CD Player/Transport Reviews

Sidebar 3: Subtle & Not-so-Subtle Changes

During this review I added a variable to the mix: Shunyata Research's new ZTron Alpha Digital AC cable ($995). It's less expensive than the company's top cords, but demonstrably more efficacious for removing power-line noise than some of their earlier, more expensive efforts. Shunyata backed this claim up with a paper-shredder demo at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, showing the reduction of AC line noise with an oscilloscope.

Before the 820S's arrival, I'd tried the ZTron Alpha Digital and a stock power cord on the Simaudio Moon Evolution 650D. The audible differences were similar to but far more subtle than the 650D's sound with and without the 820S.

Compared to one of Shunyata's more expensive power cords, one not specifically designed for digital components, the ZTron Alpha Digital produced even subtler differences. (All of these comparisons were made during the summer, when air-conditioners make power lines particularly noisy.) The 820S's filtering abilities made power-line noise a nonissue during my comparisons of AC cords, though if I were spending $17,000 on a DAC-CD transport and outboard power supply, I'd consider spending another $995 on a ZTron "just because"—or, at least, I'd ask a Shunyata dealer for a loaner to try.

The addition of the 820S produced such a major improvement in the sound of the 650D that I was moved to play with S/PDIF cables between the Meridian Music Server and the 650D. I swapped out a few brands; they all sounded different, but the best-sounding was Snake River Audio's Boomslang digital interconnect ($595 for 1.37m). This solid-silver, solid-core, woven (not coaxial) interconnect reduced glare and excess brightness without attenuating the high frequencies, and increased transparency.—Michael Fremer