Hydra vs. PS Audio P5 vs. Shindo Mr. T

[adhesiv]

Synergy says go with the Shindo Mr. T (isolation transformer) but I'm curious about the P5 (power regenerator) and new Hydra (voodoo conditioner) products. Each does something different to accomplish similar end result...any science behind which technology should be better? They're all pretty close in price.

[TommyC]

If you have Shindo pre and power amps, Mr. T is an obvious choice. It's the last piece of the puzzle for that Shindo effect. Like Matt said, it competes the voicing. Kind of like trying different footers on Shindo gears. While they may change the sound, they are not necessary an improvement. Stick with the Shindo.

[f1 fan]

Originally Posted by TommyC

If you have Shindo pre and power amps, Mr. T is an obvious choice. It's the last piece of the puzzle for that Shindo effect. Like Matt said, it competes the voicing. Kind of like trying different footers on Shindo gears. While they may change the sound, they are not necessary an improvement. Stick with the Shindo.

+1...

Dave

[audiot servant]

Originally Posted by adhesiv

Synergy says go with the Shindo Mr. T (isolation transformer) but I'm curious about the P5 (power regenerator) and new Hydra (voodoo conditioner) products. Each does something different to accomplish similar end result...any science behind which technology should be better? They're all pretty close in price.

Jayson,

I haven't tried a Mr T (if my memory serves omodo has one) but would be the clear choice for a Shindo pre/power combination for all the obvious reasons mostly because it is Ken Shindo's response to the power issue... and I doubt there are too many better amp designers out there.

That said, I have gone the Shunyata path and my Shindo pre is suffering no loss of emotional connection, dynamics, richness, rhythmic magic... quite the opposite, it is all sounding far better than I have heard it before - I think the new Zitron cables just let it flow clean, pure and electric. Shindo and Shunyata seem to share much of the same spirit and design intent... there is very good synergy here which is sometimes the challenge with Shindo.

Graham

[adhesiv]

Tommy/Dave, Thanks, this was my gut feeling but I'm ever the curious.

Graham, I was hoping you'd agree with Tommy/Dave so you wouldn't get my gears turning again.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with a Mr. T (omodo?) if they had any other power conditioners in place before and what the difference was like.

[kev313]

I have my digital plugged into a ps audio regenerator plugged into a Mr. T.

I like options.

Also, while I really appreciate the approach of Shindo and his efforts in voicing the amps and pres, that footer business is nonsense IME. I find that the amps are very responsive to the type of shelf or support on which they sit. Those footers aren't doing anything unless you buy a replica of the stand on which Ken Shindo designs his amps.

[adhesiv]

Interesting. On the power front I just picked up two Hammond toroidal isolation transformers which are direct wired to Hubble grade outlets...4 altogether, 2 per chassis. On one the ground is lifted since the Shindo gear is two prong and the other one is grounded which I use for my digital. Immediate drop in the noise floor with zero noise at full gain on the preamp. We'll see if that keeps up when I end up getting higher efficiency speakers but for the very small price I paid for these transformers I feel like I accomplished the goal I was looking for.

The thing I like best is that there are no caps, no resistors, just pure pass through on the primary/secondary windings. Only a small drop in voltage which doesn't hurt since we run a bit hot here anyway. My voltage output is now about 118v after the transformer.