Shunyata Research.... are they worth it?

[Joey_V]

Shunyata stuff, are they worth it?

Seems to me that I've encountered some interesting facts about Shunyata products.... and it's not good. I've read reports that the Hydra and the Guardian use very cheap parts - not unlike $8 surge suppressors from walmart and package them in a nice audiophile box.

Can anyone here comment on this and whether this is true?

Joey

The Shunyata Hydra 4 ($1000), according to a person who opened it up:

Manufacturer's Pic:

 

[MiTT]

Sounds Fishy!

Joey, I have never auditioned any of the Hydra equipment myself, but I know a lot of people who swear by their stuff. The thing that seems a bit fishy to me is that the picture of the internals does indeed seem like a fairly cheap looking type of construction. I see an IEC inlet, with an MOV strapped across it (Sunyata is very specific to say that they DON'T use MOV's in their circuits), a fairly inexpensive circuit breaker and a pair of duplex outlets. Sunyata's other big selling point is that they "fill their enclosures with a patented material for noise rejection and damping, then hermetically seal the enclosure", that is to say, they weld it shut. They DO use solid silver buss bars between the outlets, and the outlets are Sunyata's own cryogenically treated design, so the picture may be showing those. Can't say with certainty, but it just doesn't look completely like the product Sunyata says they make on their website. I doubt the authenticity of the picture, but again, I do not own one of these products to verify it for myself.

 

[jtwrace]

Joey

I have seen that stuff up close taken apart and it's nuts that someone could charge $4k for it. It's disgusting. Go buy the RGPC products and be done.

 

[Diamonds]

Joey,

I use all Shunyata in both of my systems. They are simply the best I have ever heard. The Conditioners and the PCs are both fantastic. For 100 bucks try there cheapest PC and you will be shocked by the improvement. Try the Cond and you will be blown away by how much lower the noise floor has been reduced. Simply fantastic. Their products are also used by George Lucas and Rick Rubin which makes the stuff even cooler.

My two cents.

 

[tonyc]

I use a Shunyata Hydra 8 on my front end and a Hydra 2 which feeds my Rowland and both Summits. My power cords are Shunyata Pythons which I use on the Ref 3, Rowland and from the PLCs to the wall. They are the best sounding conditioners I have used. I haven't opened them to see if the parts are cheap I just know which sound I prefer. I have tried Monster HTS 5100, MonsterHTPS 7000, APG and Richard Gray. Each has their own sonic signature and what sounds "best" depend partly on the basic quality of your power and the components which are plugged in to them. The Richard Gray is slightly leaner in tonal balance and thus slightly more open sounding than the Shunyata in my system. Someday I will try a V-Ray and a pair of Pythons on my Summits.

 

[Beat_Dominator]

Can you Hydra owners confirm what the casing is like? Is it sealed (like MiTT says) or are there screws?

The pictures Joey posted could very well be counterfeits, there is a lot of that stuff going around.

 

[tonyc]

Both units have what appear to be allen head screws on the sides and bottom so I guess they can be opened.

 

[Diamonds]

Mine has screws on the top so you could pop off the top if you really wanted to.

 

[Joey_V]

Can you Hydra owners confirm what the casing is like? Is it sealed (like MiTT says) or are there screws?

The pictures Joey posted could very well be counterfeits, there is a lot of that stuff going around.

I don't think the picture is a counterfeit. The guy who opened it is very knowledgeable about surge/spike suppression and the components that go into a power conditioner. Basically, in the end, he said that he was able to match the components with a $20 surge suppressor (minus the cryo treatment) he found at some hardware store and a few other parts... and when he a/b-ed it, the difference was very minimal. He basically was able to build his own DIY Hydra based on the components found inside the Hydra 4.

I dunno... I just wanted to get the consensus from the ML folk who use this product and whether or not it works as I'm looking into Power conditioning at some point along the road.

 

[jjqiv]

I don't think the picture is a counterfeit. The guy who opened it is very knowledgeable about surge/spike suppression and the components that go into a power conditioner. Basically, in the end, he said that he was able to match the components with a $20 surge suppressor (minus the cryo treatment) he found at some hardware store and a few other parts... and when he a/b-ed it, the difference was very minimal. He basically was able to build his own DIY Hydra based on the components found inside the Hydra 4.

I dunno... I just wanted to get the consensus from the ML folk who use this product and whether or not it works as I'm looking into Power conditioning at some point along the road.

Hi Joey,

Go ahead an make one with enough outlets for your application. They work great! The capacitors are cheap. They ship them out really quickly. I used some PVC outlet boxes and cut-up some cheap power cords to wire mine up. I brought them over to a friends and he was floored. Needless to say he has built some as well.

 

[jtwrace]

Hi Joey,

Go ahead an make one with enough outlets for your application. They work great! The capacitors are cheap. They ship them out really quickly. I used some PVC outlet boxes and cut-up some cheap power cords to wire mine up. I brought them over to a friends and he was floored. Needless to say he has built some as well.

what about taking some pics to post with a little part list and directions for all the great MLO members???

 

[ralflar]

...
Try the Cond and you will be blown away by how much lower the noise floor has been reduced.
...

I have seen similar statements in related discussions elsewhere and I still don't get it: what is this noise floor people talk about? Is it the low level buzz and chirp that some Vantage owners have reported? My Vantages have it but other than that I have to crank up the volume really high with no music playing before I can hear any noise.

 

[ralflar]

All power conditioners which I have seen are more or less alike inside: chokes and capacitors for filtering, MOVs for surge suppression. Some use a flavor of Zener diodes instead of MOVs. The ones I have use MOVs, and lots of them. In the first picture of this thread I can see only a single MOV. Compare than to the Panamax M4300-EX pictured here:

 

[ralflar]

Next picture shows the guts of a Belkin PF60.

 

[ralflar]

Lastly, the APC H15 with voltage regulation:

 

[Craig]

I finally got my new Wadia 581i today and listening to it right now. Sounds awesome so far. A review is forthcoming.

Here is something interesting I read in the Wadia manual concerning power sources for the Wadia players. I believe the Art Audio manual says something similiar but I'll have to check.

"Connecting to AC Power
The best performance is obtained when the Wadia 581is Disc Player is plugged directly into the wall with the
power cord provided. The Wadia has power conditioning, surge suppression and an extremely sophisticated
overall protection scheme. It should not be necessary to use surge protectors power conditioners or aftermarket
power cords, some of which may degrade the sonic performance. If you wish to experiment with any of these
devices, work closely with your local dealer – and most of all, trust your own ears."

 

[jjqiv]

what about taking some pics to post with a little part list and directions for all the great MLO members???

I don't want to disassemble mine for pictures. Look at the bottom picture on this page:

http://www.10audio.com/diy_power_conditioner.htm

I only used the Vishay noise suppression capacitors (i.e., no varistors) as shown in last picture on the web page. Instead of a powerstrip. I chained together two outlet pvc electrical boxes (i.e., four sockets per box). They are the kind of boxes you can screw to a wall (i.e., not in-wall boxes). The first and middle boxes have a hole on the top and bottom for pvc conduit. The last box is a terminating box with just one hole for conduit to enter. I did not use conduit. I just have wire going from box to box. I used electrical tape to secure the wire to the box. Its more flexible that way.

I used some Hubbel hospital grade outlets that I bought for a great price from audiogon. For now, I cut up some cheap power cables for wires. I have not gotten around to buying better wire from VH Audio. Plan to when the rainy season rolls around again.

The only tools you need are a pair of wire strippers and a screw driver.

They may not have the exact capacitors. Mine just had longer leads.

B.T.W., I would test them out with some cheap electronic device like a clock radio or hair dryer.

 

[jjqiv]

I have seen similar statements in related discussions elsewhere and I still don't get it: what is this noise floor people talk about? Is it the low level buzz and chirp that some Vantage owners have reported? My Vantages have it but other than that I have to crank up the volume really high with no music playing before I can hear any noise.

A system's noise floor has to do with the softest, finest, most minute level of detail that you system can reproduce at a given sound level. A system with with a higher noise floor would have to be turned up louder to hear the same level of detail. This is usually associated with inner-detail.

What you are refering to is background noise. As far background noise goes, there are the ugly feedbacky kind of sounds you are describing as well as grey, muddy backgrouds (i.e, not black background). You will know it when you hear it go away. There you go. Hope I made it a little clearer than mud.

 

[Beat_Dominator]

I don't want to disassemble mine for pictures. Look at the bottom picture on this page:

http://www.10audio.com/diy_power_conditioner.htm

I only used the Vishay noise suppression capacitors (i.e., no varistors) as shown in last picture on the web page. Instead of a powerstrip. I chained together two outlet pvc electrical boxes (i.e., four sockets per box). They are the kind of boxes you can screw to a wall (i.e., not in-wall boxes). The first and middle boxes have a hole on the top and bottom for pvc conduit. The last box is a terminating box with just one hole for conduit to enter. I did not use conduit. I just have wire going from box to box. I used electrical tape to secure the wire to the box. Its more flexible that way.

I used some Hubbel hospital grade outlets that I bought for a great price from audiogon. For now, I cut up some cheap power cables for wires. I have not gotten around to buying better wire from VH Audio. Plan to when the rainy season rolls around again.

The only tools you need are a pair of wire strippers and a screw driver.

They may not have the exact capacitors. Mine just had longer leads.

B.T.W., I would test them out with some cheap electronic device like a clock radio or hair dryer.

I am still trying to figure out where the capacitors go? It looks like it goes across the pos. and neg. of the outlet? do you need to connect anything to ground?

 

[jjqiv]

I am still trying to figure out where the capacitors go? It looks like it goes across the pos. and neg. of the outlet? do you need to connect anything to ground?

Yes, the capacitor connects the pos. and neg. terminals of the outlet. Grounding is always safer.