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Old 04-12-2020, 07:19 PM
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Default Shunyata Sigma NR v2 Power Cord review

The new Sigma NR v2 power cord is near the top of the line of the new Reference Series of NR power cords from Shunyata Research.

The new Reference Series power cords have all new VTX-Ag conductors, CopperCONN connectors, and Shunyata's latest NR noise-reduction technology that significantly reduces noise coming from the component's power supply and going back into the power distribution chain to potentially contaminate other componentry. They are primarily designed to be used for powering components in conjunction with a power distributor, but they can also be used to provide NR for components powered directly from the wall's AC receptacle, e.g. monoblocks or amps that are too far from the location of a central power distributor.

I've had the opportunity to evaluate a production version of the Sigma NR v2 power cord for the last week or so prior to its formal marketing release on April 3, and for the first application, I installed a single power cord to power my Denali 6000/S V2.



From the first moment I turned on the stereo using this power cord, I was...gobsmacked. I've heard some really good power cords in the last 10 years, but in all honesty, I've never heard a single power cord not only bring such a DEGREE of improvement, but also NATURE of improvement, as well.

The new Sigma NR v2 PC brings the type and nature of presentation that I've only experienced from Shunyata devices that have the QR/BB technology. If you've never experienced what a Triton V3, Typhon QR, Denali, etc. brings to the equation, all I can say is that the classic audiophile terminology we've used for the last 40 years simply does not apply any more. Put quite simply, you have to experience it to "get it".

Most of my experiences with great power cords to this point have resulted in a notable reduction in noise, hash, grunge and a concomitant increase in dynamics, slam, ability to scale incredibly quickly without "compression" and resultant improvements in transparency and resolution. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that power cords are the most important cables in a high-end system for this reason, and, along with the power distributor, should be the first key purchases of a stereo system to provide clean, quiet, and un-restricted power rather than the final "tweak" of a stereo system. You don't build a superb house on a weak foundation, you build it on the best foundation you can for sound (no pun intended) engineering reasons, and the power distribution of a high-end audio system is no different.

But coming back to the Sigma NR v2....

The first time I head this power cord it was immediately apparent that all the adjectives used in audio reviews for this type of product don't apply. The performance and qualities this power cord brings require a new vocabulary as as well as a new perspective because the nature of the presentation is so fundamentally changed.

If there was just one word I was limited to for describing what the Shunyata NR v2 brings its...Verisimilitude.

Def: Verisimilitude – the appearance of being true or real.

There is realness and authencity that this power cord brings that, quite simply, I've never experienced before. Yes, its got all those audiophile adjectives I've referenced above: notable reduction in noise, hash, grunge and a concomitant increase in dynamics, slam, ability to scale incredibly quickly...yadda, yadda. Yep, its got all that stuff in spades.

But, it has other, more compelling attributes, as well. The Sigma NR v2 provides a very 3D-like simulacrum of the musical presentation that is the most holographic, dimensional, pin-point precise I've experienced. While its sounds amazing on all types of content, on full-scale classical symphonic music, you can really hear what the Sigma NR v2 can do.

Listening to Pepe Romero's classical guitar on Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez by Romero and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, you can hear the thickness of the spruce top of Romero's guitar. Moreover, you can clearly hear the individual notes, and the subtlety of the notes he is playing completely clearly and fully resolved even with the complexity and scale the full orchestra is going flat-out during a very dynamic passage. You can actually "zero in" with your hearing to every single instrument in the orchestra, and hear what that specific musician is playing within the context of the symphony overall. Normally, during these types of passages, these small and "intricate" details normally get lost against the background of the entire symphony playing en-masse. Not so with the Sigma NR v2.

The Sigma NR v2 provides a type of "resolution" that quite simply, I've not experienced before. The orchestra can swing incredibly quickly and forcefully from soft to loud and you can still pointpoint and hear "into" each individual musician or instrumental voice. On Midnight Blue, I can hear the secondary reflection of Kenny Burrell's guitar, which is miked on the left, splay off the far right wall in the recording studio, for example.

The imaging is also notably improved as well, each musician or instrument being more focused, "palpable'..there's more "meat on the bones" of each instrument, more texture, more timbral accuracy and timbral nuance.

I could go on and on, but to conclude, there is so much more focus, ambiance, rightness to the presentation that it moves from clean, fast and technical (there's all that, those audiophile attributes, to be sure, but much more) to such a natural and "organic" quality that it sounds as if you are in the room with the musicians as they create the music that instant. Analogies again fail here but if I had to make them its like going from an Apple iTunes track to listening to the recording's orignal master tapes set up by Alan Yoshida and played back on a world-class Studer reel-to-reel tape deck. Or like looking at a JPEG from a good APS-C camera to a 16-bit TIFF file from a 100 megapixel Fuji GFX100 medium-format camera in Capture One Pro 20.

Really extraordinary.
__________________
Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.

Last edited by Puma Cat; 06-02-2020 at 01:36 AM.
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  #2  
Old 04-12-2020, 07:29 PM
SCAudiophile SCAudiophile is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma Cat View Post
The new Sigma NR v2 power cord is near the top of the line of the new Reference Series of NR power cords from Shunyata Research.

The new Reference Series power cords have all new VTX-Ag conductors, CopperCONN connectors, and Shunyata's latest NR noise-reduction technology that significantly reduces noise coming from the component's power supply and going back into the power distribution chain to potentially contaminate other componentry. They are primarily designed to be used for powering components in conjunction with a power distributor, but they can also be used to provide NR for components powered directly from the wall's AC receptacle, e.g. monoblocks or amps that are too far from the location of a central power distributor.

I've had the opportunity to beta test the new Sigma NR v2 power cord for the last few weeks prior to its release on April 3, and for the first application, I installed a single power cord to power my Denali 6000/S V2.



From the first moment I turned on the stereo using this power cord, I was...gobsmacked. I've heard some really good power cords in the last 10 years, but in all honesty, I've never heard a single power cord not only bring such a DEGREE of improvement, but also NATURE of improvement, as well.

The new Sigma NR v2 PC brings the type and nature of presentation that I've only experienced from Shunyata devices that have the QR/BB technology. If you've never experienced what a Triton V3, Typhon QR, Denali, etc. brings to the equation, all I can say is that the classic audiophile terminology we've used for the last 40 years simply does not apply any more. Put quite simply, you have to experience it to "get it".

Most of my experiences with great power cords to this point have resulted in a notable reduction in noise, hash, grunge and a concomitant increase in dynamics, slam, ability to scale incredibly quickly without "compression" and resultant improvements in transparency and resolution. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that power cords are the most important cables in a high-end system for this reason, and, along with the power distributor, should be the first key purchases of a stereo system to provide clean, quiet, and un-restricted power rather than the final "tweak" of a stereo system. You don't build a superb house on a weak foundation, you build it on the best foundation you can for sound (no pun intended) engineering reasons, and the power distribution of a high-end audio system is no different.

But coming back to the Sigma NR v2....

The first time I head this power cord it was immediately apparent that all the adjectives used in audio reviews for this type of product don't apply. The performance and qualities this power cord brings require a new vocabulary as as well as a new perspective because the nature of the presentation is so fundamentally changed.

If there was just one word I was limited to for describing what the Shunyata NR v2 brings its...Verisimilitude.

Def: Verisimilitude – the appearance of being true or real.

There is realness and authencity that this power cord brings that, quite simply, I've never experienced before. Yes, its got all those audiophile adjectives I've referenced above: notable reduction in noise, hash, grunge and a concomitant increase in dynamics, slam, ability to scale incredibly quickly...yadda, yadda. Yep, its got all that stuff in spades.

But, it has other, more compelling attributes, as well. The Sigma NR v2 provides a very 3D-like simulacrum of the musical presentation that is the most holographic, dimensional, pin-point precise I've experienced. While its sounds amazing on all types of content, on full-scale classical symphonic music, you can really hear what the Sigma NR v2 can do.

Listening to Pepe Romero's classical guitar on Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez by Romero and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, you can hear the thickness of the spruce top of Romero's guitar. Moreover, you can clearly hear the individual notes, and the subtlety of the notes he is playing completely clearly and fully resolved even with the complexity and scale the full orchestra is going flat-out during a very dynamic passage. You can actually "zero in" with your hearing to every single instrument in the orchestra, and hear what that specific musician is playing within the context of the symphony overall. Normally, during these types of passages, these small and "intricate" details get lost against the background of the entire symphony playing en-masse. Not with the Sigma NR v2.

The Sigma NR v2 provides a type of "resolution" of a type that quite simply, I've not experienced before. The orchestra can swing incredibly quickly and forcefully from soft to loud and you can still pointpoint and hear "into" each individual musician or instrumental voice. On Midnight Blue, I can hear the secondary reflection of Kenny Burrell's guitar, which is miked on the left, splay off the far right wall in the recording studio, for example.

The imaging is also notably improved as well, each musician or instrument being more focused, "palpable'..there's more "meat on the bones" of each instrument, more texture, more timbral accuracy and timbral nuance.

I could go on and on, but to conclude, there is so much more focus, ambiance, rightness to the presentation that it moves from clean, fast and technical (there's all that, those audiophile attributes, to be sure, but much more) to such a natural and "organic" quality that it sounds as if you are in the room with the musicians as they create the music that instant. Analogies again fail here but if I had to make them its like going from an Apple iTunes track to listening to the recording's orignal master tapes set up by Alan Yoshida and played back on a world-class Studer reel-to-reel tape deck. Or like looking at a JPEG from a good APS-C camera to a 16-bit TIFF file from a 100 megapixel Fuji GFX100 medium-format camera in Capture One Pro 20.

Really extraordinary. [emoji106]
Great review...very much in line with what I am hearing here as well with different gear. The NR V2 is a very large performance and musical gain over the prior generation. The improvement is not subtle either as it impacts every aspect of both audiophile and music lover checklist behavior....
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Old 04-12-2020, 07:46 PM
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Great review...very much in line with what I am hearing here as well with different gear. The NR V2 is a very large performance and musical gain over the prior generation. The improvement is not subtle either as it impacts every aspect of both audiophile and music lover checklist behavior....
No, the improvement is NOT subtle...its quite astonishing, actually.

I know you've heard it, too, and the overarching sensibility I am left with is that all the classic terms and adjectives we've used in 40 years in audio reviews in audio magazines simply don't apply.

Instead, a a new lexicon informed by a fundamentally new paradigm is in order.

The closest analogy I can think are the vocabulary, lexicon, and content describing the differences between a Stradivarius and a Guanerius violin, for example.

I.e., we're not in audio-gear LA-LA Land anymore, we're talking about trying to describe the intrinsic musical attributes of fine instruments as well great symphony halls or comparing and contrasting great musicians. You know, like comparing and contrasting Alan Loveday of the Academy and Arthur Grumiaux.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.
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Old 04-13-2020, 03:11 AM
tima tima is offline
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Listening to Pepe Romero's classical guitar on Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez by Romero and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, you can hear the thickness of the spruce top of Romero's guitar.
Assuming Philips 6747 430, this is an excellent recording

If I may venture a small suggestion: include the label and catalog number of music you reference. That way your reader can try to replicate your experience in their system with the same recording to learn if they hear what you hear. It will also tell them the media type.
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Old 04-13-2020, 10:13 AM
BuffaloBill BuffaloBill is offline
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Any measurements to support listening experience?
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Old 04-13-2020, 11:08 AM
SCAudiophile SCAudiophile is offline
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Any measurements to support listening experience?
Not from me...I never measure as I don't believe specs are any measure of how things actually sound. My focus in testing gear and cables on my own time, is how things sound, which is all that matters to me anyway.
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Old 04-13-2020, 11:12 AM
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Assuming Philips 6747 430, this is an excellent recording

If I may venture a small suggestion: include the label and catalog number of music you reference. That way your reader can try to replicate your experience in their system with the same recording to learn if they hear what you hear. It will also tell them the media type.
Excellent idea, Tima!


And yes, it is the Philip reference number you cite. I specifically chose it for how good the recording was, as well as the preservation of the hall ambience and sense of space.
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Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.
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Old 04-14-2020, 10:21 AM
sander sander is offline
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Default Shunyata Sigma NR v2 Power Cord review

For all the reviewers out there, thanks for giving us a sneak peak at a no doubt great new product from Shunyata.
Aside from all the adjectives, is there anything to say in comparison to its predecessor in terms of its tonal character?
I ask because the V2 now has silver in its core.

In the past the Shunyata snakes has shifted somewhat in tonal character.
From the lush CX series to the more brighter and fast Xtron. The Sigma HC was also somewhat warmer sounding in comparison to the Sigma NR V1.

Is the change in sound subtle or is Shunyata taking a big leap in its tonal character?

Thanks,
Sander.
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Old 04-14-2020, 05:28 PM
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Originally Posted by sander View Post
For all the reviewers out there, thanks for giving us a sneak peak at a no doubt great new product from Shunyata.
Aside from all the adjectives, is there anything to say in comparison to its predecessor in terms of its tonal character?
I ask because the V2 now has silver in its core.

In the past the Shunyata snakes has shifted somewhat in tonal character.
From the lush CX series to the more brighter and fast Xtron. The Sigma HC was also somewhat warmer sounding in comparison to the Sigma NR V1.

Is the change in sound subtle or is Shunyata taking a big leap in its tonal character?

Thanks,
Sander.
Hi Sander...

Hmmm...you raise a good question. I'm aware of some of the tonal character that various cables have, including power cables, but interestingly, terms like "warm", "bright", "lush" never came to mind when listening, actually.

I guess if I had to apply audiophile style terms to the Sigma NR v2 is "neutral" but I am really hesitant to do that because that will makes some folks think that it sounds cool, reserved, somewhat lean, blah, blah, blah. And it doesn't. Neither does it sound warm, rich, or lush.

The Sigma NR v2 does not sound like any power cord I've ever heard before. All the regular terms, adjectives, audiophile-type lexicon simply do not apply.

Perhaps SCAudiophile (Mark W) can chime in here as well, but here's the thing: I never thinks in terms of "neutral", "warm", "bright", "lush" when I hear live music. In fact, I don't think in "audiophile terms" at all when I hear live music, and I don't think in "audiophile terms" at all when I with the Sigma NR v2 in the system. I just become immersed in the experience of the music itself.

The Sigma NR v2 let me do that more than any PC I've used, and the Alpha NR v2 comes close to that as well (more on the Alpha NR v2 shortly).
__________________
Lumin P1 streamer/DAC/preamp, Constellation Inspiration integrated TT: Michell Gyro SE MkII, SME V, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion, EAR324. Harbeth 30.2s, REL R-305, Shunyata Alpha V2 ICs, Alpha V2 SPs, Sigma XC, Sigma NRv2, Omega QR-s & Alpha NRv2 PCs, segmented Altaira SG stack w/ Alpha & Omega CGCs, Everest 8000 PD. Remote Server Room: Uptone EtherREGEN, AfterDark Master Clock & LPS, Alita, Battle Angel, (Akasa NUC Roon Core), iFi DC Purifiers (for SMPS used for Alita & router), Shunyata Gemini combo power distributor & Altaira-type CG GP-NR hub, Venom & Alpha CGCs, Shunyata NRv14 power cords for digital components.
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  #10  
Old 04-14-2020, 06:26 PM
sander sander is offline
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Default Shunyata Sigma NR v2 Power Cord review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma Cat View Post
Hi Sander...

Hmmm...you raise a good question. I'm aware of some of the tonal character that various cables have, including power cables, but interestingly, terms like "warm", "bright", "lush" never came to mind when listening, actually.

I guess if I had to apply audiophile style terms to the Sigma NR v2 is "neutral" but I am really hesitant to do that because that will makes some folks think that it sounds cool, reserved, somewhat lean, blah, blah, blah. And it doesn't. Neither does it sound warm, rich, or lush.

The Sigma NR v2 does not sound like any power cord I've ever heard before. All the regular terms, adjectives, audiophile-type lexicon simply do not apply.

Perhaps SCAudiophile (Mark W) can chime in here as well, but here's the thing: I never thinks in terms of "neutral", "warm", "bright", "lush" when I hear live music. In fact, I don't think in "audiophile terms" at all when I hear live music, and I don't think in "audiophile terms" at all when I with the Sigma NR v2 in the system. I just become immersed in the experience of the music itself.

The Sigma NR v2 let me do that more than any PC I've used, and the Alpha NR v2 comes close to that as well (more on the Alpha NR v2 shortly).


Thanks so much for your reply.
By finding it’s hard to discribe the tonal balance, you are actually answering my question very well.

And you are very right. One would never think in terms of warm or bright with live music.
You also see that with the very best audio equipment; the reviewer always finds its hard to discribe the character of the unit when it performs just like live music.

The more i go back in time it becomes easier to discribe the tonal characters of Shunyata’s powercords. That says a lot. Over the years they have become better and better.
And now we are at the point that we find its very hard to discribe them.

I wonder who‘ll still wants to be a professional reviewer of Shunyata products in ten years time.

I’m looking forward to read your findings of the Alpha V2.

Last edited by sander; 04-14-2020 at 06:46 PM.
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