Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams

I've Gone From Color Me Skeptical To A Card Carrying Member Of The Lunatic Fringe

Well having moved from the SF Bay Area back to Southern California last year and then taking almost 8 months to plan and build my new dedicated listening room and being so happy with the way things turned out I was prepared to spend my golden years drifting off into stagnant complacency as I really felt there was nothing more I wanted to do to my system (except for my annual New Year's resolution for the past 10 years of wanting to get back into vinyl). I knew there was an upgrade to my Wilson X2 Series ll speakers but I was loving what I was hearing in my new room and by all reports this new room eclipsed my prior by a large step. I felt my Lamm ML3 Signature LL1 Signature amp and preamp was as good as it gets and I loved the synergy between the Lamm and Wilson. I use Valhalla cable and PC's through 90% of my system and was keenly aware of step ups in the Nordost chain. Nonetheless I was still very happy with my room. My room has 10 completely dedicated 20 amp lines and 2 dedicated 30 amp lines for my ampsEach dedicated line has a Furutech GTX-D?R/G) receptacle with each line direct to its own circuit breaker in a dedicated subpanel.Overall once again I was pleased with what I was hearing and even though I knew there were many paths for to follow if I got "up-grade-itis". I just didn't have the urge. In the past I had looked into an Equi=tech balanced power for my dedicated room but there was no ideal place for the panel box so I let that idea pass. I was ready to coast into the sun set with what I had no questions asked.

For the record when it comes to cables I have always remained somewhat neutral on the subject and when it came to power cords, well you can color me skeptical. I use mostly Valhalla PC's i my system and have always liked them when compared to other PC's I demoed. In other words I was reluctant to admit that different power cords could result in significant system changes.

I read many of the reviews in the big rags as well as the ezines so I feel I am up to date with what is going on in the industry. Further, here at WBF there are many members with exceptional systems and gear who regularly post reports on new gear they own.

Several years ago at CES I remember vividly walking into the Shunyata room where none other than Caelin Gabriel (who is a member here at WBF) was giving a fascinating demo on the newly introduced Shunyata cable with Zitron technology and how it normalized a sine wave when compared to other cable. Heretofore I must admit that Shunyata was a name well known to me as it is frequently discussed on most of the online forums but beyond that I had never critically evaluated any of their products.

Over the past few months here at WBF there have been several members who have done glowing reviews on Shunyata signal cables as well as power cords.The comments they were making sounded almost "too good to be true". Several of these members also had Shunyata Hydra Triton and Hydra Typhon in their systems for noise reduction and the reviews seemed to be even better. I spoke to several of these members to get their feelings on the Triton/Typhon and every one of them commented that they could never listen to their system without these products ever again. That caught my attention.

So as Michael Corleone in Godfather lll said "just when I thought I was out......they pull me back in"


And so with that notion I was determined to see what if any change in my system I would hear when I introduced Shunyata PC's and Triton/Typhon gear. I will say right now that I went into this truly believing that I would emerge still quite content with my Valhalla PC's and no changes would be forth coming. Simply put, "I was not prepared for what I heard in my system"

Initially I added the following for my front end components.........

Anaconda 20A PC from wall to Triton.I also added an Anaconda (stacked) Umbilical running from a Typhon into the Triton. Plugged into the Triton therefore I have
Typhon via Anaconda umbilical
Playback Designs MPS-5
Studer A810
Lamm LL1
Doshi tape head preamp

When I turned things on it sounded very good out of the box but I was warned that after that the next week could be a teeter totter ride until the Triton/Typhon burn in as well as the Anaconda cables. Usually 200 hours is suggested but YMMV. I didn't want to hear any of the bad and all I did was have all components turned on. Apparently no signal is required but merely the components on. This was fortuitous as to timing as my family was flying back to the SF Bay Area where my daughter was getting married. So I would be gone for almost one week.

BTW, I was also not prepared for the size and weight of the Triton and Typhon and I took off the stock feet to each unit and replaced with Shunyata SSF where the Triton is spiked onto the Typhon using the supplied brass plugs. The Typhon is spiked onto a Zoethecus rack with granite shelves. I stacked the units and hence the "stacked" umbilical was used. Land (or lack thereof) in my room is always an issue. I didn't want to or have the room to place the units side by side.

So here is a photo of the Triton on the Typhon (SSF are difficult to see)

And from a different angle.........

There have been abundant reviews on these two products and can be readily found all over the internet so I won't bore you with that again. What is always important is what did I hear. The sound seemed to take on a life of it's own. The sound floor was at a level that escaped my detection. The music for me was as real as I had ever heard. I have said in several threads here that the sound floor is so non existent that sounds emerge from darkness. For me it was as if I was at the event itself. There was no change in the soundstage but what for me was so amazing (and I have posted here before) that I heard a word in an Eagles song which I have used as a demo in my system for many years. A word that I always previously knew as something was in fact something else. I was stunned. This caught my attention and I listened for most of the day. My system had taken on a whole new sound and was so clean and pure that many times I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't crazy. Somewhere I think on the Shunyata website is a suggestion that it brings out the plasma of the music. There were times that I could literally walk around instruments or vocals in the soundstage. It was truly 3D. For years I have read some very esteemed members here describe a loss of a layer of grunge in the music. Almost as if there was thin layer of dirt on a window through which I could see but once that layer of dirt was gone the resolution of everything was truly night and day and a no brainer that could be easily picked up on simple testing

Well as they said in Julius Caesar...."Alea Iacta Est"

The die has been cast and there is no turning back

I can say that in an almost 50 year involvement in this hobby there have been IMO and in my system "game changers". Well stop the press because this was truly a game changer, so much so that I began reading threads here where members asked about plugging their amps into a Triton rather than the wall and other than a few exceptions most people plug their amps into the wall ( I use two 30 amp dedicated circuits). Caelin however had made comments as to what can be done with respect to amps. One he called The Lunatic Fringe" where a Typhon is plugged into the AC duplex where each amp is plugged. The Typhon works in parallel in the circuit hence benefits gained.My biggest concern again was land as I needed to place the Typhons between the wall and my amp. I also wanted to be certain my amps remained behind the plane of my speakers. So I now have a pair of Typhons placed there using an Anaconda umbilical for each. Pictures can be seen below...

This made me a card carrying member of the Lunatic Fringe

You can see how each Typhon is connected to the AC duplex of each amp

What was now remarkable was the sounds that I used to hear with the system on and in standby was a little buzz through the tweeters and mid range drivers. No doubt this affected the sound floor. This sound as well as everything else is totally gone. What I thought before to be total blackness was but yet another of the "50 Shades Of Gray". Now my soundstage is so accurate with respect to imaging that the best way I can describe it is that experience when one puts on his first set of reading glasses because it is suddenly , "welcome to the world"

I presently have both Typhons shown above sitting on dedicated planks of 1 3/4" maple butcher block using the Shunyata SSF on the supplied metal plugs.

I have probably 400 hours on the first new addition and probably very close to 200 hours on the second addition. I also in this upgrade swapped out a Valhalla PC from my Playback Designs to the Triton with the new Shunyata Alpha Digital PC with again less smearing on that window analogy.

The Hydra series is called a Power conditioning system but the underlying weight of both show them as formidable beasts with their large copper Noise Isolation Chambers. I gather that Caelin initially envisioned this project as a one boxbut it would have been to big. Hence the system works with a Triton alone and added benefits of a Typhon when used

I suppose one can say that if the Triton/Typhon together are worth one dollar then I would say the Triton alone gets you about $0.80.

As several members here have posted, they couldn't imagine listening without the Typhon in their system

This experience for me over the past two months has been a true learning experience. I am convinced now as to the sonic benefits of a Power cord whereas before I was quite skeptical. NowI am a believer, so much so that I have always felt that the best synergy is using the same cable throughout a system. I can also say that I guess I'm hooked because over the course of this coming year I am going to phase out my existing Valhalla cable with an all Shunyata System

I can say as a consumer in this hobby that anyone who gets a chance to demo one or both of these units in your system, I would tell you to jump at the chance and then come report back to us

In summary, my hat is tipped to Caelin Gabriel and what he has done to change my listening room so significantly that all too often I am lost in there for most of the day.

To those of you who have heard my system before, many of you on multiple occasions, you owe it to your self to come back for another listen

The other caveat to discover with Shunyata cables and Zitron technology is that these cables are not only magnificent but economically (although far from cheap) affordable. I can easily say that this cable will equal or best many cables that are priced in the ozone. Overall cost to this planned update is a factor with my being retired and what a gift this cable is to my auditory sensorium

Thanks guys

Honestly this has changed my system in such a dramatic fashion that I never would have expected. This equipment is that good.