Shunyata or Synergistic for power conditioning?


Hi,
Please forgive me if this is not the correct topic location to post about power-conditioning since the two brands I am interested in are famous cable manufacturers.

Comparing "Denali" and "Powercell 12 UEF" ; anyone who has tried both and can share opinions?

i like open clear dynamic sound. Smooth high frequency is also important.
Thank you.
hamburger

Showing 7 responses by hamburger

Thank you guys!
The problem is that both products are sold by different retailers and both do not have the products for home trial.

That aside, I appreciate the kind advice from folkfreak from a "holistic" angle of owning a particular product. I own neither SR nor Shunyata products currently. I think SR has more products in their arsenal (Tranquility, grounding, etc)...

My cables are all HiDiamond.  Will the HD3 power cord from wall to Denali work well, I wonder. 
Hi lak,
Thanks for letting me know about your positive experience of the HD3 on Denali, but you have moved on to the Silver Ghost.  Since I already have the HD3 (sunk cost), I hope to make full use of it with whatever conditioner.  Could you let me know how the HD3 differs from the Silver Ghost cables, sonic wise?

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your recommendation of Niagara 7000 and the Dimitri.  I will check them out.

Enjoy your music!
Hi Folks,
It has been 14 months since the last post by lak.  I have not gotten my shopping done yet. It's a draggy ongoing project... but I am working slowly on it.

1) AQ Niagara 7000 - I have heard it personally at Munich Show, being demo'd (plugging in and out) in a system by Garth.  Yes, impressive, but not exactly what I want.

2) Shunyata Denali 6000s with Sigma NR powercord - Had a home trial plugged into my own system. Very impressive; very positive and strong "hifi technical attributes", but somehow I was not drawn into the music. I like equipment that makes me want to listen to music.  Comparing it to an Isotek Evo3 Aquarius that I had used in my system, although not as "hifi technically competent" as the Denali, but it drew me into the music more.  Wonder if the new Shunyata Triton V3 would be a better fit for me.  Not that the Denali is bad, but from what I read comparing Denali and Triton V3, it seems Triton could be more my taste.  I am splitting very fine hairs here to find something to match my taste. KIV the Denali and Triton.

3) Synergistic Research Powercell 12 UEF SE - No home trial being offered, but I am still "feeling hopeful" and trying to read up on this... However, there are not many forums that talk about this equipment.  I wonder why...  I heard comments that its products are quite a "hit-or-miss" and depends very much on your luck if it works in your system. 

Just an update! ;-p
Appreciate your advice!
hi falconquest,
There is no Equi=Tech in my area, and also I am not interested in big transformers.

Just to add a comment on the Shunyata Products I tried.  Although my focus is on a power conditioner, I noticed the Sigma NR powercord is very, very good.  (Lak, The Hi Diamond HD3 powercord is nowhere near its performance level.)  In the Shunyata system, I would say the Sigma NR contributed about 38% of the performance, and the Denali itself the other 62%. Hmm... that's also about the price ratio of Sigma NR to the Denali.  ;-)
Hi,
Just to share what has progressed and especially for those who might be on the same path as me looking for a power conditioner. Thanks jay23 for reminding me to update this thread that I started.

Please read my below post with reference to my post dated "02-16-2018 5:38pm".

Guess what I have bought?
I changed my mind and bought an AQ Niagara 7000, and I am absolutely delighted with it. Initially, what made me struck off the AQ was the issue of the (many) transformers inside it humming. This issue has been highlighted on various sites and also mentioned in its user-manual. Then I noticed a pattern that tube amplification seems to aggravate this issue more than solid state stuff.

I decided to buy it because...
1) My system is all solid state. Bought a brand new sealed in box unit. Crossed my fingers, plugged in all my solid state equipment, and voila! No humming what so ever, except for a very faint buzzing sound (like a CPU fan whizzing) when your ears are less than 60cm from it. The soft buzzing was acceptable to me.

2) Call it Garth’s marketing pitch or his effort put into his lively (animated) presentation of his products, I understood his points. I trusted his concept and he being an experienced veteran in this field of "power conditioning", and also the AudioQuest brand backing it as a product. Of course I personally heard the improvements every change he made at the demo he did, from no-conditioning, to Niagara 1000, to 5000 and to 7000 at Munich Show 2017. Then, I also had numerous viewings and catching "hints’ in his few videos on YouTube.

3) Michael Fremer made a video comparing the Denali 6000 and Niagara 7000 on Analog Planet. Went through it a few times and I could tell the 7000 was more my taste. The key selling point to me between the 6000 and 7000 was harmonics in the music. The 6000 chops off sounds, while the 7000 lets sounds decay. I think the lack of "harmonics" made me commented in my earlier above post- [[ (The Denali has) very positive and strong "hifi technical attributes", but somehow I was not drawn into the music. I like equipment that makes me want to listen to music.]]


If you have the Niagara 7000, be prepared...
1) That it needs a long time to break-in. I have stopped counting the hours, but it sounds better and better over the past 2 months. I have had it since late March.

2) I do not "switch off" (a breaker switch actually) the Niagara. It is on 24 by 7. There is constant current draw, my electrical consumption has gone up by about 50kWh within a month.

3) That plugging in cables will be a painful exercise, because the sockets are all so tight. Took me 15 to 30 minutes to plug in one socket depending on the thickness of the plating. I lost a few milligrams of Rhodium, Silver, Gold, Palladium on the prongs of my plugs. Some are actually stripped off plating at the tip. Considering the plugging difficulty, the weight and the size of the unit, remember to remove all footer/spikes underneath it.

And a twist to the episode...
What do you try after getting the Niagara 7000?
I tried the new series of AQ STORM cables, a Hurricane to be exact. I did not like the cable, but some will like it I am sure. I think there are other cables more to my liking. That’s a story for another day.

After 2 months, I love my AQ Niagara 7000 despite it being a very expensive unit. I hope it will last for at least ten years, as what AudioQuest also said in its user-manual.
Thanks everyone for your advice and opinions.
Hi Lak,
I want to share with you that I changed the plugs on my HiDiamond 3 powercords to Furutech Fi-50 NCF series plugs and that's what I meant by saying "the Hurricane cable is a story for another day". Cheers!
;-) 
Hi astewart,
Every item in my audio chain is plugged into the Niagara.  Nothing is directly from the wall.  TT, phono-amp, CDP, integrated-amp and a subwoofer (5 items).

Hi jay23,
"If you're happy with the sound, that's what counts."... Precisely! ;-)