Yes. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The more recent generations (the newest and the Alpha) have greater noise reduction capabilities. At the same time, they reveal - to a greater degree than they used to - what your other components are doing. So if your component(s) is/(are) a bit...harsh-sounding, the current generations of Shunyata will not hide that.
Shunyata’s older generations of power cords had a "sweetness" built into them. Call it "sweetness" or call it "musicality" (the way music is in good concert halls). They might have even been a bit euphonic, but not to the point of making all music (including The Clash) sound "romantic." Just very slightly more "lush." Part of that lushness was the amount of "body" instruments had. A trombone was a very physically-present sounding instrument. Not just sound you could hear, but almost sound that you could touch. In that sense, similar to Transparent audio, which also had a very "rich" tone to its cables.
After the CX generation, the last generation with "warmth/sweetness" in them (and you should be able to hear it clearly and easily - if your equipment allows), the sound changed quite a bit. I didn’t notice the CX generation’s coloration until the ZiTrons came out, and then it was obvious that the CX colored the entire range of music. And then, the ZiTron cords came in. They had less inherent "sweetness,"which means they moved closer - in sonics - to Audio Research (ultra clear) whereas older generations of the Shunyata were more akin Conrad Johnson (beautifully musical (like Boston Symphony Hall, which has a rich tone to it) in contrast to Carnegie Hall (not as rich in tone since 1987, but still lovely). ZiTrons are highly detailed cords with very little coloration to them.
The Zitrons had that clarity-plus-lower-noise-floor first, then the Alphas even more of it and then the Sigma, the most. So, equipment that is more "analytical"-sounding will sound more like itself than in previous generations of Shunyata cords. But ALL generations of Shunyata’s power cords had noise reduction traits. The first generation did it thru some compound called ZeSi, which, when you turned the cord upside down, it sounded like a snake hissing. Hence the (older) name "Power Snakes."
I have or have owned, all generations of cords, by the way, including Cobra ZiTron, Alpha ZiTron and Sigma. (All the way back to Shunyata’s very first generation cord. Loved the King Cobra V2: sweet and dynamics to burn. It’s only flaw was a blurring in the upper midrange/lower treble, which made music sound "prettier" than it was). You wouldn’t notice this if you used their Aries interconnect, which had a "lift" in those very frequencies to compensate for the power cord (and speaker cable, too, although that was one gorgeous speaker cable).
By the way, I had Nordost’s power cords during the sam periods, but played them less than the Shunyatas. Just sold off my Frey 2 power cord. Also a GREAT power cord.
