Shunyata Alpha/Delta NR Line.

Allhifi: haven’t been in here in a while.
I’ve no need to get other equipment to evaluate the shunyata, thanks. There’s been a flow of equipment throughout the house: ARC, Hegel, Parasound. And if I needed it, a dealership with things i USED to own: Wilson speakers, newer ARC. And with my ASC-designed room with 30-40 tube traps, that MORE than makes up for the reviews I read by others. It more than made up for what I heard when HP and I compared notes in the old days when he was alive, and I’d point out something HE missed. So there. Besides, I’m going on my 7th decade of life. No point buying something expensive and keeling over the next month. My family wouldn’t even know what to sell my Nordost stuff for. I’d like to spare them selling Valhalla for $400, thanks.

What was left unsaid was that I was once a reviewer for TAS and the equipment manager for the now defunct Fi Magazine. I’ve heard -and owned - equipment most salivate at. And my ears are the most important instrument in evaluations, not the equipment. Poorly set up ARC (meaning, crappy room acoustics - a common malady, by the way, from what i’ve seen, as well as in a dealer’s showroom with a 100k system, which, while more ’detailed,’ sounded less like anything ’live’ than I’ve heard in 40 years of High End listening and 60 years of being in bands, concert halls and other live venues before they starting using microphones and PA systems for Ella (vile!)) - and heard, in others’ systems - give far less musical satisfaction than using "good" but not SOTA equipment. I’ve owned, ARC, Jadis, Goldmund, Infinity, Avalon, Rowland, Convergent, Transparent, MIT, Nordost, VTL, VAC, Clearaudio, VPI and my prized Versa Dynamics 2.3 turntable, as well as many others. And a CJ ET3 SE is nothing to sneeze at (You hurt its feelings! I had to anti-static the poor dear when I told it about your response!) These days, I just want to enjoy music, not - as so many - the equipment. Try to keep an open mind about what can be heard without SOTA. And by the way, the ASL Hurricanes’ realism trumps nearly anything I’ve yet heard. Which is why I still own it after 15 years, longer even than my Goldmund Mimesis 9 (THE most transparent, $14,000 amp I’ve ever had, along with the $13,000 VAC amps). Both fantastic, but certainly NOT the "Good-God-it’s-live-not-Memorex" ability of the ASLs. "More detail" is no substitute for "it actually sounds ’real.’" Have you ever heard the Hurricanes? Doesn’t sound like you have or you’d have kept the disbelief in check. I get it. "Marquee value" impresses you. It did to me, too - 30 years ago. Then I grew past it.

Yes. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The more recent generations (the newest and the Alpha) have greater noise reduction capabilities. At the same time, they reveal - to a greater degree than they used to - what your other components are doing. So if your component(s) is/(are) a bit...harsh-sounding, the current generations of Shunyata will not hide that.

Shunyata’s older generations of power cords had a "sweetness" built into them. Call it "sweetness" or call it "musicality" (the way music is in good concert halls). They might have even been a bit euphonic, but not to the point of making all music (including The Clash) sound "romantic." Just very slightly more "lush." Part of that lushness was the amount of "body" instruments had. A trombone was a very physically-present sounding instrument. Not just sound you could hear, but almost sound that you could touch. In that sense, similar to Transparent audio, which also had a very "rich" tone to its cables.

After the CX generation, the last generation with "warmth/sweetness" in them (and you should be able to hear it clearly and easily - if your equipment allows), the sound changed quite a bit. I didn’t notice the CX generation’s coloration until the ZiTrons came out, and then it was obvious that the CX colored the entire range of music. And then, the ZiTron cords came in. They had less inherent "sweetness,"which means they moved closer - in sonics - to Audio Research (ultra clear) whereas older generations of the Shunyata were more akin Conrad Johnson (beautifully musical (like Boston Symphony Hall, which has a rich tone to it) in contrast to Carnegie Hall (not as rich in tone since 1987, but still lovely). ZiTrons are highly detailed cords with very little coloration to them.

The Zitrons had that clarity-plus-lower-noise-floor first, then the Alphas even more of it and then the Sigma, the most. So, equipment that is more "analytical"-sounding will sound more like itself than in previous generations of Shunyata cords. But ALL generations of Shunyata’s power cords had noise reduction traits. The first generation did it thru some compound called ZeSi, which, when you turned the cord upside down, it sounded like a snake hissing. Hence the (older) name "Power Snakes."
I have or have owned, all generations of cords, by the way, including Cobra ZiTron, Alpha ZiTron and Sigma. (All the way back to Shunyata’s very first generation cord. Loved the King Cobra V2: sweet and dynamics to burn. It’s only flaw was a blurring in the upper midrange/lower treble, which made music sound "prettier" than it was). You wouldn’t notice this if you used their Aries interconnect, which had a "lift" in those very frequencies to compensate for the power cord (and speaker cable, too, although that was one gorgeous speaker cable).

By the way, I had Nordost’s power cords during the sam periods, but played them less than the Shunyatas. Just sold off my Frey 2 power cord. Also a GREAT power cord.

P.S. Also have the Delta NR. Like it very, very much. And it's much less expensive than the Cobra Citron, which, when it came out was $995 in contrast to the Delta ($700). However!! You might - if you get the Delta NR -  order a longer length, since Shunyata's cords have shrunk in length: they started out 1.85 meters (72 inches) to 1.75 meters (68 inches). You can custom order a 2 meter pair for just slightly more money and get the full  78.7 inches. I prefer a longer cord. I'm not sure why they're shorter. Someone suggested "to compete?". I don't think so, but in any case, you might want a longer cord. I did. I found I couldn't get my amp's cord to reach to the PS Audio Power Plant (and wondered why). So, I'm opting for 2 meters. It's not that much more.

Ricred:
Were the cables new when you got them or had they already been used before? 

Richard:

Thanks for the helpful information.

I wouldn’t say that cables are "system dependent." I would say that many people have tailored their system towards a certain "type" of sound and when a cable comes in that contributes less to the sound, it can be mistakenly thought that it is the cable, rather than that the other components have colorations that are now showing through.

I wrote - on another thread - a post about my time with the Delta, where I found it to be highly detailed, with a very good sense of fullness (a la the Cobra ZiTron), but that, lacking the ZiTron technology, it has a certain "stillness," which is more akin to a shading towards "dryness." For example, Nordost has a "liquid" sound, as do MIT cables. Still the "stillness" does not push you away from the music at all. In fact, this generation of Shunyata cords has returned a "musciality" that had been subtly missing from previous generations, although Shunyata has always had a fully saturated tonal palette once you reach the a certain level. So, the Delta does have that trait, and it’s an important one if you listen to musical music (orchestral, or anything with acoustic instruments, which show "musicality" better than the highly processed recordings out now). The Clash's 'London Calling,' never sounded dry, but it isn't a 'musical' recording. So, for many, who listen to highly produced music, the criticisms will have less value. And, in fact, in this case, the resolution (you can really hear them in vocals, where you can almost always hear the singing taking a breath. In ALL previous generations of my Shunyata cables - including the Alpha HC - you will NOT hear the singer taking a breath. So, the low-level resolution is - from my observations - greater than the preceding generations's abilities in this area. And so, with pop music, you'll hear more of the instruments clearly. 

And keep in mind that this "dryness" showed up mostly in my NAD integrateds (I have several different models), but less so in my CJ/Antique Sound Lab setup, which is quite liquid. (I haven't het installed my tube integrated amp (also Antique Sound Labs, but a Class "A", 30 watt-number. I'll get around to that and let you know how it sounds. Also, it (the dryness) showed up more with digital than with vinyl, where it was far less evident. Analogue is a "freer" medium for sound, so the Delta allows that to be heard, so the sonics are a bit more liquid (again, my references are Carnegie Hall and The Metroplitan Opera, both in New York). (And the Bushnell in Hartford, CT). I don't stream music, so I have no idea how the Delta would sound on a music server. But for $700, it does a hell of a lot! (I just wish they'd put ZiTron technology into it and sold it for $1k).