If you are interested in buying them, you must be patient. I've ordered a pair of Anaconda speaker cables a month ago and haven't received them yet. Can't wait to put them in my system and report my impressions ;-) |
Ok. I got my Anacondas ztron SP cables. Right off the bat, they are great, although I do not find them spectacular. However, they only have 10H on them. Not sure if such thing as cable break in exists but time will tell. I had Cardas Golden Presence before and had tried Shunyata Cirrus as well before making the purchase of the Anacondas (thanks to my dealer). My first impressions are: the Anacondas are better than the Cardas on several aspects like micro details, focus, fluidity (less grainy highs). Instruments are better defined and timbres are better as well. However, they are more laid back than the Cardas and more "polite". I do think it's a good thing but when you are used to a more forward sound, it's a bit like if something was lacking. I really liked my Cardas BTW but thought I was missing on some aspects and my tests with other cables proved that.
Compared to the Cirrus, the Ztron are more refined especially in the highs. However, I miss the bass of the Cirrus. Not that the Anacondas don't have a solid bass but the Cirrus were very strong on that regard (very punchy). BTW, the Cirrus were not new so that might explain the difference. I will report back when they have more hours on them and when I have time to do more serious listening. |
Thank you Oddeophile for your detailed description and welcome to the discussion. Your experience is aligned with what Vhiner has been sharing with us. It's good to know the cables will improve over time. I'm in a phase where they are not sounding excellent (I have ~110H on them). Highs/medium are thin and the presentation is flat (no 3D). As you said I need to be patient :-).
Anyone of you using a power conditioner in addition to your AC cables? For my part, I'm using a Torus AVR15. |
You are right Vhiner. I now have around 80H on them (no near 500H) but I'm already hearing clear improvements and much better performance from the cables than before. Bass has more impact and mid-range is opening up as well. It's now time to try Zitron Cobra AC power cords in my system. I will report my findings when both SP and AC cables are fully broken in. |
Hi Vhiner,
You are right, I'm skeptical ;-). I trust you and Grant but I'm wondering how we could explain that from a scientific standpoint... Cables do make a difference, no question. They also change over the first few hours. Again that can be easily detected. But going back and forth from nirvana to dull over a very long period of time is somewhat... science-fiction isn't? I'm not saying that is not true and I will give them the time to settle in. However, I can't help but notice that would give ammunition to the non-believers ;-) |
Hi guys!
Wig:
my initial impressions of the cable? Expensive! LOL Seriously, I had tried a Cirrus cable before and was very impressed by the way it was controlling my woofers. Bass was deep and punchy much more than with my previous cables (Cardas). So I was expecting a similar if not better signature with the Anacondas. Unfortunately, although it was clear the Ztron were very good cables when I connected them, the bass was not as good and strong as with the Cirrus. Background was not as black either. Highs were already a bit more refined though. I was told by several persons to wait for the break-in time to be complete and that is what I'm doing right now (~90H on them now). They are starting to open up and the bass is much better now than it was initially. Sound stage is still 2D at this point. Instruments/timbres are better than with my Cardas. I will continue to post my impressions as the break-in is progressing.
Vhiner,
Sorry I did not mean to start a debate or anything. I'm still curious about what are the technical aspects behind this behavior but I'm more interested in making sure I've enough return on my investment. I'm happy thus far but I expect reference level nothing less ;-). I agree with you for the need to share our impressions and I will ;-). I'm wondering why there's so few reviews of those cables especially in the context of a technological breakthrough. Maybe the reviewers are all busy listening to music ;-). |
Hello,
Wig: please let us know your impressions when you get them.
Vhiner: you seem to have a very good and transparent system. I have ribbon tweeters (Monitor Audio Platinum) running on Classe gear so I know what you mean by easily catching changes. How many hours have you on your Anacondas ? I will be patient with them and wait. I'm not unhappy by the way as I know what Shunyata is able to do. Indeed, my initial "disappointment" was related to the direct comparison with another of their products (used cables already broken-in).
Denon1: Along with the Anacondas I also have 2 Cobra AC cables (why break only one cable when you can break 3? ;-)). They already made a significant difference in my system but I was coming from stock cables so I cannot comment on the cx cables and compare them with the ztron. |
hahaha you're right! Those are not cables easy to compare. I must say that I don't have any zitron IC cables in my system... yet. I'm currently using a mix of Audience AU24e and Acoustic Zen Absolute interconnects. They are great but I'm wondering if the zitron could not elevate the performance to another level. Before verifying this, I need to complete the break-in of the speaker and AC cables. I also need to get a few more pay checks as well LOL |
Hi guys,
I had the chance to purchase an already broken in Hydra Talos conditioner last week. This last w-e, I spent some time testing various setup combinations of my 2 conditioners in my system (I already had a Torus Power conditioner). The first thing I did is to plug the Talos into the Torus and plug everything else in the Talos. The bottom end was superb with lots of good and well-defined bass. Soundstage was huge but unfortunately, the highs were not that good. Lean, lots of sibilance, less body on the instruments, etc. Only good recordings were good to listen to, the rest being barely listenable.
Then I plugged the Talos in the wall plug directly (skipping the Torus). That fixed the issue with the highs but although the bass was good and well defined, it lacked the punch I'm used to with the Torus. To give you an analogy, it was like if I had gone from a solid state to a tube amp (a bit extreme as an example but I'm sure you understand what I mean). Bottom line less impact than with the previous setup. However, I did notice more fluidity in the music, the "live" aspect you guys are reporting was there. Much better than with my Torus only. Torus is hi-fi music, Talos is like being at the show if I can use that comparison. Since I was not coming from a situation where no conditioner was used, I did not notice much improvement with the Talos regarding a blacker background and more micro details, etc. It was more moving closer to the presentation, as if you had been moving from the 15th row to the first row at a show. Dynamic changes were more "effortless". Classical music involving orchestras greatly benefitted from that.
Still, my brain (and my chest ;-)) were always telling me that something was missing at the bottom end of the spectrum. What I did is to unplug my subwoofer and plugged it back into the Torus. Voilà! Much better.
It's hard to explain but it seems that the Talos does a better job at filtering the noise and removing itself from the music path while the "power" part is still better delivered by the Torus. Might be explained by the fact the torus can provide more instantaneous current than the Hydra. However, I thought that by chaining the 2 conditioners, I could have a dead silent system but it seems this combination is not good. I don't know why. Perhaps, too much of a good thing. I'll continue my exploration and report the results. Stay tuned. |
Although many seem to report the new Ztron are much better than the previous version (including Shunyata themselves which is no surprise) there's at least one guy I know who owned the new Cobra power cables and said he did not like them because compared to the CX, they are "less precise". He mentioned they are less focused and added "halos" around instruments. He said that he returned them because from his perspective, he could tell the Cobra were "clearly" entry level. Of course, it's only one opinion but I can tell you this guy knows his stuff. Personally, I have 2 of them not broken in yet so it's hard to tell. Also, since I came from the stock cables, adding the Cobra was significant in my system. I'm waiting for another power cable (Ztron Python this time) so I will be able to compare the Cobra and the Python and determine if they are worth the price difference. |
Hello Vhiner,
that's very interesting. Did you have the chance to evaluate a Python against the Anaconda before making your choice? I have one remaining power cable to buy (I have some Cobra and Python but no Anaconda) and I'm wondering whether the top cable is worth the additional 1000$. If anyone has some info on the subject please share your impressions. Thanks! |
My dealer had suggested I tried a Siltech power cable for my amp while the rest of the system is fed with Shunyata cables. He said that the Siltech provides speed and coherence and that it was a very good match with the other Shunyatra cables. I received the new cable yesterday and what I can say is WOW. Of course the cable is new so no burn-in yet but what it provides is very interesting. A bit more speed indeed but clear improvements with regards to cleaning the backstage. The background scene is cleaner, improvement in micro details is outstanding. A bit as if I had adjusted the picture sharpness if you don't mind this TV analogy. As I said in a previous post, I will probably buy a Python or Anaconda cable for the last remaining cable in my system but I thought you guys might be interested to know that using a Siltech for the amp provides that "last" edge of transparency. I do not think I would use Siltech cables for all my components (too much of a good thing I guess) as I think Shunyata is really what transforms your system. But, I'm glad my dealer made that recommendation. He's a big fan of Shunyata so that tells a lot. |
