Shunyata Research alpha hc vs Shunyata Research original black mamba

@docknow 

No way for me to give you any kind of meaningful quantitative answer on the difference.  I would characterize the benefit of the Delta v2 over the Alpha v1 as incremental vs the almost component level upgrade type improvement the Venom HC provided over the stock Isotek cord.  

Hope that helps.  

@thyname

Originally, I inquired at the Cable Co. about the XC version (replacing EF, apparently) of the Delta v2 thinking NR would be redundant to what the Aquarius (one of the better audio purchases I've made, by the way) was doing.  They told me Shunyata's guidance was to use XC models for powering Shunyata conditioners but for other brands of conditioners, go with NR.  

Hi @ghosthouse

You may be correct on this. My power distributor is also Shunyata (Everest), so for me XC makes sense. The reasoning is that whatever benefit the NR technology provides (noise reduction), is already in the Shunyata power distributors, whereas such tech may or may not exist with other brands’ power conditioning.

By the way, I used to own the Isotek Aquarius. It was great for the money. Everest is better for me, but of course, much more expensive

@thyname 

Hello to you.  Yes...your explanation is exactly the rationale I was given for choosing XC vs NR.  

I am a Shunyata fan boy.  I have a full loom of Shunyata Sigma v1 cables, upgraded over time from the Alpha NR v1.  Power cables do make a difference, but it is rarely anything more than an incremental difference.  But  the biggest bump in my system was upgrading the speaker cables, not the power cables. For example, the difference between the Alpha NR v1 and the Sigmas was especially significant on the speaker cables . . . maybe 10% improvement(?).  The least noticeable was on the power amp.  But I also have an Everest.  Now that was a component level upgrade in my system.  Very impressive, to my surprise.  So the difference between older Shunyata’s and newer ones of the same level is probably pretty incremental -- you will likely hear a difference, but not a "wow" type difference.  Of course, discerning differences in power cords also requires a reasonably revealing system, so cabling expenditures should be relative to your component expenditures.