Introducing My System

[Thundersnow]

That is a stunning system you got, congratulations. I heard the Marten Parker bookshelf speaker at a dealer and the sound of Martens seems really exceptional. Thanks for sharing all of it. At that level i wonder how your Martens sound in comparison to the equivalent Tidal speakers. They seem similar in terms of looks and use of Accuton drivers.

Thank you very much! I’ve listened to Tidal at the Munich show. It sounded really good but quite similar to Martens, yes. I don’t recall much else at this point, and I couldn’t compare with similar electronics. With that said, not sure about the Tidal crossover topology, but I think I found the Marten sound a little smoother — likely due to the 1st order xover.

 

[joey_v]

Such a gorgeous system.
Well done and congrats on a once in a lifetime type system build

 

[Thundersnow]

Such a gorgeous system.
Well done and congrats on a once in a lifetime type system build

Thank you for the kind words!

 

[markol]

What a great journey and an even greater system! Thank you, Uroše for posting!

 

[Holli82]

I’m late to the party but congrats on a wonderful system. Wishing you many happy hours of listening!

 

[Thundersnow]

What a great journey and an even greater system! Thank you, Uroše for posting!

Thank you, Marko!

 

[Thundersnow]

I’m late to the party but congrats on a wonderful system. Wishing you many happy hours of listening!

I can say the same thing to you -- congrats on a wonderful system! I'm a huge fan of Von Schweikert Ultra 9. I think it's a phenomenal speaker, and the rest of the system is top notch as well!

 

[Thundersnow]

Hey all! News at the casa di Thundersnow hi fi!

In preparation for my move to the new space, I was looking for an all-around solution for power/grounding. After listening to Shunyata Everest at my buddy’s place, I was impressed with what I heard so I pulled the trigger and thanks to @Golum and Florian got my mitts on a Shunyata Everest and their Omega XC cable.

It’s been about a week of critical listening now and all I can say is I am absolutely stoked about buying this power distributor. I plug all of my equipment including the power amps into it. First and foremost, the sound hasn’t lost any of its finesse or the life it brings to the music. If anything, and along with the dynamics, Shunyata has kicked things into another gear.

The icing on the cake was grounding all of my equipment chasis to the Everest as well.

As a power distributer/filter only, Everest to my ears does not color the tone in any way, but it does add a certain very, very pleasing harmonic richness to the tones. I would compare it to having the even harmonics of my tube gear going into overdrive with whatever is that magic in the highs and mids that the tubes bring. Though I never was a huge fan of the term “blacker background”, having tried numerous different power distribution solutions (Ansuz, PS Audio, Audience, AudioQuest, McIntosh isolation transformer… you name it), this effect is most pronounced with the Shunyata Everest — at least in my system and my setup.

Compared to for example, the Ansuz DTC distributor and the DTC2 power cord, which I own, you could say that both the Everest and the Ansuz DTC do their job, but Ansuz does it at the expense of diminished dynamics (especially with the monos plugged into it) and this somewhat unfortunate hint of artificial overtones, which I suspect are due to the active components it utilizes.

I heard none of that with Everest. In short, it emphasizes all the good aspects of the system at the expense of virtually nothing.

Finally, once I’ve set up chasis grounding to go along with the power filtering (made my own grounding cables), the sound got freed up of almost any remaining faint hints of digital harshness. It became more analogue, with more presence and realism in the tone. Easily heard on “organic” instruments like, say, leather skin drums and similar such instruments. Nylon guitar strings sound like nylon, etc.

I am currently very tempted to acquire Shunyata’s standalone grounding solutions as well. We’ll see…

 

[itay123]

Amazing Setup my friend!

The Shunyata’s standalone grounding solution Definitely inquisitive and also on my MUST TRY list.

 

[Thundersnow]

Amazing Setup my friend!

The Shunyata’s standalone grounding solution Definitely inquisitive and also on my MUST TRY list.

Thank you very much, itay!

 

[Thundersnow]

Besides the chasis grounding, there has been one important incremental step forward I have made today.

My logic was the following: cable designers design their power amp cords (e.g. Cardas Clear Beyond XL, Shunyata Omega QR, etc.) with having in mind that people will be plugging them directly into the wall. So the assumption is that filtering is needed (and adequate wire gauge of course) to get the most out of powering the mono blocks directly from the wall sockets.

But I don’t want to use Everest 8000 like that. I want everything plugged into it. So not having access at the moment to two more Omega XC cables, I called up my buddy Zoran from FTA Cables and asked him if he has any filtering in his high power cords. He confirmed nothing aside from the geometry itself. Good enough for me to test my hunch.

I replaced the two Cardas Clear Beyond XL cables with the FTA high power cords.

The result: dynamics have been increased, sound stage bigger, bass more defined. In other words, if you plan to run your power amps through the Everest 8000, assume that it’s doing its job right and go for the least filtered high power cords you have to the mono blocks. Definitely a winning combo. Listening to the music, I cannot see any drop in any of the critical elements of sound one would expect to hear when plugging the mono blocks directly into the wall (and with a decent power setup in their home).

 

[Ron Resnick]

My logic was the following: cable designers design their power amp cords (e.g. Cardas Clear Beyond XL, Shunyata Omega QR, etc.) with having in mind that people will be plugging them directly into the wall. So the assumption is that filtering is needed (and adequate wire gauge of course) to get the most out of powering the mono blocks directly from the wall sockets.

Hi!

I use Cardas Clear Beyond XL power cables, so I am curious about what you are reporting. I have wondered what is in that protrusion at the end of the cable.

When you refer here to "filtering" do you mean a ferrite core, a little low-pass RLC circuit, or something else?

Thank you.

 

[Thundersnow]

Exactly, @Ron Resnick, I am suspecting the protrusion you are referring to is a ferrite core. Of course it could be some other type of filtering too, purely my assumption. That said, subjectively, I can definitely confirm that coming out of Everest 8000 Clear Beyond XL is killing some of the dynamics as opposed to using a cable with no form of noise filtering (other than filtering through cable geometry).

 

[Ron Resnick]

Exactly, @Ron Resnick, I am suspecting the protrusion you are referring to is a ferrite core. Of course it could be some other type of filtering too, purely my assumption. That said, subjectively, I can definitely confirm that coming out of Everest 8000 Clear Beyond XL is killing some of the dynamics as opposed to using a cable with no form of noise filtering (other than filtering through cable geometry).

Very interesting. Thank you.

 

[2fastdriving]

Your system looks incredible! Congrats on putting together such a sweet rig.

 

[Thundersnow]

Your system looks incredible! Congrats on putting together such a sweet rig.

Thank you very much!

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I'm with you @Thundersnow
I use a TT7 instead of an Everest, but I want big, honking, low-impedance power cables with no additional filtering. I even use an OmegaXC for my Extreme, contrary to Shunyata guidance. I use a Sablon King from the wall to the TT7. Both large-gauge snakes with no filtering enhancement, other than geometry. Loved your system pics! Thanks for posting.

 

[Thundersnow]

Not exactly a “my system“ sort of post but a very happy new year from The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Paris from Thundersnow! May your systems find that special harmonic lavishness of the violin and human voice as seen in the below video in 2024!

Listening to classical music in such a special venue devoids it of any aggression or harshness, leaving the tones perfectly subtle, almost gentle — the highs blending seamlessly with the velvety mids. The massive space of the church dances in tandem with the music, elevating the experience to something of etherial. In listening to a reproduction of this piece, any wince or side glare is a moment gone to waste. The speaker and the system need to be able to convey the sense of calm and tonal richness that one such performance evokes in the listener. Am I there yet with my system? Sadly no. But it’s a nice dream to dream still! One day!

 

[Long Live Analog]

Beautiful room and system, love the aesthetics and vibe. Excellent choice powering the whole system with the Everest. There’s nothing like clean steady power for the amps. I bet it sounds amazing. Congratulations !

 

[Thundersnow]

Beautiful room and system, love the aesthetics and vibe. Excellent choice powering the whole system with the Everest. There’s nothing like clean steady power for the amps. I bet it sounds amazing. Congratulations !

Thank you very much for the kind words!