The Shunyata Denali 6000/S V2 + Venom NR & XC cords - The Verdict
The moment I plugged in both DACs, phono, preamp AND monoblocks into the Denali, performance went up another notch, rendering very analog sounds out of redbook digital. Fascinating results. The V2 of the Denali is claimed to not suppress current flow - and I don't hear any with the amplifiers plugged into it. On the contrary, dynamics all around have skyrocketed. The Denali did take 3 days to break in, and more importantly, it did not do any harm when initially plugged in.
(this is going to be long)
This round of assault on power quality has wrapped up, and it's been a long and arduous cycle. After settling on the in-series resistor to the panel's crossover at 1.23Ohms (up from 1.21Ohms, and with obvious negative effects at 1.25Ohms), it was time for careful listening to the following power configuration:
- Denali 6000/S V2 fed by a Venom V10 XC
- 2 Venom V10 XC (non noise-reducing) to the amps
- 5 Venom V12 NR (noise-reducing) to the DACs, phono, preamp and subwoofer
- The Denali feeds the DACs, phono, preamp, amps
- On the speaker side, I have used my old MIT Magnum Z Trap filters to power the panels, plus another filter to the FM tuner
- The Denali offers very wide spectrum of noise reduction according to Shunyata's specs, while the NR cords appear to complement it with a more narrow field.
To get to this point, I unfortunately had to play the same ~50 CDs over and over and over again for over 9 months, and thankfully my family have not killed me yet. The purpose of this repeated auditioning was to identify and isolate problem areas.
I engaged in some interesting tests:
1) Plug the amps directly to the wall - obvious drop in sonic performance, including micro- and macro dynamics and loss of detail. Quite expected, considering that noise will suck the life out of them
2) Plug one amp to the wall and the other to the Denali - the Denali-fed amp sounded so obviously superior that it wasn't even funny. Switching to Mono on the preamp yielded some funny results; quite amusing actually
3) Replace the Venom NR cords with my old Shunyata CX one more time, and performance dropped a bit, which certified yet again the Venom's superiority again (the CX have been sold at a fair price)
My approach to power conditioning has always been holistic, not just replacing a cord or two.
The Verdict is quite obvious: tremendous gains in micro- and macro-dynamics, riddance of some slightly-euphonic notes, really tight, taught and deep bass - and above all, a significant improvement in timbre and articulation, shocking in fact. The drop in distortion has also re-enabled me again, for the umpteenth time, to revisit the SD/HD switch on the MIT speaker cables, and now I can easily settle back on HD! UGH, this has been frustrating to say the least, but finally rewarding at the same time.
It all started with one experimental NR cord to the Alpha DAC, and it quickly became the power-conditioning project I had in mind for years. The total cost is not insignificant, but the improvements are the equivalent of a major component upgrade - it is that serious.
Since I bought the CX cords about a decade ago - with their beautiful noise-reducing geometry, courtesy of some professor from whom they licensed it - Shunyata has come a long way. The sheer fact they have been able to come up with acceptable performance-measuring techniques for cords and other devices is commendable; I don't know anyone else in the business that does this.
Regarding those Shunyata measurements, there has been some criticism; but all they are doing is compare their individual electrical component against others of the same kind, and provide the measurements to support their claims. This type of comparison is no different than for any other electrical component, be it capacitors, resistors, transistors, transformers... whatever have you. A capacitor manufacturer, for example, may throw all kinds of measurements to support a claim that their product is superior than others, and that doesn't mean it's irrelevant or out of context. On the contrary, those who buy said superior capacitors know well enough that there are weak links where they are trying to plug them in, that said component is one of many in a chain or cluster, and that all of them have to perform at the same level in order to enjoy the benefits of each individual component's design. The same applies to all electrical components, including cords, and this is why upgrading capacitors can work wonders; ditto for transformers, cords, at al
Effectively, Shunyata's argument is that their L6F (Last 6 Feet) is demonstrably better than others' L6F, and that if you buy theirs your weakest link may be your upstream wiring, and if your upstream wiring is of equally quality, then you will achieve the maximum benefit; and if it isn't, then stick with the cords you have. I happen to have 8awg in-wall solid wiring and quality breakers.
The bottom line is that, in this system and with this configuration (Denali/Venom), Shunyata's latest efforts easily demonstrate a home-run and major achievement in power conditioning. I did rely on a couple of reviews of the Denali 6000/S V2 and Everest on audiobeat.com for part of my decisions.
-ack