19-May-2020, 00:37
When it comes to PS Audio vs Shunyata vs Audioquest there's one critical factor that I never see mentioned. That's where in the world you are, and I'm not talking about price, I'm talking about availability.
Here in Australia you can't get AQ power products, either their conditioners or their power cables. Power products have to go through certification for Australian standards and it costs and takes time. Audioquest don't seem to have done it which is why I think they can't be sold in Australia. The Australian distributor received certification for the Venom powerbar and for the Hydra conditioners and for some of the Shunyata power cords (apparently there's something about the Alpha EF and Sigma EF power cables that doesn't meet our standards but the NR cables do). They never got certification for the original Denali series. I wanted to get the Denali 6000S based on reviews. It was supposed to be in the process of certification and I waited, and waited, and waited. 18 months ago I gave up and bought my PS Audio P12. The Denali series of conditioners is still not available in Australia and now there's a new version coming out plus new versions of the Hydra series. I have no idea if we'll ever see them in Australia.
I like Shunyata cables, they work really well for me, and I'm slowly working towards replacing all my cabling with Shunyata cables. I think I'd also like a Denali or Hydra but I doubt it will ever be on the cards for me unless something radical happens with the way the distributor and Shunyata are going about Australian certification. I suspect the reason we can buy Shunyata power cables is that the cost and process for local certification of cables is a lot cheaper than the cost for certifying conditioners since it starts out with having to supply a set number of each product for certification and I think at least one of the tests in the process is to destruction plus there's the fee the testing agency charges. Audioquest and/or their distributor seem to have decided at the outset that they weren't going to bother with getting local certification for power products. PS Audio and their distributor get certification for the power plants but not for PS Audio power cables. Currently Shunyata seem to be getting certification for power cables but not for new conditioners. The whole situation is frustrating but that's what we've got here.
The PS Audio power plants do one thing the Shunyata and Audioquest conditioners don't do, they regulate voltage as well. That can be a useful advantage in some locations.
Here in Australia you can't get AQ power products, either their conditioners or their power cables. Power products have to go through certification for Australian standards and it costs and takes time. Audioquest don't seem to have done it which is why I think they can't be sold in Australia. The Australian distributor received certification for the Venom powerbar and for the Hydra conditioners and for some of the Shunyata power cords (apparently there's something about the Alpha EF and Sigma EF power cables that doesn't meet our standards but the NR cables do). They never got certification for the original Denali series. I wanted to get the Denali 6000S based on reviews. It was supposed to be in the process of certification and I waited, and waited, and waited. 18 months ago I gave up and bought my PS Audio P12. The Denali series of conditioners is still not available in Australia and now there's a new version coming out plus new versions of the Hydra series. I have no idea if we'll ever see them in Australia.
I like Shunyata cables, they work really well for me, and I'm slowly working towards replacing all my cabling with Shunyata cables. I think I'd also like a Denali or Hydra but I doubt it will ever be on the cards for me unless something radical happens with the way the distributor and Shunyata are going about Australian certification. I suspect the reason we can buy Shunyata power cables is that the cost and process for local certification of cables is a lot cheaper than the cost for certifying conditioners since it starts out with having to supply a set number of each product for certification and I think at least one of the tests in the process is to destruction plus there's the fee the testing agency charges. Audioquest and/or their distributor seem to have decided at the outset that they weren't going to bother with getting local certification for power products. PS Audio and their distributor get certification for the power plants but not for PS Audio power cables. Currently Shunyata seem to be getting certification for power cables but not for new conditioners. The whole situation is frustrating but that's what we've got here.
The PS Audio power plants do one thing the Shunyata and Audioquest conditioners don't do, they regulate voltage as well. That can be a useful advantage in some locations.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
