. I'm not dissing Shunyata as I'm sure their new cable generation will address this rounding.

I have had three dedicated lines for about 5 years. Each terminted with 2 duplex outlets per box. 

Sorry I am rambling, but this is pretty involved. Yes, I put the purons in the Everest and I highly recommend that and them. I have 6 of them and they make the sound very enjoyable without any side effects I can hear. I put them everywhere I have an open outlet. I think I had two in the Everest in the bottom two outlets.

@moto_man 

I've wondered the same as I signed up on HiFiShark a few months ago to be notified when one becomes available for sale.  I have received a LOT of emails on these.  I haven't tried one but did trial an open-box Eiger from Music Direct.  It made an immediate improvement in my system.  I ended up going with a used Hydra Triton V1 for $1300.  I didn't have it at the same time as the Eiger but it also made an immediate improvement...but not quite on the same degree as the Eiger.  It seems like around $6000-6500 has been a good price lately so if you can afford that and the PC, go for it!  Clearly you can resell it if you are not impressed : )

I have an Everest and it was a major improvement in sound over the Triton V1 I had prior. I think it’s worth the cost especially buying used. 

Following up on fastfreight's post, Shunyata is one of the few power conditioner manufacturers that have patents which publicly disclose aspects of their technology.  In particular, their two primary power conditioning technologies implemented in the Everest (and also the 6 outlet Denali, but not the two outlet version) are referred to as QR/BB and NIC (noise isolation chamber).

If you want to read about them and debate their technical validity, see below (just delete spaces):

QR/BB - https :// patents .google.com/patent/US10031536B2

NIC - https ://patents .google.com/patent/US8658892B2

Re: the number of units for sale, there are a number of possible explanations.  Quite a few times I have seen this happen when a new and improved product is coming out at some point and those "in the know" are looking to dump their units early (most recently to my recollection, this happened with MSB Select DACs right before the public announcement for the Cadence) so - an Everest v2 is on the horizon?  It also could be, as others have noted above, power conditioning tends to be very system dependent / controversial. 

All I will say about the Everest in particular is that it has some credibility in the industry, and in my experience, absolutely smokes the Audioquest 7000, which is commonly listed as its primary competition in terms of price / target application.

I have a Denali 6000S V.2 with an Alpha V.2 XC to the wall. It's an outstanding piece of gear.  

As far as a lot of used Everests' who knows, could be there's something better that the Uber wealthy think is better for twice the price. 

So after cogitating about it and reading everyone's input, and most important, finding a very nice deal on a used one, and no Denali v2's for sale, I bit the bullet and bought a used Everest and Sigma v2  power cable with it, incoming on Saturday, so I will post my impressions after it is hooked up and settles in from its trip!  Hype or real . . . I'll soon see!

Get back to us in 30 days! Anxious to hear your findings !

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: So I have put the Everest and Sigma v2 power cable (used, so already broken in) into my system and have put about 24 hours of listening in over a week. To recap, my system consists of Sabrina X speakers, ARC REF 6 pre, Pass 250.8 amp, and MSB Discrete DAC with a Premier Power Base, and a full Shunyata loom.

The day I installed it (and ground the components to it), the first thing that I noticed was a "blacker background." The best way to explain this is analogizing it to a picture that is slightly overexposed, and adjusting the white balance. The background was darker black than before, which gave the music a more vivid sound. The other thing that I noticed was that the music was somewhat smoother -- not rolled off, but as if a thin layer of glare was removed. Another thing I noticed right away was negative. It seemed like the soundstage on some recordings collapsed to coming out of the left and right speakers rather than locked into the middle. This varied from album to album. Some still had that "locked in" spatial quality, others were markedly lacking that spatial effect that we refer to as "soundstage." I did not notice any particular change in depth or width of those recordings that still had that spatial effect. Overall, I had mixed feelings. For $7000+, it was by no means "transformative," night and day, or like a new system. The effects described were subtle -- audible but subtle. I began to seriously doubt my decision to blow a wad of cash on this latest manifestation of audiophilia nervosa, and believe, me, I really wanted to like it and think that I made a smart purchase.

So I powered through all week, listening carefully and trying different recordings that I knew had an excellent soundstage to see if it was still there or whether the Everest was actually having a negative effect. It wasn’t, but subjectively it seemed to reduce the soundstage in those recordings that did not seem to have it originally, but left it alone in those that did. Still on the fence about it but thinking more seriously of putting it up for sale.

So, Friday night, I put on a Led Zep soundboard bootleg from their 1975 Fort Worth show, which was pretty well-recorded for a boot. To my surprise, it sounded like a commercial live release. Soundstage was wide and deep, Robert was right in front center although he moved somewhat on the stage. Jimmy was to the right, Bonzo up and behind Robert. The soundstage had real depth and width. Saturday morning, I decided to throw my whole batch of test recordings at it again. Good stuff, medium stuff, bad stuff, stuff I knew lacked soundstage on the recording and stuff that I knew had excellent soundstage. To my surprise, and I really have no explanation for it, everything had good soundstage, wide and deep. The same black background and the music sounded "clearer" and smoother, sort of like silver with a slight tarnish removed. The recordings that had a good soundstage had a great soundstage. The recordings that really didn’t have a good soundstage baked into the recording had a decent soundstage, where the music still came out of the right and left speakers in an identifiable way, but some instruments crossed over into the middle, giving the recording that illusion of dimensionality that I personally love. All of my recordings, good, mediocre or bootleg, sounded better, and particularly my bootlegs (Led Zep and Pink Floyd) sounded better. On the live recordings, such as Bill Evans’ The Complete Vanguard Recordings, I could hear more of the audience chatter between songs that was not there before. Overall, the instruments sounded clearer and did not bleed into the other instruments as much. I left that listening session very pleased.

I cannot explain the improvement from the day I installed the Everest, yet it was there. Mind you, it was a subtle, not a "blow your socks off" type improvement. It is noticeable to me, as I know my music and system inside and out, and would likely be identified by any other critical listener, but as I said, it is not a "wow, what did you do to your system" type change. There was a very noticeable improvement over the week that I found to be unmistakable. People have said that after shipping, a component needs to "settle in." I always thought that was inexplicable BS. But that is really the only explanation that I have for the change after about 24 hours of listening to music and the Everest being left on for a week so far. I don’t know if there is more improvement coming or whether this is it. Whether these changes are "worth it" for $7K+ is a personal thing, but so far, I am pretty happy with the addition to the system!

@rsf507 so what did your friend get instead?

@moto_man ,

Very nice roll-up regarding your experiences with the Everest. I would like to know what power cable are you using from the Pass amp into the Everest? Can you still use a NR variant or do you need to use the XC variant? I ask because the Everest conditioner has the NR technology integrated into the device and obviates the need for any NR technology going into or out. This is my perception, so don’t take that as an absolute statement. 
 

If one owns an Omega QR power cord I assume that you don’t need a conditioner unless you need extra outlets, then you would opt to get the non QR variant of the Omega power cord. Just trying to understand the methodology of using what type of Shunyata power cables going into and out of the Denali and Everest power conditioner. Thank you. 

moto_man OP

There was a very noticeable improvement over the week that I found to be unmistakable.

It’s called burn-in.

I always thought that was inexplicable BS.

It’s explicable.

@audioquest4life, I have Shunyata Alpha v2 power cable from the Pass Labs to the Everest, not the NR version (actually for the DAC, amp and pre) and Alpha v1 speaker cables. You are correct, NR is not necessary when using the Everest.

@aolmrd1241, I have a Sigma XC feeding the Everest.  The Omega XC is another huge ticket item and so it is highly unlikely that I will spring for the Omega any time soon.  I would rather upgrade my speaker cables from the Alpha v1 to Sigma v2 before I do that!  Interestingly, some people have written that the Omega is perhaps too revealing for some systems, but as with anything, the proof is in the listening.

@steakster, I understand the concept of burn-in, of course, but I purchased both the cable and the Everest used and already broken-in.  The effect that I experienced can only be chalked up to "settling in" after shipping -- a different concept than "burn-in" in my vocabulary, unless one must "re-burn-in" a used component after it has been shipped.

NEW UPDATE:  I have had the Everest in my system for 10 days now.  It is hard for me to believe, but what the Everest is doing to my system is continuing to improve!  Today, everything sounded even better than when I posted my semi-review.  Of particular note is the improvement in spatiality of the music, what we refer to as soundstage.  Even on albums that I listened to critically on Saturday, a week after install, they have improved, with a more 3D sound and more nuances to the various instruments, like stand-up bass strings vibrating and being plucked, breathing through the reed on sax, etc.  The soundstage is easily noticeable.  The nuances -- well, they are nuances, subtle improvements that contribute to the overall realism of the music.  Perhaps I am getting more used to what the Everest does so I am noticing it more, but it is approaching "transformative" at this point, and no way would I want to take it out of my system now that I have it in there!  As I said in my "semi-review," is this worth $7K+?  The answer depends on your budget and disposable income.  Some people who only spend that on an entire system are not likely to find that the improvements are worth the price of their whole system.  For people who can and do spend tens of thousands on their various components and cables, deciding to purchase the Everest is an easy one.  DO IT!

@moto_man 

Thank you for the reply. Sounds like you have a good combination with all the various devices and cables that you own. 
 

+1 for this “The effect that I experienced can only be chalked up to "settling in" after shipping -- a different concept than "burn-in" in my vocabulary”

My system was in storage for nearly a year after we moved. Man, after I fired it up the first time in the new house, the sound was atrocious. I knew what the system could do; wide stereo image, layering, holographic sound field with clarity of vocals and instruments. It took about 2 days of being powered up and used before all came into focus again. This settling in period I just chalk up to warm up, albeit somewhat extended, but due to the devices and cables already being burned in, it is so easy to discern and hear the difference a day makes when all comes to life again. Afterwards (initial warm up after long pause in use) it is only an hour for me to obtain excellent sound due mostly to the 80 plus tubes warming up.  
 

@agisthos he got the Furutech Pure Power 6

@audioquest4life, I wonder if the whole “settling in” phenomenon has any scientifically explainable basis.  I am no electrical engineer — far from one — but it doesn’t make much sense to me that an already burned-in product will sound better after it settles in after moving it.  But nonetheless, I can’t argue with it, since I too have experienced it with the Everest!  

Off-topic but 80+ tubes?   That is quite an impressive complement of tubes! It must suck when you have to buy a new set!  I think about availability of the measly 8 tubes in my ARC REF 6 in the future, and although I have a replacement tucked away, which should be good for another 4000 hours or so, I still wonder about the future availability of tubes, not today, of course, but say, 8 years from now.  Logically, I know that if you can buy NOS 1960’s tubes, it should be pretty likely that I will be able to get recently manufactured tubes, but still, I have contemplated going SS for the pre because of that . . .

@moto_man ,

I also ponder the scientific meaning of the type of phenomena we and others hear and experience regarding listening to our systems again after extended periods of non use. I believe tube warmup adds to the mix for sure.

A German friend of mine who is an electrical engineer built me custom cables years ago and was a big fan of Neotech OPOCC copper cables. He said they were the purest cables for sound and by changing the conductor to the silver variant, it would result in more emphasis in the highs. I have the pure silver speaker wire variants to this day as my reference speaker cable. They are about 8 or 9 gauge wires, look like welding machine wires. Neotech is an OEM supplier to a few other name brand cables. My friend also stated that cable metallurgy is so debatable in th audio community, yet he believed in sound cable construction that helped allow for clear and undistorted sound without any undue influence from harmful effects of EMI/RFI. 

This article is pretty interesting regarding cable connections: https://www.tempoelectric.com/Wire_and_Cable_Facts.pdf

Maybe that explains why we hear things differently at various times and configurations when we are playing around with our systems. Plugging and unplugging stuff. 

I have been stocking tubes away for years. I calculated a 3 year use on average for the power tubes and bought enough to last at least 20 years. I also have been stashing phono amp and preamp tubes as well. This means that I will be 80 when I need to think about resetting. Who know what my hearing or health will by by then along with the equipment. For now, just enjoying the ride and life.