Shunyata PS8 with Defender Review

This is exactly my setup - power amp plugged into a $30 Hubbell outlet and 15A dedicated circuit.

 

I've upgraded my speaker cables to Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval and I had intended to take delivery of Venom cords, defender, PS8 to replace my three stock cords and Richard Gray 400. So I'd gone ahead and moved the Gray to its next life with my home theater. Low and behold, there was a delay from Shunyata so I've been listening with no conditioning. I'm certainly not getting the intimate detail that I recalled during my speaker cable audition.

Anyhow, tomorrow (3/6) is the scheduled delivery. Fingers crossed.

 

Good luck with the scheduled delivery.

 

Make sure you give it time to break in. Mine seemed to sound best after two weeks.

 

They were supposed to burn in the power cords. Nevertheless, I don't doubt that the sound will change a little bit over the first several hundred hours. I'm not sure if I'll notice that, but I'm hopeful that my power amp and other components will perform closer to their full potential.

I didn't take the time to swap the Richard Gray back in, but the success (or failure) of this upgrade will be measured by whether or not I'm hearing better sound quality than ever before.

 

The PS8 and Defender also break in. Probably two weeks and you are good to go.

 

They may change a little with a few more hours on them, but if they have already been burned in ~ I doubt you're going to hear anything mind blowing to what you're already hearing at this point.

 

Shunyata will burn in $100 power cords? Is this a confirmed fact?

 

If Shunyata has broken in the power cords then you should be good to on that front. I was just pointing out that the gear also has break-in.

 

No. I'd asked Cable Co to burn them in for me, but the order ended up being placed directly to Shunyata (shipped direct to me). It wasn't clear to me if he'd asked them to do it, but I'd hoped so. I'll follow up.

 

I'll venture out on a limb and say "no".

 

I myself am a big Shunyata fan. I just upgraded to the Triton/Typhon, the Triton is on the way and the Typhon is being built as we speak. Upgraded some Shunyata cabling as well.

 

Certainly we hear lots of good things about the Triton/Typhon combination. Keep us in the loop.

 

Will do.

 

First, I love that Paul Simon album. Papa Hobo is an incredibly underrated tune.

I live in an apt in Brooklyn where everything, including wiring most likely, was done on the cheap. Do you think I'll have the best luck prioritizing a better outlet or with the PS8/Defender combo? Any concerns about plugging an integrated into the PS8 instead of the wall?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

The PS8/Defender is likely the better way to go but a good outlet always helps. Plugging in an integrated will be no problem as the strip lets a lot of current through.

 

Josh, any update on your Shunyata situation?

 

How stable is the power in your building? If it's really unstable you may be better off with a regeneration device such as PS Audio's P5 or P10 (if it's within your budget as those things are pretty pricey).

 

I think it's pretty stable. In the summer, the power might dip for a second when a large window a/c unit kicks on, but otherwise no obvious instability that I can see. I have some "light buzz" when I turn my ARC vsi60 up high with no source connected, which got me wondering about the whole power thing. I bought a PS audio outlet, but am hesitant to hook it up myself without having done it before.

 

In that case you may be better off using power cables with good filtering geometry and a good quality power strip/distributor that with regeneration.

 

I have been using the Defender, PS8, SR-Z1 and Venom cords. I also finalized the upgrades to my interconnects by replacing the last Mogami with Analysis Plus.

The net results have been quite impressive, especially that final weak link connection from pre to power amp. I'm not sure where all the tight, extended bass came from but I'm super happy. Reviews of the Diablos tend to mention the bass, so I've gotten closer to hearing what they can do.

Ideally, I'll go another several months and then slip some of the old stuff back in. My goal is to learn what I can with this current now "complete system" (and enjoy the heck out of it!!) in order to be best positioned for the effort of putting together a new system at the next level someday.

 

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the journey will end up being worth the expense, I'd be very surprised if you put your old items back in and relaxed into the music and decided the new expenses weren't quite worth it!

I've gone a similar route a few years ago but instead of Shunyata cables and power treatment I went PS Audio and for interconnects VooDoo Cable. I'm very happy with what I chose and how they complement my components, and feel they were a long term investment which helped me with the fiscal impact. I very recently added a Shuntata Defender and tried it in several places in my system and really haven't seen a lot of difference, but that's not too suprising as my PS Audio Power Plant Premier and the PS Audio PowerBases that I have in use in the main system pretty much cover noise issues. I'll try it soon in my second system which only has a PS Audio Dectet as its power treatment (and a variety of PS Audio and My Audio Cable power cords).

 

I had an occasion last night to listen without the Defender for a little bit. I was playing a few Bob Marley tracks (Diament mastering) and sound was slightly veiled compared to what I expected. I listened closely for a few minutes and there is no question that I was not pleased. I plugged the Defender back in and hit play. Pow. That's the sound I'm conditioned to hear!! Kind of amazing, really.

I'm thinking of picking a week where I forego all the Shunyata and switching my Analysis Plus interconnects back to Mogami.

 

Thank you. I've been wondering about the impact of the Defender. I'll have to try it, though I may be in the same camp as Lonson since I already have two V-Rays in my System.

 

It made a nice difference on my system. A good investment for sure.