New release - Shunyata Omega interconnects and speaker cables

I have a full loom of Sigma version 2 (latest) including a jumper cable for my Sonus Faber Il Cremonese speakers.

Over the last week, I have had the opportunity to compare my Sigma with the Omega speaker jumper cable (all other cables remaining the same, ie Sigma).

My findings, in my system, in my room,  the Omega jumper cable:

(1) has a slightly wider but MUCH deeper soundstage

(2) has more articulation and separation between musicians. Complex passages are not as "muddy" or confused.   I have been told that this equates to a lower noise level.

(3) has MUCH better high frequency (aka treble).  I thought I had long ago lost the ability to hear the very high notes that I now clearly hear and enjoy. The small triangle (instrument), the smallest pipe of the organ (I bet it is not more than a couple cm in length), the top notes of the piccolo, etc are clear, clean, not harsh or bright.

(4) is not as bright or harsh in the treble (not that the Sigma was, but just in comparison)

(5) has a more articulate bass. First impression is that this results in a "thinner" bass or less "impact"...  until that tympani or bass drum or the pedals of an organ hit a loud note or phrase.  Then, I realized just how nice the woofers are on the SF speakers;  didn't know they could present the music with such impact and yet distinguishable notes (especially true of a loud chord from the organ's pedals).

(6) has the same, perhaps slightly better, tonal characteristics.  Instruments certainly have correct timbre and tone.

(7) presents the venue more noticeably.

Since the Sigma is excellent, how much better is the Omega?  This does vary with the attribute being compared. In general, probably at least 10% and definitely in some cases 20%.

I can only wonder how much greater (or perhaps less)  the difference if I had an entire loom of Omega, and especially if the speaker cables were Omega. Sadly, given the costs, this question will probably remain unanswered.

Cables are oh so very system dependent.   You just have to experiment.  The 
WEL Audioquest didn't do it for me in my system,..Cardas was just plain awful... but others have found them wonderful.  
 

I found sigma v2 to be super clean but sort of bland in my system. Can’t imagine what omega is like. 

I have never heard of them yet. I would like to demo them sometime. Right now I am using SHUNYATA  (2) King Cobra CX  - Sigma HC - Sigma Digital.   Love them. 

I’ve had the Omega XLRs for 5-6 weeks. They are extremely transparent, and despite the different conductor material they are alot like the Sigma v2 in house sound, but more balanced frequency response, more detail, and less noise. Pretty much any and every technical attribute you could want is there and these are definitely in a neutral/"accurate" camp of sound. The level of detail is pretty insane, and I honestly don’t know if a cable can be more detailed. Speed and dynamics are extremely impressive. But besides ultra low noise and dark background, these don’t have a special sauce or coloration to wow you like some copper or networked cables. They are meant to sound like nothing, and I think they generally succeed.

The wild thing is (YMMV) it took an entire month of playing them to get them to sound right. Upon first arrival they had some characteristics of a silver cable, like Wireworld, were extremely detailed, but lean/restricted in the bass and midrange. Also the background wasn’t fully black. All of this was remedied eventually, the bass and midrange unwound and filled out, the noise dropped, and the sound become more relaxed.

Most vendors have a requirement from Shunyata that customers need to hear them in their own system, or in some cases a demo system, before they can purchase them. My speculation is that this is because of the high cost coupled with extremely long burn-in period. This is a good thing, so you know what to expect and aren’t disappointed after a week or two of it sounding lean.

The Shunyata Omega XLR interconnects are something to behold. They are beautifully made and sonically they are very coherent from top to bottom. They are very revealing of your system and source material but not like say a Nordost Valhalla cable. I would be careful if your system is very revealing or do not want it to go that way. I am not saying that the Omega cables are strident but are true to the source. I will say that my Omega's replaced some very good Cardas Clear Beyond cables that I have owned for the past 5-6 years. The sound was like going from really good tubes ( Cardas ) to really good solid state ( Shunyata ) Just my opinion ......   

I will be receiving my Shunyata XLR Omega interconnects today if Fed-Ex doesn't screw the delivery up and I will comment in a few weeks what I think of these cables. I have all Omega QR and QRs power cords currently in my system. There is one thing for sure ......I will never be able to afford the Omega Speaker cables.  

.......hopefully after the show we can get some feedback on these cables as I think from what I heard that Shunyata was going to be demonstrating them at the show. If anybody has heard them it would be nice to see a comment.  

Has anyone other than me noticed that MIT stopped producing new models and shows their products from a 2021 catalog on their website (https://mitcables.com/) and that they have only 6 US dealers left, 4 of which I have never heard of?  Just curious ....

@searoll923 that was my impression about the latest heritage evo series from MIT - resolution.  MIT cables have always been you are "there" "there" but slightly rolled off in the upper octave.  Even so the presentation was just more of the music coming through in space.

The new EVO's took me a while to get used, dimensional with dense space but surgical resolution compared to former models.  Your 2C3D level 2 is several steps above mine so I am hopeful and sure you get that much more.

Of all the cables I have tried and owned I have never tried shunyata IC/SC.  I do have a Denali S2 with Sigma XC PC that was transformational.

@pops - I can't speak for the Shunyata Omega speaker cables yet, but I can compare Shunyata Sigma to MIT 2C3D Level 2: Both cable lines are excellent, but I think they go after separate things. 

The Sigma:

-Very open sound, nothing particularly stands out to me, but more or less I think everything is "there" and clean sounding

MIT:

-Explosive! Incredible amounts of detail that I never thought were in music I've listened to since my childhood, also surprising (for me) considering this is analog output. I would have been expecting this from a change on a digital front (e.g. DAC). Brought new life to my system.

To date: I am leaning heavily towards MIT Cabling, even more so as I am looking into Spectral amplification. To my ears, I appreciate and love the details + surgical precision.

Hey searoll923 I will be curious to hear your impression versus the MIT.  I’m currently using MIT EVO level 2 throughout my system.  Have had dozens of MIT over the years, these have been the best fit yet. 
 

@nyev - There are now Omega interconnects and speaker cables. From what I've seen online, they are big. No clue as to what they sound like.

I have an Omega AES cable I use to connect my streamer. If I were to use that as a reference point (compared to AudioQuest WelsSignature, Kimber Orchid), I would say the cable is detailed, balanced, and not overbearing in sound. 

I am looking into Spectral amplification, so I have started to compare with MIT Cables. I must say that the MITs have crazy resolution

@searoll923 , is there a new version of Omega?  I have an Omega AES cable in order and am not aware of any new version?

I also have Sigma NR V2 balanced interconnects on order.  This isn’t why I bought these but check out Jay’s Audio Lab’s video comparison adding the Sigma interconnects:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NBuGLB1naqY

Whatever you think of YouTube comparisons this difference is so drastic you can hear it on your phone’s speaker, and far more so with headphones.

Pay attention to the intermittent high hat after 4:35 vs the same high hat after 11:00 or so. 

Omega will sound different than these as these are copper and the Omega balanced interconnects I believe are silver.  Of note the Omega AES cable I have on order is also copper.
 

.......no responses as of this date which does surprise me and could possibly be a telling tale on where the audio world is right now. I hope somebody purchases or listens to these cables as I am still interested in them.  

Glad to hear someone posted something!

I believe all dealers were given a pair of speaker cables and interconnects to demo. The one near me is still breaking them in and I have some prospective arrangements to audition some in my home.

For me, I started with my regular cables (Kimber Kable - Carbon series interconnect and speaker cables), swapped them to MIT Cables (Heritage 2C3D Level 2) and felt that I got a whole new system. Curious to hear how the Shunyatas compare and will probably post my own update in the coming weeks

Hello Searoll923 - I am glad that you started this thread on these cables because I was looking into them as well. It would appear that at this point as they were just released not all that long ago that very few have purchased them and or have even listened to them. I did speak with Richard a few weeks back who had informed me that Shunyata was coming out with these cables and he was very excited as would be expected about their sonic attributes. The cost however of these cables was '' up there '' ...... not surprising anymore.   

crickets...