Nordost Vishnu or Shunyata Copperhead Power Cord

Hi Ken, I'm sorry to have missed your last response, I've just been out doing last second shopping with the wife. Yet I've taken your recommendation for the Brahma into account and shall in fact pursue one after the Holidays. I see that you're also a believer of Roy Gregory's Concept of Building a Foundation - which starts at the AC Outlet and works upwards from that point ending with the final interconnect or phono-cable as a means to voice ones system according to taste. Yet there're time when one can make one exception to the cabling loom theory and that's with a different favor in regards to that lone power cord on occasion - there're cases where certain cords produce slightly better performance then one it might've replaced. I'm not much into mixing cables either, yet there have been times where one has to address the strengths and weaknesses of ones system without feeling the need to trash it and start anew. Hence the logic that so many so-called music lovers find themselves replacing this or that comonents every other month or so, due to their lack of knowing the proper means of voicing it. Hence the term Synergy which goes hand in hand with tweaking in my mind. As someone whom uses and believes in devices like Shun Mook and Yamamoto Sound Craft Ebony Isolation Devices along with ASI Resonators and Sugar Cubes within my system and/or room. I understand to some it might be weird science and all, but how does the old addage go - hearing is beliving. Once again Thanks for sharing your insight, I know what has to be done. Regards, Oscar

I expect my cables and power cords to do just one thing: get the heck out of the way so I can hear the gear that I paid for. I think that's why I'm not too keen on mixing and matching power cords. I think the goal should be find the power cord that best gets out of the way - and use that cord throughout your system.

I'm not totally following Roy's loom theory right now because I'm using a loom of MIT signal cables with a loom of Nordost power cords. My Spectral gear requires that I use MIT speaker cables, but I'm free to use any brand of interconnect. I settled on MIT because I thought their cables did a better job of getting out of the way than the Nordost interconnects I tried. I suspect the Nordost signal cables were put at a disadvantage because they were paired with MIT speaker cables. I ended up with a hybrid that played to neither cable's strengths.

I ended up going with Nordost power cords as by sheer luck Roy/Nordost sent me and a few local friends a bunch of Nordost power cords to support a weekend event we had at my house involving some members of the Phonogram mailing list. We were sent enough power cords to complete two looms: one of Magus and one of Vishnu. We tried these in two different system and the results were consistent. This won me over to Roy's loom theory.

I believe that synergy comes when a system performs at a level that's greater than the sum of the parts. I certainly get this when using a full loom of MIT signal cables - not surprising since my gear was designed with this cable in mind. And I'd imagine I'd have even greater synergy if I also used MIT power cords. But given how well the Nordost cords have worked out, I'm not that interested in trying them.

I'm not sure it's correct to use the term synergy to describe the net effect of mixing and matching to achieve a certain voicing or a certain sound. In this case you are counteracting one cable with another so neither performs greater than it can on its own. But I totally understand where you are coming from. The only thing that I know about the Shun Mook products, is that those who have tried them find that they really like them. I should try some of their stuff one day.

Thanks for sharing your insight as well Oscar. Have a happy holiday!

Ken

Hi Ken, I'm looking into that Brahma cord as mentioned, and will borrow one from the Cable Company in the New Year to see what's what. And I do understand what you're getting at with the use of your MIT's with your Spectral Gear as well - after all as you've mentioned they were used in the design of your electronics and that's a no-brainer. And, no the thanks goes to you as you've opened both my eyes and mind to think outside the box when it comes to power cords, whereas earlier on I more then likely would've thought to spend over $1.000 on a cord, but in reality if I only need one to use between either a $2.000 and $4.500 Integrated Amp then I can see justifying the $1.500 power cord much easier now. Thanks again and once again do have an enjoyable and safe Holiday. Regards, Oscar

To respond as directly as I can to the question, both of the cables are good. I've never owned the lower-tiered generation of Shunyata, but I've had most of them, from the Black Mamba (first generation) to King Cobra (first generation) and usually have Pythons of each generation up to the Python CX (current) and Black Mamba CX (I also had the Viper - the most recent iteration - before it was replaced by the Black Mamba CX.
For Nordost, I've had Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and Valhalla (still have the Brahma).
The two lines have different "sounds," generally speaking.
Nordost is usually fast, lean, great transients and details abound. Shunyata has (usually) great body, focus, weight, tonal richness (but not TOO rich, at least as far as in comparison to hearing, say, a trumpet in Carnegie and a trumpet on the recording). Shunyata has an EXTREMELY low noise floor - one of their hallmarks - so that instruments are not surrounded by interstitial matter (grain).
I can't say that I agree with the "we all hear different" comment. I COULD agree with either A), we may hear music in different halls than each other (in which case, it depends on how good your listening venue's acoustics are: Carnegie Hall sounds great -- at least, in the balcony, where I listen from; Davies Hall in San Francisco, where I USED to live: stinks. Maybe they've improved it, but a friend and I, when I wanted to test the acoustics, changed seats at intermission. I had bought first tier AND balcony seat tickets, and so we both heard different compositions on the same night in two different sections. His assessment (he had been a concert pianist) was that the "double bass seemed to disappear" from where he was sitting (pre-intermission). I just found it boring. Davies' highs are the opposite of Carnegie's: there's no airiness in the highs in Davies.
SO, if live music is the reference, combined with venue, then yes, we hear differently. Otherwise, the question is: what's the reference? Our components over the years? That's a poor reference, almost like thinking digital photography is equal to film (not really: it still doesn't "do" 46 shades of green in a be speckled forest. It's lucky to get 6 shades of green in one single photograph). Film will do all the shadings (within the (dynamic) light range it captures, of course).
Shunyata can sound jaw-droppingly "real", period. BUT. I'm talking about its better cords. Can't speak for the copperhead. The Vishnu, on the other hand, is a very decent cord, but, like the Shiva, still very lean. (I wouldn't use Shiva again if you GAVE it to me. Waaay too lean, and I had an entire system of both Shivas and Pythons simultaneously. Many cable that are lean are "fast"-sound, because they leave off the "body" of the instrument. Think of a room filled with 100 Kate Moss(es) and then 10 0Cindy Crawfords. You can see further "into" the room with a lot of stick figures OR you can see not QUITE as far, but there's more there "there." Moss: Nordost. Crawford: Shunyata. Both valid approaches. I'll take Shunyata.
Conversely, when I moved East and reassembled a new stereo in 2003, I had Quattro Fils interconnects, Shunyata Andromeda speaker cable and Python and King Cobra (V2s, not V1s). My opera singer friend, who'd heard the system before and wasn't much moved (the amp he'd heard it with, previously, was the Marsh A400. This time it was the Antique Sound Lab Hurricanes) was now dazzled (part of this was the Hurricanes, but everything else had to be doing its part, remember, or he wouldn't have heard what he heard). He kept saying on Bill Evan's Waltz for Debby, "I can SEE the drummer. He's RIGHT THERE, RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR DRYER! RIGHT NEXT TO IT!!!" So, even with ONLY Nordost interconnects and everything else Shunyata, it was still dazzling. It's not really a contradiction, it's just that even with a combined loom, it could still sound "right there, right now." (That was, by the way, the most REAL my system EVER sounded, but you know what? It was the fact that the basement, where the system was, at that time, was 23' wide and 46' long (the length of my mother's ranch house). In other words, wider rooms (with Tube Traps and covering the concrete walls -- which harden sound, so the delicacy disappears -- everywhere) allow better sound reproduction. So, it's not just the components, I'm afraid. It's also the room.
Still, for me? Shunyata

P.S. Brahma is ALSO a great cord. I'm a Shunyata fan, but the Brahma is an excellent cord as well. My post must have posted immediately after you posted, because your comment about trying out the Brahma wasn't there when I started writing this (shows how long-winded my posts are). I could suggest Brahma, but I would NOT go lower in the Nordost line. I would also then suggest you audition the Python CX power cord. The lower line of Shunyata compared to a Brahma is NOT a fair comparison, no matter how good the Shunyata's lower line is. Brahma vs. Python? That's a more level playing field.