Power Cord Possibilities

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by AVphile

My dealer decided it would be fun to torture me. So, while I await delivery of the Venom NR-10V, he has loaned me a Shunyata Delta NR power cord. (It costs $800 vs. $450 for the Venom one). I put it in my system last night and "My God!". What a difference/improvement it made! All I can now hope is that the performance of the Venom is very close to the Delta, or I am going to be out a further $350.

Everything is Good, until you compare it to something Better.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by AVphile

My dealer decided it would be fun to torture me. So, while I await delivery of the Venom NR-10V, he has loaned me a Shunyata Delta NR power cord. (It costs $800 vs. $450 for the Venom one). I put it in my system last night and "My God!". What a difference/improvement it made! All I can now hope is that the performance of the Venom is very close to the Delta, or I am going to be out a further $350.

Is this your first experience with Shunyata power cords?

I've been using Shunyata power cords for about nine years now, and....they ROCK.

I remember being taken aback when I bought my first two, a pair of "basic" Diamondback PCs back in 2010. I bought them because I had read the patents on designs for power cords utilizing rochelle salts for attenutating noise that Caelin had published at the USPTO. I put one on my power amp and one on my preamp. I was so taken aback by the improvement they brought to the system that I called my good audio buddy, Gregory, and told him about it. Gregory was VERY skeptical. "How can 5 feet of AC cord from the wall AC receptacle to the preamp or amp make any difference?" I replied, "Well, come over and you can listen for yourself".

So, Gregory came over, and scientist that I am, I set up a controlled experiment, with stock factory C-J power cords in place. Let him listen to his favorite tracks. Then, I replaced the power cord to the preamp. He listened again, and I watched his mouth literally fall open.

Then, I put the power cord on the...power amp. He sat there, his head shaking in disbelief: "If I hadn't heard it myself, first-hand, I would not have believed it."

He asked how I thought they worked. I took an AC probe and held it up to the power cord for the HDTV; it glowed, as shown here...



I held it up to other stuff, a lamp cord, and the original C-J power cord, and most importantly, all the non-Shunyata power cords behind the audio rack. They all glowed, too.

"See that?", I said, "that's EM energy radiating and leaking out of all these cords and entering all the other power cords AND other parts of the amplfication components (e.g. the transformers, interior wiring, etc., etc.) themselves, only to be amplified as noise."

I then put the AC probe on the Diamondback while the amp was playing pretty loud and pulling current, as shown in this photo...



I said, "Look at this, there's not only no EMI entering it, while pulling current, there's no EMI escaping it, either, to enter other components. All this radiation is interacting component-to-component to cause a cascading chain of noise amplified by the stereo system."

This was back in 2010. Since then, he's put Shunyata Venom 3s on every component in his system, all powered by a Hydra 6. He then ran the same demo I did for his friend, Mark, in San Francisco. Mark was skeptical until Gregory did the same demo for Mark. Guess what: Mark bought Venom 3 power cords for his entire system.

And, so it goes...

I've now moved on to a full Shunyata Triton-based power distribution system using Shunyata Black Mamba CX and HC/CX and Zitron power cords. Time marches on and...life is good.

And quiet.

I haven't heard the Delta or any of the newer NR cords yet, but I would imagine they are pretty amazing. I would also predict that the Venom NR-V10 will pleasantly surprise you with its performance. The Venom line punches WAY above its weight for the performance/price ratio. For example, the new Venom Ethernet cable is absolutely amazing, and especially so for its retail price of $295.

Enjoy!

[prepress]

That AC probe looks interesting. Would they be available at an electrical supply or hardware store, or both?

I have Venom HCs on my Furman SPR-20i and Elite-15 PFi. The new Venoms are intriguing, despite my having no objections to the sound I have. The rest of the system is Transparent cords (except for the TV, which has a Venom 3s), and I was thinking of experimenting with the preamp cord; that's on hold as a more urgent matter has emerged in the form of a malfunctioning air conditioner. I have to resolve that before considering any audio-related moves. Plus, only 2 weeks ago I had a $400 repair on my LD player.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by prepress

That AC probe looks interesting. Would they be available at an electrical supply or hardware store, or both?

Charles.......There are lots of non-contact voltage testers available, often refered to as "tic tracers". I use both Greenlee and Fluke. Several versions are available at Lowes and Home Depot, as well as Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-...56304134&psc=1

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......There are lots of non-contact voltage testers available, often refered to as "tic tracers". I use both Greenlee and Fluke. Several versions are available at Lowes and Home Depot, as well as Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-...56304134&psc=1

I love Fluke gear... Thinking of maybe picking up a used 43B Power Line Analyzer...

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......There are lots of non-contact voltage testers available, often refered to as "tic tracers". I use both Greenlee and Fluke. Several versions are available at Lowes and Home Depot, as well as Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-...56304134&psc=1

I suppose, if I decide I want one, I'd best find out what a "competent person" is first, per the Volt Alert label.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by prepress

I suppose, if I decide I want one, I'd best find out what a "competent person" is first, per the Volt Alert label.

For use at home for audio, its not an issue, you just switch it on and hold it near components and cords and it will light up; you don't actually need to touch anything, as it detects the EM field from the AC current radiating out of the cord, etc.

Here it is lighting up from the AC cord for a lamp I was for illluminating the audio rack. The lamp wasn't even turned on! Needless to say, I removed the lamp from the area.



My buddy Gregory I referenced above borrowed mine and called me and said it start to light up strong just from walking up to his audio rack!

[Masterlu]

I also use one of these;



https://www.trifield.com/product/tri...r-model-100xe/

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

I also use one of these;



https://www.trifield.com/product/tri...r-model-100xe/

Very cool. I might need to pick one of those up...

[jimtranr]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Very cool. I might need to pick one of those up...

Note that it's been replaced by this.

Trifield tf2_70.jpg