| After 5 years of using combinations of Shunyata and Elrod power cords, which after having auditioned a plethora of other cords I had settled on, I have jumped ship. The Shunyata's and Elrods , in combination with various Power Conditioners including Hydra's and Jena's own Fundamental Power conditioner has up to this point given me the best, clean power I've experienced. Till now. I've spent a little over a week auditioning a new PC from Jena Labs which incorporates, via a small built in box, a single fundamental power conditioner in each cord. The pc box is positioned approximatel 18" from the male plug, and measures approximately 8"x5"x1". The cord "runs" right through the middle of the box. The idea was ostensibly to obviate extra connections between a free standing power conditioner and wall, and additionally the component plugged into it. I've spent the last week or so A/B'ing the Jena's against Shunyata Anaconda Vx and Vx alpha, Elrod Signatures and Purist Audio Dominus rev C with ferox and Rev B. A/B'ing single PC's up to whole system replacement yielded similar results but to greater degrees as the number of cords was increased. The first thing notable was a startling drop in noise floor, which I didn't think could happen. Black, black background, out of which detail and subtle musical cues arose that were previously lost or glazed over. A slight grunge or haze with the previous cords, of which I was unaware, became evident by virtue of its absence. The resultant increase in musical information was startling, particularly given the system was already very revealing. And unlike my experience with free standing power conditioners, not the least bit of compression. Musical presentation is very relaxed, natural and musical, absence of stridency in the upper registers, and bass that is textured, deep but not the least bit compressed, as was my experience particularly when plugging my amps into a power conditioner. Not so now. I guess fundamentally what I hear are all the benefits of a power conditioner with an even greater degree of blackness of background with absolutely no compression and, in fact, a marked level of natural and relaxed presentation while still retaining superb detail retrieval. Given I have dedicated lines to each component and a resolving system prior to these changes makes the improvements I hear all the more impressive and frankly surprising. This is the implementation of a great idea, that has certainly improved my system. And in the greater scheme of things, given one can obviate external power conditioners and their pc's, can be a cost effective approach to clean power and system improvement. Obviously I'm not a professional reviewer, and this not necessarily meant to be a review. This is just one happy camper trying to express his happiness over a product that brings one of those unexpected increments in ones systems performance. |
