Caelin
Thank you for taking the time and especially since this was on a weekend to summarize your current product line. On numerous occasions I have commented to your dealers and others how impressed I am by you and your team. Your (you and your team) willingness to answer questions and offer advice via these forums, via PM or e-mail is not the norm with many manufacturers.
Thank you Jim, I appreciate that you and others recognize that we really try to be available to our customers and dealers. We take pride in the fact that there is a real person answering the phones and that we have a great customer service person in Richard to help you with your product questions.
1) I currently using 3 of your power cords circa late 2016. One each Alpha HC, Alpha Digital and Alpha NR. Are these considered v1 or one generation prior?
The Alpha NR would be from the, just now superseded, v1 generation of NR power cables.
The Alpha Digital and Alpha HC are from the generation prior to the NR generation. That generation had 3 versions: Alpha Digital, Alpha Analog and Alpha HC. The filters in those were made to target the specific type of noise generated by the different types of audio equipment. "Digital" was made for DACs, transports and other devices of that type. "Analog" was for preamps, phone pre, amplifiers and other equipment that had NO digital circuitry in it. And the "HC" version was made specifically for amplifiers but also worked quite well on pre-amplifiers.
The NR v1 cables improved upon the prior gen in that we figured out how to make built-in NR filters that worked universally well on digital, analog or high-current type components. Therefore, there was no longer any need to worry about which type cable to match with a specific type of component. And JFYI, the new v2 NR cables have a newer generation filter that has improved sonics over the v1 gen. The technical noise reduction specifications are the same as the v1 generation but we have refined some of the elements in the filter that sound better than those used in the prior gen.
2) Assuming I pull the trigger on a upgrade from Denali to Everest with the appropriate XC power cord are either my current Alpha Digital or Alpha NR worth retaining for connection to my dCS DAC, Upsampler or clock?
All of the cables you currently own are excellent and are still competitive with anything on the market. That being said, the v2 generation is NOT a minor upgrade. In fact, we probably should have given them new names because they are fundamentally superior. The heart and soul of a power cable really is its conductors; the quality of the metals, the geometry and the dielectrics really define the performance potential of the cable. The VTX-Ag is a fundamental advancement in conductor technology. And then you couple that with the improvements in the NR circuitry - the result is a generation of cables that are truly a major leap in performance even when compared to our prior cables.
Some people have reported this elsewhere - that a Delta v2 will outperform an Alpha v1 from the prior gen. To put this in perspective, the Alpha v1 sold for ~$1500 and the Delta v2 sells for $998. So although the price of each model has risen from the prior gen, the performance to price ratio has actually gone up substantially. More performance for less money. And this across the model line. An Alpha v2 NR will outperform a Sigma v1 NR with the older Sigma valued at $3K with the new Alpha v2 at $2k. We are very happy with the performance we have been able to extract from the new generation and are proud that we can improve performance while reducing the equivalent price.
RE EVEREST:
Everest represents our ultimate power conditioner and it deserves a world-class power cable for you to realize its full potential. That doesn't mean you can't use an existing cable or a prior gen cable and get exceptional performance - you will. However, you will not really know what the Everest is capable of unless you partner it will one of our v2 cables. I recommend the Sigma v2 XC for the Everest and if you can afford the rather substantial cost, the Omega XC really does deliver the ultimate in performance.
I understand that the DAC would benefit from one of the latest generation NR offerings but i'm not sure about the clock or the Upsampler which only sees a ethernet signal.
Although you can spend more money on one of our more expensive NR power cords, I recommend the
Venom V14 Digital (US$250) for these type of devices. There are several people that have done the comparisons and they usually agree with my perspective on this. The Venom V14 Digital has a different NR filter than the Venom NR V12/V10 which are suited to audio components. The V14 Digital filter has a greater ability to reduce "
impulse noise" which is typical from SMPSs that are commonly used in computers, monitors and ethernet switches. If you have upgraded your component's power supply with a linear power supply then using one of our more expensive NR power cords "
may" give you better performance. But in my opinion, the V14 Digital is more than capable of giving you a big leap in performance. Save your power cable budget for the pre-amplifier, amplifier or DAC.
from the Venom V14 Brochure
VENOM V14 DIGITAL
The Venom V14 Digital is a highly specialized power cord that has an internal multi-stage noise-filtration circuit that was designed specifically for computer-based music systems. This powerful filter removes noise and interference from both the power line as well as from noise generated by the components themselves. Ideal applications include all computer peripherals and video processors including; computers, music-servers, NAS arrays, routers, switches, monitors, clocks, up-samplers, digital transports, wall warts, and power bricks.
For high-current amps, pre-amps, DAC’s, and other analog electronics — customers should consider the Venom NR-12 or Venom NR-10 power cords for best performance.
The Venom V14 Digital is only available with US-style AC plugs and is 1.75 meters in length. It is available with a variety of component connectors including: standard C-13 and mini-power connectors (C7, C7P, C5).
