I'm a bit late to this party.
I bought an Alpha Digital power cord today. The rest of my system is ZiTron Cobras. I was told by a seller than getting the HC power cord for a line conditioner is the way to go, although the components connected to the line conditioner where I would put the HC cord, are a preamp and a CD player. I'd thought another Alpha (non-digital, non HC) would be the next logical choice. Does anyone see the logic in getting an "HC" designated cord, instead of a regular Alpha analogue power cord (non HC) for the conditioner? The first cord will be on the CD player and then on the line conditioner and then the preamp.
I'm told Shunyata is coming out with two new levels of these cords in the future (whenever "future" is). I can assume that, logically, they will be more expensive than the Cobras, but that will likely not be the way for me to go. I once had a 'ne plus ultra' system, back in the 80s and 90s, and the burnout was extensive. This was when a top system could be had for $50k, which was what I had (TWO systems, in fact, and only one music room. One system was the 50k and the second was around $25k. You can now see why I adhere to 'this will do nicely,' based on psat experience. Nothing was ever good enough then. I had to have 3 amps: VTL, Goldmund Mimesis 9 and Aleph. Versa Dynamics 2.0 turntable, WATT/Puppies and Goldmund Super Dialogues, along with Avalons…all for the pursuit of the "IT" sound). I wasn't enjoying the music fully during that trip: I was an addict, pure and simple. Would not travel that path again, even were I a billionaire. The Buddhist belief in 'be happy with what you have' does not exist in Audiophile Land, but I lean towards past experience showing me that one needs to be happy with 'enough.' So, I'll stick with the Alphas and those with big, big…systems, can post their experiences.
Still, does anyone with an HC cord hear a major difference between it and the 'regular' Alpha cords?