Unpacking the Shunyata Everest 8000

Halcro offered me a very good changeover price on their new Eclipse mono power amplifier, which is in the same chassis as all those which came before it. Its pairing with the Magico M3 is an impressive combination, as it was with Magico Q3 and S3 which I also own, and Wilson speakers before that. I wouldn't say it ever had a cult status following in Australia. It was primarily pitched at the Asian markets, hence the model numbers for the whole series ending in an "8", and their top dog being "88". I've owned Halcro dm38, 78 and 88 and I've been happy with all of them. I've powered Halcro with a PS Audio P10, Denali v1, with different power cables, direct to the wall, I don't hear any difference. It seems to be completely agnostic as to how/where it gets its electricity from. And mine is a tremendously revealing system, which as I mentioned before, very easy to "hear" cables of various flavors elsewhere in the system. Which is why I have my doubts whether Alpha/Sigma/Everest or whatever would be any different. Unfortunately I can't demo anything Shunyata, the way it works is you order, pay for it, and it will arrive a few weeks later. No returns unless faulty, and as we know, Shunyata doesn't build anything faulty! (unlike another brand which I once owned).
 
Halcro offered me a very good changeover price on their new Eclipse mono power amplifier, which is in the same chassis as all those which came before it. Its pairing with the Magico M3 is an impressive combination, as it was with Magico Q3 and S3 which I also own, and Wilson speakers before that. I wouldn't say it ever had a cult status following in Australia. It was primarily pitched at the Asian markets, hence the model numbers for the whole series ending in an "8", and their top dog being "88". I've owned Halcro dm38, 78 and 88 and I've been happy with all of them. I've powered Halcro with a PS Audio P10, Denali v1, with different power cables, direct to the wall, I don't hear any difference. It seems to be completely agnostic as to how/where it gets its electricity from. And mine is a tremendously revealing system, which as I mentioned before, very easy to "hear" cables of various flavors elsewhere in the system. Which is why I have my doubts whether Alpha/Sigma/Everest or whatever would be any different. Unfortunately I can't demo anything Shunyata, the way it works is you order, pay for it, and it will arrive a few weeks later. No returns unless faulty, and as we know, Shunyata doesn't build anything faulty! (unlike another brand which I once owned).

Ah Indeed fair enough great know the Brand works for you, and yes that's a top level setup you have--Good listening.

No Shunyata cables are excellent and superbly made as is all their products-

-if I was to quibble the only item I'd like improved is that SRZ20 adaptor which could do with a firmer fit in the IEC input--my two wobble and I have to tape them in

Just a nitpick tho:P!

Bruce
 
if you only have one power circuit available for the audio system, plug them into the Everest. If you have two (or more) dedicated lines, then plug the Everest and source equipment into one line and use the other line for the amp(s).
I did the test today, and I am sorry I disagree with you. I have two dedicated 20 Amp lines. and 230 volt. Denali is plugged into one and the other is free. If I remove my amp (200wat at 8Ohm / 400 Watt at 4 Ohm) from the Denali and plug it in on the other line, I get no improvement in dynamics yet I lose the magic that Denali gives.
 
If I had just stopped at the Denali 6000s/V2, I would consider the improvement to be significant. But the Everest 8000 takes the benefits achieved from the Denali 6000s/V2 to another level.

My Omega XC has been burning in for over 2 weeks now and the Everest 8000 has a solid week of 24/7 now.

Today I sat down for a first critical listen. I started with Joni Mitchell’s Lady of the Canyon (24/192). This is an album I use frequently to test. On some systems, the Hammond B3 on “Woodstock” and her voice can sound shrill, edgy. The Hammond can sound thin, but with the Everest/Omega XC leading the way, the Hammond has the right amount of “weight” and her voice is fully fleshed out and natural.

Next up, I moved to Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors playing the John Prime song, “Long Monday” on the album “Through The Night: Live In The Studio”. Separating the vocals of Drew and his wife Ellie is no easy task for a system. Often, her sweet voice can get lost in the mix or entirely drowned out by Drew. With the Everest 8000/Omega XC combo in the system, I could clearly distinguish between husband and wife with much greater separation and clarity.

I moved on to a similar album, entitled Forest Floor by Ocie Elliott, another fabulous duo from Victoria, B.C. Canada consisting of Jon Middleton and Sierra Lundy. Once again the Everest 8000 with the Omega XC provided wonderfully black backgrounds which allowed Sierra’s sweet soft voice to shine through.

I continued with Led Zeppelin, Coda, “Hey Hey What Can I Do” (High Res, 2012 Remaster). Although the digital versions, regardless of remaster or not cannot touch the Classic Records versions, which were the last time the tapes were touched, I still greatly enjoyed what the Everest/Omega XC combo brought to the table, filling out the soundstage and taking additional digital edge off things, while providing a wonderful bass foundation. Symbols were also more realistic sounding and less “splashy”.

There is little surprise that the Shunyata Everest 8000 and Omega XC combo has taken my entire system up a notch...or two. If you stop at the Denali 6000S/v2 you will be one happy camper, I know I was. If you step up to the Everest 8000 and either a Sigma XC or Omega XC there will be no looking back.
 
I did the test today, and I am sorry I disagree with you. I have two dedicated 20 Amp lines. and 230 volt. Denali is plugged into one and the other is free. If I remove my amp (200wat at 8Ohm / 400 Watt at 4 Ohm) from the Denali and plug it in on the other line, I get no improvement in dynamics yet I lose the magic that Denali gives.

Good for you for doing your own test. And good that you “know” that it sounds best through the Denali.
 
I did the test today, and I am sorry I disagree with you. I have two dedicated 20 Amp lines. and 230 volt. Denali is plugged into one and the other is free. If I remove my amp (200wat at 8Ohm / 400 Watt at 4 Ohm) from the Denali and plug it in on the other line, I get no improvement in dynamics yet I lose the magic that Denali gives.

I have a Denali v1 and have done this test several times. Each time the result is the same: Spectral amp prefers having a dedicated circuit to itself. The better my system gets the more obvious that the amp doesn’t sound as good plugged into the Denali. So many variables though - you did the right thing to let your ears decide.
 
Both of my amps have their own dedicated 20 amp circuit. Using a Shunyata power cord plugged into a Shunyata power socket, they sounded great. Later I added a Denali 2000 to each amp, and I was amazed at the sonic improvement. No contest, with the Denali they are unbelievably good.
 
Both of my amps have their own dedicated 20 amp circuit. Using a Shunyata power cord plugged into a Shunyata power socket, they sounded great. Later I added a Denali 2000 to each amp, and I was amazed at the sonic improvement. No contest, with the Denali they are unbelievably good.

Good to know.

It was Grant at Shunyata who first suggested I plug my amp into the wall per what Caelin said above. He said something like “amps do two things - they draw current from the circuit and then they dump noise back into the circuit”. Having that noise dumped onto its own circuit keeps that noise out of everything else. It could very well be that my amp was dumping too much noise into my Denali v1 - and that it would still prefer being plugged into its own Denali or something equivalent.
 
I run my active front speakers x3 with 5 medium amps inside every speaker on their own Tv3 on their own circuit.

If I could not have them on their own Sigma XC/Tv3 I would pull them straight to wall on their own circuit.

3x Omega QR to wall would probably be a sweet but somewhat costly upgrade or perhaps an Everest is financially more sound but the Sigma XC upgrades was really substantial in my setup.
 
My view is that its likely over-simplistic to be able to generalize that one approach is intrinsically superior to another, as there are too many possibilities for functional interactions to be able to generalize.

My experience with my specific system is that my tube amp sounds considerably better when connected to a QR/BB device than not (i.e., the wall receptacle). Actually, now that I think about it, it's not even close. The QR/BB device and also the C-mode filter in Everest really brings a lot to presentation that I had not experienced previously.

Be that as it may, one should conduct their own empirical tests and listening evaluations, and providing the appropriate settling time between different configurations, go with what sounds best.
 
My unit arrived today. Any estimation time on break-in duration?
 
Give it a week to fully settle in.

But please post your initial impressions, though, if you're open to it.

Congrats!

First impression is significantly more details, rich and flesh out sound. It’s different than, say amp, preamp or DAC change. It retains the same tone, musicality, but take it to the next level. Can’t wait until after it settles in. Didn’t get to listen a lot today. Will burn-in overnight and listen more tomorrow.
 
First impression is significantly more details, rich and flesh out sound. It’s different than, say amp, preamp or DAC change. It retains the same tone, musicality, but take it to the next level. Can’t wait until after it settles in. Didn’t get to listen a lot today. Will burn-in overnight and listen more tomorrow.

Yup, that sounds like some of its attributes, for sure. One of the most notable things I find about it is the ability to hear deeply into a recording, even of a low dynamic range instrument, e.g. a classical guitar, playing against the background, power, and volume of a full symphony orchestra and still hear the sublest of details of that specific instrument.

Also, its ability to scale from soft to loud is off the charts.
 
As I posted here in another thread I just inserted a Everest in my set-up to demo for a bit. I was definitely not expecting much of a improvement over the Denali with basically just my front end going thru it. With absolutely no break-in on the unit the initial sound seemed much more expansive and weighty. So far impressive.
 
Well, I’m starting to get very curious. Mike has been forbidden to bring anymore gear to my home this summer but this new Shunyata Everest is starting to get my attention.

I have the Triton 3, so the question, would Everest be that significant of an improvement?

And, of course, the newly announced Omega Ethernet is also of interest.
 
Well, I’m starting to get very curious. Mike has been forbidden to bring anymore gear to my home this summer but this new Shunyata Everest is starting to get my attention.

I have the Triton 3, so the question, would Everest be that significant of an improvement?

Yes.
 
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