Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Shunyata PowerSnakes Taipan Cable by Luminator Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

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Model:	Taipan
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$649.00
Description:	powercord
Manufacturer URL:	Shunyata PowerSnakes
Manufacturer URL:	Shunyata PowerSnakes

Review by Luminator ( A ) on July 15, 2003 at 10:19:59 IP Address: 66.47.253.226

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One of my greater disappointments in audio was finding out that powercords did indeed make a difference. After trying several aftermarket PCs, I found that they effected greater change than, say, interconnects. The problem was, those PCs, while making changes, did not always result in improvement. By then I had learned the hard way that the best interconnects were the ones that had the most transparency and the least sonic signature. Alas, now I had to set out on the quest to find PCs that did the least amount of damage.

Unlike the topic of ICs, audiophiles cannot agree on what the ideal PC should or should not do. That makes reviewing PCs quite tricky. All we can do is use a bunch of PCs, and report on the results.

Which brings me to the latest buzz, the Shunyata Taipan. Visually, the Taipan is certainly not run of the mill. Its conductors are wrapped in a silver-colored jacket. A clear outer jacket ties the whole thing together. Up close, Taipan looks snazzy. But when placed in use, Taipan visually disappears. The “custom-designed VENOM” IEC connectors are reminiscent of Watt-A-Gates, but Shunyata claim that the VENOMs are “exclusive,” with proprietary co-plating processes. Hey, all I know is that, when I use AudioQuest Ultraconnect, I do not have to scrub and scrub and scrub to get the dirt off of the Taipan’s prongs. Finally, like other Shunyata products, the Taipan is supposedly subjected to cryogenic treatment.

Don’t you find it interesting that Shunyata classify their powercords into two camps, “Noise Reduction” and “Pace Setter?” Are they deliberately making colored products, are they just being honest, or both?

Let me backtrack for a moment. I initially stumbled upon Shunyata while shopping for powerline conditioners. After evaluating numerous models, the clear-cut leaders were the Audio Magic Stealth and Shunyata Hydra. I ended up choosing the Stealth, primarily because it had the standard 15-amp IEC, while the Hydra used the twist-n-lock NEMA jack. If I had gone with the Hydra, I would have had to order a powercord with the NEMA connector – an additional expense. Nor would I have been able to compare enough PCs with NEMAs to know which one worked best.

While checking out the Hydra, I borrowed one from a user in Palo Alto (or was it Mountain View?). After re-installing the Hydra into his system, he sat down and listened. He and I thought the sound was “nice” and “pleasant,” but uninvolving and uninspiring. He got up, and uttered, “I know.” So he went behind the rack, and tossed out two Shunyata Black Mamba v2s.

He sauntered to the next room, made some clunky noises, and came out with two shiny powercords. He declared, “These are new from Shunyata. I’ve been using them in my secondary system.”

“What are they called?” I asked.

He answered, “Taipan. It’s named after a Chinese restaurant.”

I frowned, “Aren’t Taipans poisonous snakes?”

I would imagine that Shunyata, having named their other products after snakes, also named the Taipan after a snake, not a Chinese restaurant. Be that as it may, the two Taipan PCs then went from the guy’s Hydra to the preamp and power amp.

Back into the CD player went The Hollies’ “Bus Stop.” What the?! The song seemed to wake up from its slumber. The guitars had their familiar attack, the drummer was slap-happy, and the urge to sing along was restored.

All the guy did was swap two powercords – from the same brand and price [the Black Mamba v2 lists for $700, while the Taipan lists for $649], no less. At the time, I used my audio budget towards a Stealth, so I had nothing left for PCs. Yet, the Shunyata Taipan had left an indelible impression on my mind.

While waiting for my audio budget to build up, I took the time to investigate the Taipan. The stock 6-foot length retails for $649. Shunyata will make Taipan in any length, but note that, if you order one less than 6-feet long, you still have to pay $649. Shunyata can terminate the Taipan in any connector, priced accordingly.

Taipan can be bent in relatively small loops. In this regard, it is a little more flexible than, say, the $695 Tara Labs Air AC. Dust can be easily wiped off of the Taipan’s clear outer jacket. The female IEC has a round barrel, which may become a problem if your gear’s IEC jack is recessed or crowded. While the thick and ebony Black Mamba v2 is an eyesore, the clear/silver Taipan visually disappears. Why can’t all cables share Taipan’s wonderful aesthetics?

I did eventually become a Taipan owner, but before that, I evaluated six samples. I tried one at a time. I tried them with different components. I tried all six at once. I checked for burn-in phenomena. Over time, I was able to nail down some general characteristics of the Taipan.

Burn-in. In order to burn-in properly, Taipan needs to be hooked up to high-current devices. Sticking Taipan on a low-power CD player, tuner, or phonostage does not do the trick. I waited and waited and waited, but using Taipan on a CD player never does make it sound the same as a Taipan that has been used on a powerline conditioner, power amp, or electrical appliance. The Cable Cooker is a wonderful device for getting the Taipan up and running. 36 to 48 hours on the Cable Cooker, followed by another two days of regular use, optimizes a new Taipan.

Note that, if you do not have a Cable Cooker, a new Taipan sounds fine right out of the box. If you use a Taipan on your PLC or power amp, wait two or three weeks before jumping to any conclusions. On a CD player, the Taipan still may have traces of grain, and may sound a little restricted or garbled, compared to a truly burned-in sample.

One at a time. At $649 each, the Taipan is nowhere near as expensive as other PCs. Yet, this is a serious product. Most people I know can “afford” one Taipan at a time. So if you are going to acquire one Taipan, where should it go? If you are using a PLC, your first Taipan should go between the wall and the PLC. Sticking a Taipan on your power amp can effect large changes, but that also has the potential to make the biggest mess. No, the power amp can wait. If the first Taipan goes between the wall and PLC, then the second should go between the PLC and preamp. Opening up your preamp goes a long way towards figuring out which component is doing what to whom. The third Taipan should go on the source you use the most. If it is the CD player, so be it. If you have separate transport and DAC, try the DAC. If vinyl is your primary source, put the third Taipan on the phonostage. Once you have wired up your PLC, preamp, and #1 source, you should consider placing a Taipan on the power amp. Additional Taipans can then be secured for your other sources.

Consistency. Whether here in the Bay Area or on Oahu, my samples of Taipan have performed consistently. My contacts in San Diego and Seattle report the same thing. I will have to visit them, and verify, though.

From here on out, my comments pertain to systems that are fully wired with burned-in Taipans. If this condition is not met, we cannot ascertain the Taipans’ performance. Experience has shown that mixing and matching PCs often produce less-than-optimal results. Too many trade-offs are introduced, and one is not sure exactly how the device under test is performing.

Sources. I have complained at length about the Theta Jade’s fat midbass, and plump overall sound. I have tried myriad vibration control devices, PLCs, digital cables, and powercords to minimize the Jade’s fatness. Tara Labs’ The One Digital (TOD) goes a long way towards not bloating the sound further. But TOD alone cannot do the job. It needs to be used in conjunction with a PC that also does not damage the sound. Most PCs are designed to bring out BIG BASS, but this trait is the opposite of what is needed on the Jade. Thus, the throwaway cord often yields better results on the Jade than aftermarket PCs. The first to rein in the Jade’s fatness is Kimber’s PK-Gold. Tara Labs’ Air AC adds further refinement over the PK-Gold, and was the best for the Jade until the Taipan came along. The Taipan preserves the Jade’s basic character, without adding emphasis, subtracting from the mix, or subtly diverting loose ends to the mean. With the Taipan on the Jade, you can see which glasses the Jade is wearing, as it reads CDs. The Jade reproduces big, round, 3-D images. It has a thick and weighty mid-to-upper bass transition. Midrange is treated with a warm, golden touch. And the sound, regardless of frequency, does not snap as precisely as with the older Theta Data Basic II.

When I compared the Rega Planet 2000, Musical Fidelity A3CD, and Creek CD43MK2 (see review on AA), I did not have the Taipan at my disposal. I wish I did. The Taipan’s refusal to add fatness probably would have helped the A3CD’s cause. Now that I use Taipan on the Creek CD43MK2, I have learned that the Creek is indeed capable of reading soundstage depth. With the Air AC, the Creek reproduces Dokken’s “Burning Like A Flame” and Dream Theater’s “6:00” as being 3- to 5-feet deep. With the Taipan, the Creek actually separates the instruments front to back, so that the soundscape has maybe 5- to 7-feet of depth. Kevin Moore’s keyboards can make “Space-Dye Vest” feel as though the rack between the speakers has disappeared. Only the Taipan gives the Creek this ability.

Yes, Taipan is available with a right-angle IEC for use with Mark Levinson components. I wish I had secured these earlier, before using Taipan elsewhere in the system. Taipan seems to sharpen the No. 360’s sound. The No. 360 takes the digital data, and converts it to analog. The No. 360 is now better able to take whatever transport or digital cable I throw at it, and tell me what it (transport or digital cable) is.

If you read Robert Harley’s comments about the upgraded No. 360S, you might get the impression that it is nice and refined, but not capable of getting down and dirty. Bull feathers. Mr. Harley probably stuck with the crappy stock cord. Had he used his No. 360S with the Shunyata Taipan, he would have discovered that the No. 360S does have the ability to kick ass, pardon my language. Versus the regular No. 360, the 360S more easily reproduces texture, scale, power, and delicacy. I am sad to see the No. 360S go, because it makes the regular No. 360 sound synthetic. Check out the way the No. 360S captures the real texture of Mick Mars’ guitars. On “Bitter Pill,” Mars is in fine form. And on “Dr. Feelgood,” Mars’ guitar sounds, well, sticky sweet. Because the No. 360S is more revealing of instrumental texture, the music is not only more believable, but it demands a guttural response from listeners. Going back to the stock cord makes the No. 360S sound as though a kindergartener took his/her Outer Space Crayola crayon, and scribbled on the wall.

At least here in San Francisco, the Fanfare FM FT-1 is treble challenged. Regardless of which antenna I use, the FT-1 rolls off the very tippy-top. Radio broadcasts become tame and airless. Adding Taipan to the FT-1 does not magically give the tuner any more treble extension. However, the midrange is more focused, spacious, and open. My FT-1 intermittently receives the South Bay’s 98.5. With the Taipan, the audio and static seem better separated. So mentally, listeners can tune out the noise, and get to the signal. Taipan is one of the few PCs which do not further muck up the FT-1’s performance in my home. Other PCs often boost the mid or upper bass, thus muddying radio broadcasts.

Adding Taipan to the Parasound T/DQ-1600 exacerbates that model’s gritty sound quality. True, clarity improves, but with that added clarity, the bad stuff is unmasked as well. The clean-sounding Tara Labs Decade AC gives the T/DQ-1600 a better balance of clarity versus noise. Cheaper alternatives include the Kimber PK-Gold and MIT Z-Cord II, the latter providing some much-needed upper-midrange dampening.

The Basis 1400, 2000, and 2001 use the same outboard motor. This motor has an IEC plug, so users can experiment with aftermarket powercords. My family and friends have used tens of powercords, ranging from throwaway to $1200, on the Basis’ motor. We are not able to confirm any repeatable differences. If you can hear a difference between PCs on the Basis’ motor, more power to you.

One test of a phonostage is how well it reacts to all the cartridge, tonearm, turntable, and phono cable changes you make upstream. The Krell KPS Standard has been with me for over five years. It has seen me go from the Sumiko Pro-Ject 1, all the way to the Basis 2000. In between, the KPS also saw analog gear better than my current rig. All these years, the KPS struck me as “good solid state.” To my surprise, the Air AC and Taipan take the KPS up two or three notches. These two cords keep the KPS’ grain in check. Without all that grain in the way, I can better discern what the upstream hardware and software are doing. On the KPS, the Taipan is dead-hand neutral. Quick, transparent, precise, and detailed, the Taipan can be unkind to bad analog gear and records. The slightly more liquid and full Air AC reduces the “headache factor,” and allows less-than-pristine records to be more tolerable. Tara Labs’ The One PC (list $1200) is a disaster, turning the KPS into the analog equivalent of the Theta Jade, boosting the upper bass, blowing up image size, reducing the air and space between those images, and fouling up the start/stop of the music.

So between the Air AC and Taipan, which is more accurate on the Krell KPS? Which is better? Air AC? Taipan? Both? Neither? If I put my sonic biases aside (yeah right, as if that is possible), my honest conclusion is that both belong in the same class. Sonically, they are different but equal. Which one is “better” or “more musical” is up to you.

Preamps. The B&K Pro10MC rounds and smoothes things here, there, and everywhere. So while it plays it safe, it also retards speed and rhythm. The Taipan is a welcome addition on the Pro10MC. The latter’s linestage becomes slightly more open, deep, and transparent.

A co-worker of mine uses a Pro10MC with a VPI HW-19 Jr./AudioQuest PT-6/Sumiko Blue Point Special combo. I borrowed his analog front end and Pro10MC. The Pro10MC’s phonostage is quite good, offering a nice balance of detail, scale, cleanliness, and involvement. To test the phonostage, hook up your turntable to the Pro10MC, and then run a set of interconnects from the tape outs to your preamp. When used in this fashion, the Pro10MC’s phonostage, fueled by a Taipan, performs even better. Taipan seems to get rid of some mist and “grayness.” This applies just as much to the Sumiko Pro-Ject 1 with Oyster, as it does to the Basis 2000 with Koetsu Black. Regardless of which analog components lie upstream, the Pro10MC’s phonostage, powered by Taipan, sounds as if it blew its nose and can now breathe freely.

The Taipan, even more so than others, is THE powercord for the Classe’ Thirty. Across the board, the Thirty imposes its signature less. The Thirty does not enlarge images or reduce transparency as much as before. By recreating the soundscape with better skill, the Thirty is less clumsy-sounding. This is quite apparent on the opening drum track on Joe Satriani’s “Time Machine.” Without the Taipan, the Thirty makes the drums sound plump, rubbery, and unsure.

Another toss-up occurs when switching between Air AC and Taipan on the Mark Levinson preamps. In general, the Air AC allows the ML preamps to pass tone, texture, natural weight, and size more efficiently. On the other hand, Taipan enables the ML preamps to maintain focus, transparency, speed, and sense of position better. One visitor said that the Air AC may be a little more “artistic,” while the Taipan is slightly more “keen and shrewd.”

Power amps. Other audiophiles report that using an aftermarket powercord on a power amp can effect large sonic changes. But that can also spell disaster, as those big changes throw the system out of whack. Keeping everything else in the system the same, but using Taipan on my old Classe’ CA-100, I heard the Taipan’s neutrality fighting with the Classe’s ripe midbass and upper midrange dirt. A visitor summed it up thusly: “Something’s not right.”

We could come up with all the usual audiophile sonic descriptions. But overall, the system with the lone Taipan on the Classe’ CA-100 simply does not gel. The sonics are all over the place, and there is no sense of unity, scale, or cohesion.

Do heed my warning earlier in this article about resisting the temptation to stick your first Taipan (or any other aftermarket PC, for that matter) on the power amp. True, adding a PC to the power amp can bring about the largest amount of change (versus sticking said PC on an upstream component). But the sonics can get out of hand. The amp, remember, is totally dependent on what lies upstream. One guy I know has a nice combination of the McCormack DNA-.05 and Vandersteen 2ce. Using a neutral PC like Taipan on the McCormack does make the amp more transparent. But that means the amp is just going to get better at getting out of the way. In this guy’s system, the net result was mixed. Far better is to use that Taipan on his Adcom GFP-750 preamp. Taipan greatly reduces the GFP-750’s tendency to dull the top end and blur image outlines.

Taipan makes my own AudioPrism Debut II more neutral. Thus, tube rolling has wider variability. Some Sylvania black plate 12AT7s makes the amp turn into the sonic equivalent of a sink’s disposer. Slash & burn? Air brakes on a bus? Grinding gears? All of the above. With the Taipan providing a clean foundation, the Sylvania black plate has nowhere to hide. The Telefunken ECC801S is dead-center neutral. In this sense, it is similar to top-notch interconnects, like XLO Limited Edition, Tara Labs The One, and Nordost Valhalla. But you would not recognize this, unless the amp was using Taipan. The Mullard gold pin 6201 is even worse than previously thought. This tube sucks the air and life out of the music. The music itself becomes, soft, slow, billowy, and weak.

With Taipan in tow, power tubes now had greater impact. The Sylvania fat bottle 6CA7’s BIG BASS can become too much to take. The Svetlana EL-34 shares a similar dull tonal balance as a Mullard xf2, but has nowhere near the detail of the latter. The latest Electro-Harmonix EL-34EH does not quite have the flat frequency response or resolution of an xf4 Mullard. The Amperex Holland EL-34 accurately mirrors depth information. Interestingly, the JJ E-34L could sound splashy when biased at the 40 to 45 ma, especially with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” But upping the bias to 50 ma yields a sound that is more controlled and full-bodied, and less sibilant.

By providing clean sonics, high resolution, and quiet background, Taipan is a godsend for inveterate tube rollers.

Whole systems. I have enough samples of API PL-313; Kimber PK-Gold; MIT Z-cord II; Shunyata Black Mamba v2; Tara Labs RSC Prime AC, Decade AC, Air AC, and The One PC; and Wireworld Aurora II to wire entire systems. Wiring the entire system with one model of PC is the only way to discern the true merits and defaults of that PC.

In absolute terms Tara Labs Air AC and Shunyata Taipan outdistance themselves from the competition by allowing systems to perform at higher levels. You may not know exactly what a system is capable of, or how it reaches its limits, until you have hooked it up with neutral and high-resolution PCs like Air AC and Taipan.

Take Toni Basil’s “Mickey.” With Taipan, you will marvel at the precision and freedom from gunk and slowness. You can hear the skin on the kick drum flex and vibrate, as it sends the air moving. There is no smearing, rounding, or buffing. Even if you have no rhythmic coordination, you will now. Air AC captures some of the flavor of the instruments a little better. The cymbals retain more of their shimmer. When Basil sings into the mike, you can feel the breath come a little closer, as if you could smell her lipstick. Air AC layers the keyboard and cymbals a little more watery. While the Taipan is like the way hotels tightly make the bed, Air AC is more like a comfy coastal bed & breakfast, where the bedding is a little more plush. But if you are totally into tone and texture, and like your bed warm, soft, and poofy, you might give Taipan and Air AC the boot, and go for, say, Black Mamba v2 or The One PC.

Watching KTVU's news provides an interesting comparison. With my system wired with Air AC, Dennis Richmond’s voice is warm and smooth, without excess boom or chesty-ness. When Leslie Griffith is relaxed, she seems to use her entire path from nose to the bottom of her throat. Air AC seems to add a very slight amount of squid-like upper bass/lower midrange bump. So when Griffith has more energy, Air AC does not quite fully resolve the contrast between that and when Griffith is relaxed.

When Richmond is tired, his voice slows, and his words blend from one to another. When Richmond is irritable, he cuts down on enunciation, and even curtly stops his sentences. When Richmond turns to the weatherman or sportscaster, and flips off a snide remark, he often startles the audience. The Taipan, blessedly free from bass humps, allows listeners to track precisely the dynamic contrast in Richmond’s voice, as he goes from mood to mood.

Styx’s “Don’t Let It End” on CD sounds, well, digital. Both Air AC and Taipan do not hide that fact. Air AC gets the wavy keyboard right, as it drifts into the studio’s backdrop. Thus, listeners in my room connect with this song. Taipan’s cold-handed neutrality just nails the start and stop of each note. Thus, listeners tend to get hung up on the sonics, and miss the emotion of the song.

In writing this review, I have talked at length about Tara Labs’ Air AC, at the expense of other models. That has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the way Air AC and Taipan stick out from the PC crowd. These two are clearly superior, making the others (including other models from Tara Labs and Shunyata themselves) sound woefully, villainously, and irritatingly colored, bloated, slow, uninteresting, and unmusical. I do not want to waste time and ink on the other PCs.

Like everything else in audio, the Taipan is not for everyone. It will, for better or worse, show what your equipment really sounds like. Shunyata classify Taipan as a “Pace Setter,” but if your equipment is slow, mellow, and sleepy, Taipan will not magically wake it up. If your equipment is zippy, metallic, and shrill, Taipan will not rein it in and make it more palatable. If your equipment is low-rez, Taipan will not make details appears. If your equipment does not reproduce soundstages, Taipan will not endow the equipment with that ability.

If you have souped up your system with stereotypical PCs, re-wiring with the neutral Taipan may require an adjustment period. Compared to run-of-the-mill PCs, Taipan may at first seem lean and speedy. But over time, you will learn that the Taipan is neutral, while your old PCs are hopelessly colored, bloated, and blurry.

That said, Taipan does fall a smidge short of the best, when allowing equipment to reproduce texture and tone. Shunyata’s own Black Mamba v2, for example, more accurately brings out the natural liquid vibe of those keyboards on Naked Eyes’ version of “Always Something There To Remind Me.” Joe Satriani’s “Summer Song” can sound like a harsh and impenetrable wall of sound. Black Mamba v2 helps sort out the tonal differences between the motorized bass runs, sizzling cymbals, riveting drum beats, and Satch’s rhythmic gymnastics on guitar. Check out Nicko McBrain’s Paiste cymbals on “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.” Through the Black Mamba v2, the sssssssss sounds are fused with the initial striking of the cymbal. Through Taipan, the sssssssss sounds are more detached, a separate entity from the stick hitting the cymbal.

But in all other parameters, the Taipan just stomps on the Black Mamba v2. Taipan is tonally in order. Taipan does not play games with image size and soundstaging. Check out the depth and layering on the Beach Boys’ monophonic “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” That opening drum whack startles with the initial attack, and then decays nicely. Each voice and instrument is properly sized. Each singer so effortlessly comes in and out. N’Sync wish they were one-tenth this good! Taipan does not obscure low-level details, or the way they move (micro-dynamics). In my system, the contrast between Heart’s “There’s The Girl” on 45 and CD is stark. The Taipan clearly reveals the 45’s ability to capture Ann Wilson’s breath and reach. The CD sounds as if Wilson is singing in a paint-by-numbers fashion. Gone is that sense of intrigue when Wilson taunts the guy about a girl he used to like. Other PCs, including Black Mamba v2, gloss over these minute differences. Finally, Taipan restores the raw sound of Skid Row’s “Rattlesnake Shake” [uh oh, will this become Shunyata’s anthem?] and “Youth Gone Wild.” With other PCs, including Black Mamba v2, the latter song sounds as if it should be titled “Youth Gone Mild.”

I tried aftermarket powercords more often than I switched tenses. I was dismayed to find out that (a) they made a difference, and (b) those differences were often of a sizeable magnitude. Round and round I went, searching for a PC that was free from coloration, introduced no noise of its own, did no damage to the sound, took little time to burn-in, had good ergonomics, was not stratospherically priced, was aesthetically pleasing, and would be a solid long-term buy. No, Shunyata Taipan is not perfect. But given these criteria, the Taipan joins Tara Labs Air AC at the top of the heap.

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Product Weakness:	No discount for shorter lengths; cannot be burned-in fully with low-current components
Product Strengths:	Neutral sound; visually beautiful; available in a variety of terminations

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	AudioPrism Debut II
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Mark Levinson No. 380; Krell KPS Standard
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Theta Jade, Mark Levinson No. 360; Basis 2000, Graham Robin, Koetsu Black
Speakers:	ProAc Response One SC
Cables/Interconnects:	Tara Labs The One, RSC Reference Bi-Wire
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, pop, oldies, thrash, dance, Hawaiian
Room Size (LxWxH):	16 x 15 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Echobusters Bassbusters
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 year
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Audio Magic Stealth
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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