Any experience with Shunyata Theta cables?

J

JCS123

Active member
Joined
Mar 17, 2020
Messages
271
Location
Detroit area
There aren't many reviews of the Theta line yet, and they've been out in the wild for a while now. Mike had mentioned some weeks ago that he heard them (but not in his store yet), and they sounded much better than the Venom-X line. I am paraphrasing here Mike, my bad if I didn't get this right.

I have spoken by e-mail with Scott at Shunyata, and he was very helpful. For someone who doesn't know me, his taking the considerable time to answer all of my questions and explain Shunyata's priority on clean power to the components reminded me of the kind of customer service that only the finest companies provided - very Suncoast and LUMIN-like. He suggested that my system might benefit from a Gemini power conditioner and Theta power cable from the wall to it as a start.

My problem is that I have a lot of $$ invested in my Synergistic Powercell 12UEF-SE, which I'm happy with. It was highly recommended by my amp builder, so I got it when I got my amps and haven't looked back. I'm wondering if going to the Gemini would be a lateral move, or would it maybe better the PowerCell?? If anyone has experience with both power conditioners (and/or Theta cables) and might offer some advice here, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!
 
My take: You have a rather advanced and expensive power conditioner that you like already, which is a wonderful thing. I would resist the urge to mess with it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
JCS123 said:
There aren't many reviews of the Theta line yet, and they've been out in the wild for a while now. Mike had mentioned some weeks ago that he heard them (but not in his store yet), and they sounded much better than the Venom-X line. I am paraphrasing here Mike, my bad if I didn't get this right.

I have spoken by e-mail with Scott at Shunyata, and he was very helpful. For someone who doesn't know me, his taking the considerable time to answer all of my questions and explain Shunyata's priority on clean power to the components reminded me of the kind of customer service that only the finest companies provided - very Suncoast and LUMIN-like. He suggested that my system might benefit from a Gemini power conditioner and Theta power cable from the wall to it as a start.

My problem is that I have a lot of $$ invested in my Synergistic Powercell 12UEF-SE, which I'm happy with. It was highly recommended by my amp builder, so I got it when I got my amps and haven't looked back. I'm wondering if going to the Gemini would be a lateral move, or would it maybe better the PowerCell?? If anyone has experience with both power conditioners (and/or Theta cables) and might offer some advice here, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

I can't speak to the Synergistics PowerCell as I've never heard one, and most respectfully, it's unlikely members here have performed a side-by-side listening evaluation in a controlled listening comparison (same room, temperature, barometric pressure, seating position, recordings, and amplification components) between the two so as as to be able to answer your question as objectively and accurately as possible. If you still would like a definitive answer to your question, work with a dealer, e.g, Mike at Suncoast, to get in a Gemini in for an evaluation, and you can decide for yourself. 😉

As for Gemini, I would recommend getting the Gemini-4 or Gemini-8, depending on the number of components.

The other functionality that the Gemini has that the Synergistics does not have is four Shunyata Altaira-type CG (chassis-ground) ground-plane noise reduction terminals. So, you can connect up to 8 components to obtain a considerable level of ground-plane noise reduction using it, as well. if you haven't heard what Altaira-type ground-plane noise reduction will do, well, in my and many others' experience, you have not yet heard your system at it's full potential (just ask Mike!). I'm not a fan of using the term "game-changer", as IMHO, it's overused in advertising these days, but in the case of Altaira and Gemini, it really is.

Here's a photo of the rear panel showning the 4 Altaira-type CG ground-plane noise reduction terminals:
Gemini-Rear.jpg


I presently use a Gemini-4 as the power distributor for my RSR (remote server room) to power my router, EtherREGEN, Alita, Battle Angel (Akasa NUC Roon Core), my AfterDark master clock & power supply for ER, and it's ideal for that application. It also functions provide Altaira-type GP-NR for the RSR components, and I unequivocally state that GP-NR functionality really makes a difference, because generic-type networking device (e.g. switches, routers, modems) and computers are really grungy-sounding from a lot of noise on their ground-planes.

I've also used it in my main system for an eval as I only have two main components, and it's superb for that application, as well. I'd place it's audio performance on the level of the Venom V16 power distributor, which I have extensive experience with, in terms of very clean & quiet power distribution with respect to reduction of AC and ground-plane noise while concomitantly provided maximal DTCD†

Here it is powering my main system:
Gemin-Frt-Panel-1.jpg


As for the Theta cable line, I've not yet personally heard them, but I have, and use the Venom-X ICs and speaker cables, and they are superb at their price point, so my hypothesis is that Mike is correct that Theta are superb, as well.

If you're open to considering the Gemini, reach out to Mike, he can set you up. Hope you'll find this info helpful. Cheers.

†-DTCD: Dynamic Current Transient Delivery. Read about it's importance here:
 
Puma Cat said:
As for Gemini, I would recommend getting the Gemini-4 or Gemini-8, depending on the number of components.
Click to expand...

I want a Gemini-8 but alas they are not available in the Australian market and the distributor won't do a special order.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. I should clarify. I was initially interested in the Theta line of cables. When talking to Scott at Shunyata, I became interested in the Gemini as well. I probably should have left the Gemini out of the discussion for this thread (or started a separate thread dedicated to it).

I'd still be interested in peoples' impressions of the Theta line of cables.

Puma, there is no link for the DTCD paper. If you would shoot that to me either here or by PM, I'll certainly check it out. Thanks.
 
Does anybody here own a Theta power cable? They've been available for a while, right? I'm surprised we haven't had more end user commentary on them. Mike, are they selling well?
 
brodricj said:
Does anybody here own a Theta power cable? They've been available for a while, right? I'm surprised we haven't had more end user commentary on them. Mike, are they selling well?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the Theta line was launched to the market only fairly recently. I don't know the exact time-frame, but my guess is it was some time in CY Q2 or so, ballpark. Mike may know...

This may be why there aren't more user experiences shared or reviews of them, to date; they just haven't been on-market very long.
 
An audio reviewer friend of mine who writes for an audio publication pinged me recently he's swapped out his entire previous loom of cables for the new Theta line; that's how impressed he is with it.
 
brodricj said:
Does anybody here own a Theta power cable? They've been available for a while, right? I'm surprised we haven't had more end user commentary on them. Mike, are they selling well?
Click to expand...

We love our Theta loom which replaced Venom X. Theta is now catching on as the public learns venom and delta are no more. It’s superior to both. So easy to work with too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Yip-yip-Yahoo!!! 3 Theta NR power cords on the way!

Many thanks to Mike and Stephen here for their information and guidance, going back some months now. And to Matthew for handling the ordering this morning.

Looking forward to seeing what these can do in place of my reference PC's (at around ¼ the cost of the Thetas). I say my references, because they're the best I've heard in my systems. I haven't yet compared them with higher-priced cables in my system until now. They've been in my room through a couple of component upgrades, and have held up very well so far. I suspect that the Thetas will be a nice improvement, and worthy of the substantial investment.

This I do know: If the Theta NR power cords make as much of an improvement in my system as the single Venom-X Ethernet cable has, I'll be very happy.
 
JCS123 said:
Yip-yip-Yahoo!!! 3 Theta NR power cords on the way!

Many thanks to Mike and Stephen here for their information and guidance, going back some months now. And to Matthew for handling the ordering this morning.

Looking forward to seeing what these can do in place of my reference PC's (at around ¼ the cost of the Thetas). I say my references, because they're the best I've heard in my systems. I haven't yet compared them with higher-priced cables in my system until now. They've been in my room through a couple of component upgrades, and have held up very well so far. I suspect that the Thetas will be a nice improvement, and worthy of the substantial investment.

This I do know: If the Theta NR power cords make as much of an improvement in my system as the single Venom-X Ethernet cable has, I'll be very happy.
Click to expand...
I'd think that's a safe bet...
 
I have a Theta NR, as well as a Venom NR V10, a Sigma NR V2, and a couple of Anaconda ZiTons.
The Theta strikes me as a jump over the Delta and Venom lines, especially in the upper midrange, which is quite open, and dynamically vigorous. I have not yet put the Venom back into the system to see what "disappears" with the Venom in contrast to the Theta. I am pleased with the Theta quite easily. The qualities that are immediately apparent, are: very low noise, an ability to distinguish good recordings from poor ones (Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album is clearly not of the best quality, whereas RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence disc have a "WOW" factor I have not previously heard, in terms of musicality (not euphonic) and the audiophile virtues of a very wide soundstage, considerable depth and quite good imaging (if that matters to you. I like it, but it isn't what I listen for.) I will say that the Theta strikes me as superior to the Anaconda in lowering the noise floor.

I'd say this is quite a jump over, say, the Delta NR V1, which was entirely too shut down in the upper midrange/lower treble (especially the dynamics) and even the Delta NR V2, which I found very good, but not up to the Theta levels.

If you are listening to a symphony (especially the well-recorded ones of RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence), there is a feeling of looking down into the orchestra (which is the correct perspective, at least as shown in diagrams of where Mercury placed their microphones, and RCA as well), over the tops of the instruments. The brass appears on different levels, with the tubas placed lower, and the trumpets placed higher (some of my older Shunyata cables did not separate the height differences as well as the Theta) and when the violins are playing, the percussion can still be heard coming from the back of the orchestra instead of being completely buried by the louder instruments during big crescendos. I won't say, given my speaker system, that they wouldn't be better with say, a Magico or Magnepan, but the Nolas are very decent speakers. Bass is quite concussive and the space around the bass drum can be easily heard in the decay of the notes, as well as the back and sides walls of the auditorium. The Theta's soundstage is very wide (well beyond the speakers)
And voices are equally well-served, although Iv'e only heard Sinatra, Fitzgerald, (Sarah) Vaughn so far, and I have no reservations there. Sinatra's lower midrange is beautifully present, as is the clarity of his voice in the earlier recordings, versus later on.
For $998, This is heady stuff. The next experiment will be to put the Sigma where the Theta cable is, and listen to the difference. The Sigma is still breaking in, so it's not fair to do a comparison between the Theta and the Sigma. I know Shunyata says the burn in time is much less for the current line of cables, but I still don't listen seriously without a week of running the cables in, 24/7. Anyone with older Shunyata cables knows that the older lines took weeks to completely break in. I used to shake my head at reviewers who wouldn't allow the cables the entire break in time required to render an accurate assessment. Ah, well...
 
Last edited:
This is SO exciting! I got the Three Theta power cords a couple of days ago, and it was just killing me having them sit at the Fedex facility for almost a week because I was out of town and unable to get them right away. Anyway, I will use the first one to feed my LUMIN, then after a couple of weeks I'll connect the other two to the power amps. Can't wait!

If anyone here can report on the Theta RCA's, that will be helpful because that'll probably be my next move. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that might have more of an impact on the sound than Theta speaker cables, plus they are roughly ½ the price. I would be upgrading from Hero IC's, which I consider a great value but I would hope (and expect) the Theta's to be much better.

Thanks already!
 
JCS123 said:
This is SO exciting! I got the Three Theta power cords a couple of days ago, and it was just killing me having them sit at the Fedex facility for almost a week because I was out of town and unable to get them right away. Anyway, I will use the first one to feed my LUMIN, then after a couple of weeks I'll connect the other two to the power amps. Can't wait!

If anyone here can report on the Theta RCA's, that will be helpful because that'll probably be my next move. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that might have more of an impact on the sound than Theta speaker cables, plus they are roughly ½ the price. I would be upgrading from Hero IC's, which I consider a great value but I would hope (and expect) the Theta's to be much better.

Thanks already!
Click to expand...

Enjoy! New cables are always exciting.
 
I recently tried a Theta Ethernet cable to connect my Bricasti M19 SACD transport to my Bricasti M21 DAC via their respective I2S ports. On hand from the same dealer for me to try as a comparison was a DH Labs Reunion Ethernet Cat 8 cable. Cost was not a consideration in my evaluation.

In terms of performance, I could not detect one wit of difference between these two cables; however, both of them performed significantly better than the Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet cable I had been using. That said, unlike the Audioquest and DH Labs cables, the Theta cable was not easily inserted into the RJ45 jack and was extremely challenging to extract -- so much so that I contacted Richard at Shunyata about that problem. I imagine that by now the people at Shunyata (it was returned to the factory) have diagnosed and addressed that problem.

I want to mention that I use a Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cable between my network switch and the Bricasti DAC. The performance of that cable is astoundingly good. In fact, it negated the need for me to purchase an "audiophile-grade" network switch.
 
Puma Cat said:
Ah, sorry, it accidentally was deleted when I as editing the post. Here's the link: WHY POWER CABLES MAKE A DIFFERENCE | Galen Carol Audio | Galen Carol Audio
Click to expand...
I believe this guy because some of his conclusions, are mine conclusions too (after some hard and long trial and error experiences).

"After 3 years of testing, we concluded that just about anything and everything that is inserted in or around the electromagnetic field of a power circuit has an audible effect.

So, just increasing the wire size is not the easy answer that some might think.

Shielding can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, it can reduce radiated fields from impacting other components. On the other hand, the shielding may induce re-radiated fields onto the cable or component that it is being used in.

There is just hard work, occasional inspiration and lots of testing.

Most of what I have to say here are my "conclusions" based upon observation through trial and error testing"

I would add the following: terminations are very important too. Especially the tightness/contact of the cable with the plug
 
brodricj said:
Shunyata use the same OEM RJ45 connector on all its cables that just about everybody else uses, right?
Click to expand...
Not exactly right. My Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cable uses Telegartner connectors whereas the Theta version uses what Shunyata describes as “SR2-RJ45” connectors. Believe me, there is a dimensional/construction difference between them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top