My P20 and power amp, I can see how the Sigma NR can be superior to the Alpha NR. But the DAC is a wonderment. However, it’s something that everyone has heard and heard easily. In fact my gf’s exact words were: “wow! Whadja do?” And to go a step further, the DAC improvement was bigger than my power amp.
Oh all right then. I made it two Sigmas. Sigh.
This thread, and you in particular, RonP, have also lead to a shameless opening of my wallet on these cables. Far above, I had wanted to do a shootout between the Shunyatas and Audioquest, but that never panned out. I put a Sigma NR on the P20 and was so impressed, it has now lead to Alphas on everything but my power amps (waiting on a pair from the Cable Co) and an Alpha ethernet cable. I would say the surprise factor on that ethernet cable was up there with the Sigma NR… just, wow. And the effect of all these cables is definitely synergistic. Despite that these are supposed to be “burn-in” resistant, they all took a couple of days to really open up.
So, I guess - thank you and curse you all at the same time! I am happier, but definitely poorer.
Intrigued on the V14 digital which seems a cost effective upgrade for my streamer’s linear power supply. A future endeavor…
Sorry (in an evil sort of way).
I agree with you on the burn-in. They sound great right out of the box, but 2 or 3 days later you can actually hear them sort of “bloom”.
Oddly, the least impressive improvement was on my amps.
Hi @rfajardo. I’d love to get your take as well on Sigma vs. Alpha. Thanks!
Hi there Tony… that one is tough, because I committed to the Sigma on the P20 based on Shunyata’s recommendation to but the best PC between the wall and conditioner. As that is a 20 Amp cable, I have no way to plug it in to other components, all of which are 15 Amp devices. As far as whether I have tried an Alpha on the P20, no - haven’t done that comparison. The Sigma replaced a 20 Amp WyWires cable (don’t know model off hand), and was audibly superior to me.
I would have liked going Sigma all around, but given that I am doing this in pretty quick succession, there just wasn’t the budget for it. I will say this, putting two Alphas in the system, on both the DirectStream and my pre-amp, yielded a benefit close to that which I got with the one Sigma on the P20. Don’t know if that helps with your question, but it at least gets to the synergistic improvement effect.
RonP,
Indeed, I have read conflicting reports on the effect on power amps. One reviewer reported the biggest improvement on the power amps, but there have been a couple of comments that mirror yours. At this point, it makes just sense to me to complete the system upgrade, particularly with the holiday sale… of course, I am effectively “drugged” at this point by the effect of the other Shunyatas upstream.
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Thanks @rfajardo! That does help. 
Yup, I’ve taken a lot of Shunyata power cable bath water in and still like the taste.
Did the CC loan of several brands and now have Alphas on everything and Sigma
on the P20. The DAC SR and P20 benefited most. Even at 20% off it’s some major
coin but no regrets.
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I recall how horrified I was when I let Jason at the Cable Company talk me into Deltas. They will be coming back Jason. I was wrong, the Deltas made an obvious improvement. Then he told me I would really enjoy Alphas. Bah I said. Here come the Sigmas… LOL
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insidious/pleasure/ins…
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Just buy Sigmas Al
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