Shunyata Sigma speaker cable review.

BlueFox

First impressions.

I just upgraded my speaker cable to Shunyata Sigma (2 meter, copper spades) from the Zitron Anaconda, and this added a much more precise edge to the music. That is, the instruments, and voices, are now really striking in where they are in the air. If I could draw on air I think I could outline each note. This can’t be right. Something must be broken. LOL

The bass is certainly more pronounced and defined, and the mids or highs are just clearer, more distinct, and solid in the location in the air.

I can’t swear to this, but I think I am hearing more at a lower volume setting than before.

While Shunyata says they now use a technology to achieve break-in, I think they are sounding better tonight (Saturday) versus last night. They arrived Thursday morning, and have played nonstop since noon Thursday.

I admit that I was a bit hesitant to upgrade since the system sounded so good as it was, and I just upgraded my pre from a Pass XP-20 to the XP-22. However, I feel a lot better now, and just need a few more beers to convince myself to order three pair of Sigma XLR ICs.

vmaxer

Very nice.

F1nut

There are times what you have is better than the latest, greatest.

BlueFox

F1nut wrote: »

There are times what you have is better than the latest, greatest.

I agree with that Jesse. Unfortunately, both Pass and Shunyata have improved. LOL

Maybe the better idea is what you have is just fine versus the latest and greatest. I certainly use that philosophy with cars since I have had two cars over the last 30 years.

Clipdat

Glad you are enjoying your new cables!

In regards to your specific observation about the bass being more pronounced and defined, I've often wondered if this means that the previous cables that were in use were subtracting something, or if the new cables are adding something.

If the goal of a system would be to be completely "neutral", then a speaker cable that makes bass more pronounced might not be desirable.

However, if the goal of a system would be to make music fun and enjoyable to listen to, and the personal taste of the system's owner leans toward enjoying bass, then perhaps the system could be fine tuned by adding in particular SCs and ICs that enhance low frequency response.

BlueFox wrote: »

The bass is certainly more pronounced and defined

pitdogg2

Or using tone controls..... gasp!

Clipdat

Yeah, that crossed my mind when I was making the post - tone controls, EQ, subwoofer level/input gain, etc.

However, I think what he meant by "more pronounced and defined" is not necessarily overall volume or level of bass, but something more descriptive about the "quality or structure" of the bass reproduction itself.

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Or using tone controls..... gasp!

BlueFox

Yes, that is correct. There isn't more bass, rather it is clearer, and better defined in space. I can outline it in space, and point exactly to where the note is in the soundstage.

You asked earlier; "In regards to your specific observation about the bass being more pronounced and defined, I've often wondered if this means that the previous cables that were in use were subtracting something, or if the new cables are adding something."

All cables subtract something from the signal, and probably add a little distortion to it. The idea is the have a cable that does this the least. You want the signal that comes out of the cable to be exactly what went into the cable. Each generation of Shunyata cables get better at this task.

Clipdat

It would certainly be interesting to try my relatively modest/entry level Audioquest Bedrock cables against these MSRP $7,500 Shunyata cables. Maybe even in a blind test where someone else is swapping the cables and not telling me which one is which. I was able to compare the Bedrocks against the MIT Shotguns when I demoed them, and the MITs in a way had "less" bass, but what was there was tighter and faster - and arguably more accurate.

Just based on what you are describing in regards of the bass, I believe it would be quite easy to pick out the Shunyata cables. Especially if I was allowed to listen to my preferred genre of music which is drum n bass. It's such a dynamic genre of electronic music and it really demands a lot from the equipment you play it on.

Literally half of what makes up each dnb song is the bassline. It's such an important part of each song that you typically want to have a subwoofer or a speaker capable of going very low in order to really hear everything the producer put into the song.

Going slightly off topic, this discussion of quality (not quantity) of bass reminds me of an experience I had at a club in San Francisco - The Rickshaw Stop. One of my favorite dnb producers was playing a DJ set that night and it was filled with a lot of songs that I was inherently familiar with and had heard hundreds of times.

During the set, I was constantly amazed at how the bass not only seemed to go deeper than other clubs I've been at, but that the overall "quality" of the bass reproduction had several distinct characteristics. There was an additional "depth" inside of the bass that I hadn't experienced before.

I walked over to the sound guy's mixing boards and tried to look to see if I could see what might be contributing to this amazing bass performance. The only thing I could really make heads or tails of is that he seemed to have a completely separate EQ just for the low frequencies. So I believe he was carefully EQing the basslines, and the result was more complex sound structures inside of each bassline.

And before anyone comments, I was completely sober at that show.

BlueFox wrote: »

All cables subtract something from the signal, and probably add a little distortion to it. The idea is the have a cable that does this the least. You want the signal that comes out of the cable to be exactly what went into the cable. Each generation of Shunyata cables get better at this task.

Joey_V

We will be holding a comparison between 3 hi end cables at one of our next group meets.

We will have cardas clear beyond vs Shunyata sigma (like buds) vs AQ Wels

We will be doing pink slips on this.

F1nut

All of this shoots holes in Mantis' cable theory.

kharp1

Joey_V wrote: »

We will be holding a comparison between 3 hi end cables at one of our next group meets.

We will have cardas clear beyond vs Shunyata sigma (like buds) vs AQ Wels

We will be doing pink slips on this.

Can't wait to hear how this turns out.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

All of this shoots holes in Mantis' cable theory.

LOL....like I always say, audio opinions usually always follow wallet sizes.

Pink slips ?? Can't wait for this...

gp4jesus

Clipdat wrote: »

However, if the goal of a system would be to make music fun and enjoyable to listen to, and the personal taste of the system's owner leans toward enjoying bass, then perhaps the system could be fine tuned by adding in particular SCs and ICs that enhance low frequency response.

double your cables. Or, if your system config permits, cut your existing cable in half or shorter. Bigger or shorter could net you "mo' better bass." Yes Jess, gauge isn't everything.

Check my sig on my system's cables.