Long overdue but I got sidetracked with other things going on in my system and I felt the Shunyata Venom HC needed just a bit more time to ripen.
This evening I finally spent a few hours listening deeply, going back and forth between the Venom, the Guerrilla and Zebra and the stock power cords. It did not take long to recognize the few very strong characteristics of the Venom HC.
I decided to use the outstanding SPL Phonitor studio grade amp for the final test. I feel the Phonitor is quite neutral and rather colorless as far as tonal balance and would give a better, clearer picture in this shootout.
First, the bass is simply outstanding for a power cord in this price range. You'd be hard pressed to find a better "bass" power cord for this kind of money. Articulate, powerful and deep and it is not something you will have to struggle to hear if you are upgrading from the stock power cords. It made me want to explore all my bass prominent recordings. Addicting.
I found the overall presentation of the Venom HC as rather illuminating and enthusiastic, effortless, dynamic, vibrant, especially in the vocal and presence regions and without making my system sound too far out of balance in any particular way.
The Phonitor amp easily lets me know when a change has occurred but it walks a very thin line between just right and either too lightweight and bright or lifeless and dull in overall presentation depending on cables. I appreciate that rather neutral quality about the Phonitor amp as I can hear changes much easier that way. The Venom HC walks that middle ground along with the Phonitor with sure footedness. This middle ground is elusive and neither the Zebra Cable power cord, which actually has a tendency of leaning out the balance ever so slightly or the Guerrilla power cord, that "thickens" the sound and makes the bass sound a bit bloated and lacking articulation can match. These are not night and day differences but still noticeable.
Detail retrieval with the Venom HC is definitely a step up. I can clearly hear deeper into the recording when the recording presents such resolution and detail. That is always a plus in my book.
If I had to criticize one small area, I would say the Venom HC imparts a slight metallic tinge to the upper end frequencies. Cymbals are not exactly white noise sounding or particularly grainy but definitely a bit on the artificially splashy metallic side of neutral. I don't hear the golden shimmer on some of my recordings that I would consider to be spot on in the highs.
The mids were not a victim of any deficiencies, no artificial sibilance or dryness was heard by my ears in the all important midrange as is pretty typical of most stock cords. I would not exactly call the Venom a wet and lush kind of a cord in the midrange but it does not dry anything out here either.
Perhaps the strong point of this power cord is the bass and the drive, it has that in spades. It is a lively, let's get the party going type of a power cord, it will impart a sense of new found life and drive in the lows, perk up the mid bass and keep the party going through the mids until it reaches the highs and at that point we've been partying a bit too hard... time to go home.
I'd say at this price, this is an outstanding power cord overall. I think Shunyata did a great job on the Venom HC.
It will certainly continue to see use in my system with the Asgard 2 amp which sounds a bit laid back and soft in the treble without the prodding of the Venomous serpent.