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Is a Hydra the real deal? How do you know?

yeah, I know it sounds wierd. A friend of mine recently suggested one of the pieces in his system is a Hydra conditioner. . .and a valued item.

I'm not disagreeing with his information.... my question is this... "As the Shunyata Hydra's need to have a cable specially made to fit/operate the conditioner, and most folks choose to use one made by shunyata, how do you know if it's the conditioner or the power cord doing the job?

I spent some time recently asessing various power cords. Right off I saw the need to buy some adapters for the cords to decrease the wear and tear on my gear, and speed up the process (run in time of the cords). I put the cords + adapters onto some other gear in a secondary system... things changed sonically almost immediately... as it would have with use on my main system. No other items in the mix. Just the adapter, power cord, and the unit (s).

I'm wondering how one can determine the advantage of the hydra's if no cord - even a cheap one - comes supplied with the units? Apart from the ability to plug in more items than a single adapter gives... it just seems like a lot of money to spend for a multi outlet center..... if of course I was told wrong about the Hydras not being supplied with cords.... I apologize profusely. But a dealer told me Shunyata does not provide a cord with their conditioners.... it must be purchased separately. I guess he's correct as I see many questions about which cord for Hydras for either this or that applicaton... and that different Hydras' have different sonic attributes... Well how do you know if right off the bat you gotta add a Shunyata cord to it... Oh, by the way... I own a Shunyata Python VX, and I do dig it. ...just curious about adding a Hydra elsewhere in the system for one or two other pieces that are not 'conditioned'..

Thank you very much for your time.
blindjim
tvad
9,467 posts
 
As an option to the Hydra, I have heard excellent things about the Sound Application units (two friends who have owned Hydras now own SA conditioners). The XE-12s has, I believe, 12 outlets, and they are divided between those intended for digital and those intended for analog. Used around $1000-$1250. Commonly used in conjunction with an Elrod power cord.

Personally, I still use two Hydra 2 conditioners on two separate dedicated lines.

I would think it'd be good to separate your digital gear from the rest of the equipment on whichever conditioner you choose.
samuel
266 posts
 

Hi Bill,

Separating high-current components on their own line is _always_ preferable to puttinal all components on a single line, power conditioner or not.

Those that take amps off of a separate line and place them with other components on the same line are removing a direct dedicated AC source, which amps prefer, and ganging them together with all manner of other components. Running all the components through a single power cable to the wall from the conditioner inhibits and corrupts the current path compared to keeping them separated.

Nothing you are doing is inherently bad, it's just that no power distribution system can make up for what is gained by isolating high-current electronics from noise sensitive and low-current electronics --on separate lines. That is why some companies make vairiably sized power distribution units. So those that have multiple lines can take advantage of them and still benefit from noise isolation.

Hope this helps,

Grant
mdhoover
690 posts
 
Grant,
I just committed to buy the original Hydra from Lak. This one has six ivory outlets in the back. It has three separate circuits, I think. So, would that work? Should it be plugged into the same line as the amps and preamps, or should it go into a different wall unit? If I plug it into a different wall unit, should I at least put Porter Ports into those even though they aren't "dedicated" lines? To increase the number of plug-ins, what would you recommend as an outlet doubler (adaptor)? Thanks.
-Bill
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Grant from Shunyata gave great advice.

Regarding plugging the conditionier into the same circuit as the amps or into a separate circuit, this is something you'll have to try yourself.

I would not recommend using an outlet extender with the Hydra. If you need more outlets for the less critical components, use your Powervar on the remaining wall outlet.
mdhoover
690 posts
 
Thanks guys. (Grant, I also left a message on your company's answering machine.) I THINK I understand what you're recommending:

It sounds like the monoblock amps should be plugged into the dedicated line, and probably nothing else. However, the limiting factor is the number of available outlets.

So, now there are even more questions:
Would it be okay to plug the Rel Storm 3 sub bass unit and the preamplifier into that dedicated line along with the two monoblocks, or would that screw up the isolation? If the preamp and the Rel were plugged into that same line with the monoblocks, then at least all four of its outlets would be being used.

Then there'd be two wall outlets remaining, one on either side of the entertainment center. Neither of these would be from the dedicated line. Would it be okay to plug the Hydra into one and the Powervar into the other? {The reason I was trying to ditch the Powervar is because it appears to be transmitting transformer hum through the system.} Thanks.

-Bill

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