[Puma Cat]

Regarding your question about differences in sound quality, I haven't heard any of the new Shunyata ICs, but I have heard the benefits of the new VTX-Ag conductors in the Shunyata power cords and speaker cables, and it is a very notable improvement over the previous generation VTX conductors. There is greater transparency, clarity, and "speed" (from the silver), but you still have the power, warmth, and naturalness of copper. It's unquestionably a big step up. One way to think about it is looking at a 12-bit digital photograph from a full-frame 36 megapixel digital camera, and then a 16-bit photograph from a 50 megapixel medium format camera. There is just a lot more information there; and not from the total number of pixels. Rather, there is much more breadth, separation, and "fineness of gradation" over the entire tonal range. Its this separation and finer gradation within the overall tonal range that give VTX-Ag a more resolving and accurate sonic picture without being. "overdone".

Also, the new Alpha has the TAP device that used to be exclusively on the Sigma ICs. Personally, I've not heard any of Shunyata's ICs past the first-generation Delta line, but I've heard the TAP device on the Omega Ethernet cable, and it brings notably improved focus, clarity, definition over the very impressive Sigma. It seems that a removes a class or type of what I would classify as type of distortion (?) that was there, but it's the sort you didn't notice it was there until it is gone.