Shunyata anaconda second impressions

[edorr]

I reported a few weeks ago being disappointed with the impact of swapping out 6 powercables with 6 x anaconda zitron (at not insignificant cost), after these cables had 3 days in the cooker on them. Some folks reported insufficient burn in was probably the cause.

Ever the burn in skeptic, I dismissed this hypothesis, and resigned myself to having spend 5 figures on a disappointing upgrade (it happens). Fast forward a few weeks and boy was I wrong - don't ask me how, but these snakes are breathing live into my system life (or should I say "musicality") into my system like I have never experienced before.

Can't wait to try all Shunyata power conditioning, and swap out one anaconda for digital alpha. Order will go in Friday.

 

[GuidoCorona]

Hi Edorr, I am not at all surprised about your new findings... How many hours of current going through might the cords have on them now?

Guido

 

[Steve Williams]

I reported a few weeks ago being disappointed with the impact of swapping out 6 powercables with 6 x anaconda zitron (at not insignificant cost), after these cables had 3 days in the cooker on them. Some folks reported insufficient burn in was probably the cause.

Ever the burn in skeptic, I dismissed this hypothesis, and resigned myself to having spend 5 figures on a disappointing upgrade (it happens). Fast forward a few weeks and boy was I wrong - don't ask me how, but these snakes are breathing live into my system life (or should I say "musicality") into my system like I have never experienced before.

Can't wait to try all Shunyata power conditioning, and swap out one anaconda for digital alpha. Order will go in Friday.

Welcome to the club

 

[edorr]

Hi Edorr, I am not at all surprised about your new findings... How many hours of current going through might the cords have on them now?

Guido

I'd say I put 75 hours on them in the cooker, and added another 75 hours through 6 weeks use @ 15h / week. 150 is about consistent with what Shunyata sais is needed to get them to 90% of performance potential - hoping for more improvements.

However, when my new order comes in, I will be swapping out 4 of the six burned in cables with new ones (3 x umbilical + one x digital alpha), so I have to start all over again.

 

[Steve Williams]

you're going to like the Alpha Digital cable.

 

[microstrip]

you're going to like the Alpha Digital cable.

Do you already have one? I will not get it until Christmas, as my dealer is just now ordering them ...

 

[edorr]

you're going to like the Alpha Digital cable.

I will be ordering three - 1 for my DAC and 2 for my active bass cabinets, which have class D switching amps. This will be one of those rare cash flow positive upgrades.

 

[Steve Williams]

Do you already have one? I will not get it until Christmas, as my dealer is just now ordering them ...

I will be ordering three - 1 for my DAC and 2 for my active bass cabinets, which have class D switching amps. This will be one of those rare cash flow positive upgrades.

I use only one .....for my Playback Designs to the Triton

 

[edorr]

I use only one .....for my Playback Designs to the Triton

What digital source are you using for the DAC? Wouldn't that be a candidate for a second alpha cord?

 

[Steve Williams]

What digital source are you using for the DAC? Wouldn't that be a candidate for a second alpha cord?

DAC is in the Playback Designs

 

[edorr]

DAC is in the Playback Designs

Right. It is actually a CD/SACD player.

 

[Vhiner]

Ever the burn in skeptic, I dismissed this hypothesis, and resigned myself to having spend 5 figures on a disappointing upgrade (it happens). Fast forward a few weeks and boy was I wrong - don't ask me how, but these snakes are breathing live into my system life (or should I say "musicality") into my system like I have never experienced before.

Can't wait to try all Shunyata power conditioning, and swap out one anaconda for digital alpha. Order will go in Friday.

Erik,

Glad you found your way to the mountain top! I predict you will have a similar journey with the power conditioning. It's worth noting that each receptacle you use will take some time to burn in. I highly recommend a fan for the Triton if you want to accelerate the process. With respect to the Alpha Digital's, I found that 6 days on a fan and then two days in the system was all it took for them to operate at peak levels. Putting them in after proper burn in is like hitting the accelerator in a Porsche 911. You won't forget the rush. Serious bang for the buck, too.

 

[jfrech]

What AC outlet's are you using? You might want to add a few Shunyata SR-Z1's to this next order...I've been very impressed with them...big improvement over my former cryo'd hubbells....these are hubbels to but something is different...and markedly better in my system...

 

[edorr]

What AC outlet's are you using? You might want to add a few Shunyata SR-Z1's to this next order...I've been very impressed with them...big improvement over my former cryo'd hubbells....these are hubbels to but something is different...and markedly better in my system...

I have three of those included in my order....

 

[Bluedog]

you're going to like the Alpha Digital cable.

I'll second that. Two weeks ago I plugged my Meitner MA-2 SACD/DAC into a dedicated ground outlet with the Shunyata Zitron Digital Alpha. What an improvement… all the digital hash was gone thankfully. It took a good couple of weeks for it to break in, but the Alpha Digitial is a "must have" PC for digital sources.

Today I received my Triton and a 20a Anaconda Zitron Alpha pc… early Christmas! I'm not pleased to hear how long the Triton takes to break in but the end results will be worth the wait.

In a few days two Zitron Cobra Alphas arrive to feed the Valvet mono blocks. I'll try to turn a deaf ear until everything breaks in!

 

[BlueFox]

My second Alpha Digital has been on my DAC for two weeks now, and another Alpha Digital has been on my file player about 4-6 weeks (it sure is easy to lose track of time). Anyway, both pieces of gear are on 24 hours a day, and it appears the Alpha on the DAC has reached, or come very close to, it's potential.

The music from these two devices is coming from a black hole of silence, with pin point precision in location of instruments and voices within the soundstage. Also, whether due to the absence of noise, or better reproduction, I am hearing background details I have not noticed before. It is as if somebody down the street is playing music outside, and I hear that under my music, but when I stop the music, it stops. So, it is coming from my system. So far this has been with string quartets chamber music playing at moderate (70+db range) level. Rock also sounds much better, but at a higher level it isn't going to expose any low level details. It is just more listenable at higher SPLs with little fatigue.

Anyway, the point here is that if anyone is debating whether or not to buy this power cord then my enthusiastic recommendation is do it. At $1K, this is a bargain for the incredible increase in fidelity that results. I really feel sorry for those who spent $100K for a dCS Vivaldi stack. Then again, I wish I had a dCS Vivaldi stack with four Alphas.

 

[Mobiusman]

I must say that I feel for those who struggle with trying to evaluate the benefit of Zitron Shunyata PC's. I own at least one of each model and am in the process of upgrading once again. My most recent addition is two Alpha Digital PC's, which have had totally different impacts on each of the devices they are plugged into. When I plugged the first one into my Meitner DAC, they sound became muddy with a collapsed sound stage, but there was something going on in the background that had promise in the mids and highs. My take, which has increased over the past 100 hours of use, is that it is the reduction of digital hash, which in turn makes is sound more realistic. The bass is only slowly returning returning, but it is coming back. The jury is still out on this one, but then I have this done this enough times with Shunyata PC's to know that one cannot tell for at least 2 weeks and completely for 4 weeks. In my opinion it is totally foolish to make a judgement in less than 2 weeks, but then some of us have a hard time being patient.

The second device I plugged an Alpha Digital cable into cost less than the PC, but the results was one of the most dramatic instant improvements I have heard in my system after inserting a Shunyata PC. This device is an Oppo BDP 93. The sound improvement was top to bottom and the soundstage improvement was scary because it was so far beyond the speakers. The bass instantly tightened, became more articulate and extended several cycles lower than before. I am guessing that the benefit came largely from the increased control of the digital servo driving the laser head, which would explain why the benefit was top to bottom.

So in conclusion, I am reminded of what I learned repeatedly when I started my many Shunyata tests last March. Patience is key with their PC's. To judge in less than 2 weeks is pure folly, although some components gain so much that some benefit is apparent immediately.

 

[jap]

I must say that I feel for those who struggle with trying to evaluate the benefit of Zitron Shunyata PC's. I own at least one of each model and am in the process of upgrading once again. My most recent addition is two Alpha Digital PC's, which have had totally different impacts on each of the devices they are plugged into. When I plugged the first one into my Meitner DAC, they sound became muddy with a collapsed sound stage, but there was something going on in the background that had promise in the mids and highs. My take, which has increased over the past 100 hours of use, is that it is the reduction of digital hash, which in turn makes is sound more realistic. The bass is only slowly returning returning, but it is coming back. The jury is still out on this one, but then I have this done this enough times with Shunyata PC's to know that one cannot tell for at least 2 weeks and completely for 4 weeks. In my opinion it is totally foolish to make a judgement in less than 2 weeks, but then some of us have a hard time being patient.

The second device I plugged an Alpha Digital cable into cost less than the PC, but the results was one of the most dramatic instant improvements I have heard in my system after inserting a Shunyata PC. This device is an Oppo BDP 93. The sound improvement was top to bottom and the soundstage improvement was scary because it was so far beyond the speakers. The bass instantly tightened, became more articulate and extended several cycles lower than before. I am guessing that the benefit came largely from the increased control of the digital servo driving the laser head, which would explain why the benefit was top to bottom.

So in conclusion, I am reminded of what I learned repeatedly when I started my many Shunyata tests last March. Patience is key with their PC's. To judge in less than 2 weeks is pure folly, although some components gain so much that some benefit is apparent immediately.

Not surprising that the Alpha Digital made a more dramatic improvement on the Oppo BDP 93.

The Meitner DAC has a much more sophisticated SMPS than the one in the Oppo BDP 93, and probably doesn't need the additional noise filtering of the Alpha Digital.

The JPS Labs DIGITAL AC –X might be a better PC for the Oppo BDP 93, and its cost is less than half a Alpha Digital.

For people who don't want to waste two weeks burning in PCs, I suggest you get one of these:

http://www.haglabs.com/frycorder.html

 

[Lee]

Not surprising that the Alpha Digital made a more dramatic improvement on the Oppo BDP 93.

The Meitner DAC has a much more sophisticated SMPS than the one in the Oppo BDP 93, and probably doesn't need the additional noise filtering of the Alpha Digital.

The JPS Labs DIGITAL AC –X might be a better PC for the Oppo BDP 93, and its cost is less than half a Alpha Digital.

For people who don't want to waste two weeks burning in PCs, I suggest you get one of these:

http://www.haglabs.com/frycorder.html

How much is that?

 

[jap]

How much is that?

$250. shipped.