Thoughts on Shunyata and Transparent?

Thanks for the insight @jafant!  In 2019 I tested a lower-end Transparent Reference power cord along with AudioQuest Hurricane, Nordost Valhalla and a few other cords with my Diablo 300, and the Transparent Reference sounded by far the best of any cord under $3500. Never got around to buying it as I was waiting till I could go higher end.  I remember it being measured but engaging, with strong but well controlled and defined bass, and just the most well-rounded of the cords I tried.

So, I think Transparent (at least the lower Reference cord) definitely works well with the Diablo 300.  So the question is, will it work well for my Innuos Zenith MKIII and Innuos reclocker source components?  

I believe my dealer said Transparent will build you a cord if you pay for it, and refund it if you don’t like it.  So I may take advantage of that to do a shootout with the Shunyata Sigma V2 NR.  But I highly doubt the cords will arrive at the same time, probably will be a month apart which isn’t ideal.  We’ll see!

Just an update that I am just shy of halfway through the burn-in process for the Shunyata Omega QR and Sigma V2 NR power cords now.  I have some observations so far, but I’ll hold off on my thoughts until completing the burnin process before commenting.

Also should have an AudioQuest Dragon and Firebird demos arriving shortly.  After completing that test I will decide between the two brands.  

Wanted to test Transparent’s Opus cord as well, but they weren’t able to provide a demo.  

At this point I have no idea which way it will go!  I’ve found that going down the power cord rabbit hole, you need to limit your options, and have patience without rushing to conclusions!

Thanks guys.  @ozzy, are you suggesting that the lack of openness and dynamics of the Shunyata Sigma V2 NR power cord was due to your interconnect, and not the power cord itself?  And, I assume the power cord was properly broken in?

From what I gather, Shunyata is best known for their power products, and not so much for their other cables.  I know many talk of “synergy” of going all in with one cable vendor, but I can’t seem to find a single vendor that doesn’t do all areas of their cables as well as their best area.  For example I fell in love with Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables, and what they bring to the table regardless of what other cabling is mixed with them, and I have a pair on order.  But, the Valhalla 2 power cord is utterly deficient in bass and presence when compared with others.  One of my dealers suspects it may be incompatible with my Gryphon amplifier, as he has another customer with a Gryphon had precisely the same experience with the Valhalla 2 power cord!

As such my plan is to go all-in with either Shunyata or Transparent power cables and USB cables, with the Valhalla 2 speaker cables.

@ozzy, I think your conditioner likely explains it.  I think I’ve seen about 6-7 posts with people saying AQ doesn’t mix with Shunyata when it comes to power cords and conditioners.  Even Shunyata warned me my Niagara 1200 may not be the best with their cord.

My Sigma V2 NR demo finally arrived. Shunyata recommended I wait 150 hours to let the cord settle into my system after it’s long stint in the hands of USPS.

But immediately the Sigma NR showed the considerable flaws in my prior cords I was using (Clarus Crimson and AudioQuest Hurricane).

I now see the Hurricane as a decent cord for those who might want to tame an edgy or strident system. It obscures a lot of detail and has a slightly exaggerated rich sound. With the Sigma NR I hear far more detail in all bands. Most noticeably I can hear far more upper mid detail, treble is better resolved, and the bass. Lots of it, and Hurricane just sounds muddy and unresolved in comparison. The Sigma NR also has more of a heavy, punchy impact with rock music, along with the smooth, refined and detailed presentation across all bands.  It is also totally pleasing with my system, despite the added detail.  

This is not a fair comparison as the Sigma NR costs much more; I am simply noting the differences I hear from the cables I’d been using.

I’ll do my critical listening after a few days of breakin.

Another note is how unprecedented Shunyata is. While other vendors tell me to pound sand when I inquire about demo cords (The other vendor told me it is trade show season and they have none), Shunyata jumped through hoops to get a demo into my hands even though they didn’t have any. Also, they are specifically building me an Omega QR power cord even with my colour preference, without any commitment for me to buy anything. Of course I wouldn’t be asking them if I wasn’t sure I was going to buy a set of cords in this caliber range. This level of customer focus by Shunyata is refreshing! And yes, the Sigma NR cord at least is certainly a highly capable cord.

Oh, and I did test the Sigma NR as well, but it didn’t go very well. Something didn’t sound right, even after I ran it in for many days.. I chalked it up to the fact that Shunyata only had a demo with a 20A connector handy, so they sent a 20A to 15A adapter so I could connect it to my amp. I suspect this sort of ruined the test as I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Sigma NR.

@swede58 , ​​@jafant , I ended up going with the Audioquest Dragon for the Diablo 300. The Shunyata Omega was really good. But I found it was loose in the socket of my amp, even when using the hokey plastic shim that comes with the cord (Shunyata must have designed the cord to fit tight sockets).

Here are my findings:

Shunyata Omega:

-Lush, dense, buttery smooth, yet all the details were there. Enveloping. Oddly it made me think of entering a beautifully dense, warm, humid jungle with lots of foliage and birds. Weird, I know…

-3 dimensional depth. Which takes you by surprise considering how dense the sound is.

-I would describe this cord as having “character” - a very good, organic and fluid one

Audioquest Dragon

-Faster and more open. But not dry or analytical either. Not lean sounding at all - I was worried it would be for some reason.

-Great tonal balance (neutral), open,

-Just as good with 3 dimensional depth

-Certainly a hint more bass excitement than the Omega; it’s a bit more propulsive.

Overall I think the Dragon MAY be a bit more universally appropriate, in my system, for all varieties of music. Both were great though. I don’t listen to jazz, but I could see the Omega potentially being the winner for jazz. But not for rock. Again, in my system. Both are great cables and I’m thankful I had the opportunity to try both.

I also bought a second Dragon to power my Torus RM20 isolation transformer.

The only problem with the Dragon is that I want to replace my two Hurricane Source cables with Dragon’s! But, I have other things to upgrade first. One day it will happen.

One other note: The Dragon was noticeably better than my prior Hurricane cord that powered my Diablo previously. There was far more finesse, more defined bass, and the biggest change by far was the sudden emergence of soundstage depth which I didn’t really have when using the Hurricane. I also found the Hurricane’s bass to be a tad unnaturally rich with more “glow” to it than it should have. But, this could definitely be considered a good thing to some. It wasn’t a bad effect. The Dragon’s plentiful bass is far better defined.

Again, this is in my system with the Diablo 300, so others’ results will vary! Also, I expect that others may feel that what I consider to be large improvements will not be considered as being large by some. I find small changes in sound become magnified over time as you get accustomed to the sonic signature of your system.

I should note that the Dragon didn’t win at first, as it was a new cord they sent as a demo. The Omega was also brand new, but I had received it first and had burnt it in. Despite my dealer’s claims that Audioquest fully burns in their cords before shipping, this was clearly not the case. Took a few days of 24x7 run time before the Dragon started to approach the Omega, and then it kept getting better.

I’d say that the Omega is very uniquely interesting in how lush and smooth it is, and memorable.  The Dragon is just a great performer, without so much of a unique character.

@swede58 , glad to share my findings. In 2019 I also tried a Valhalla 2 power cord from Nordost. I found that I really enjoyed the sound of that cord, so much so that recall staying up all night listening to music. But I ultimately found that it had less bass than the other cables I was testing at the time, and I couldn’t live with that.

I do however have Valhalla 2 speaker cables that I use with my Diablo, which I preferred to other options due to how fast and how revealing they are. Bass is definitely not a problem with these cables. Having had these for a year, they have been a blessing and a curse. They were so revealing that they exposed AC issues that my houses power had with massive improvements after midnight. A common predicament but one I hadn’t noticed myself until the Valhalla 2 cables, This launched me down a path of many upgrades last year, including installing dedicated AC circuits in my house, along with a USB reclocker, audio network switch, and new speakers. And while I addressed the issues and my system can sound really great now, my system has become even that much more revealing, and is now hyper sensitive. Just the slightest changes makes it sound not quite right, I now notice component warm-up on occasions where power is cycled, etc. I sort of miss the days when I didn’t have to make sure that everything in my system was always set up just right!

Of note, @jays_audio_lab on his YT channel recommends the Dragon power cord  for Gryphon amps (although he has tested all the much more expensive ones than the Diablo!).