Very dynamic, clear and incisive cord. Up-front presentation but with good depth and delineation of the rear of the soundstage. Very tight and defined in the bass, with good pitch and tonality, but not achieved by 'leaning-out' the bass balance - bass lines are taut, 'bouncy', and easy to follow, without compression or mudiness. Impressive 'blackness' of the atomsphere surrounding sonic images, with high resolution of details, image solidity, and dimensionality, plus reasonably good 'palpability' (though this is compromised to some degree by a less than perfectly natural recreation of timbre - see below). Does not recess the midrange, or sound 'phasey' or rolled-off in the treble. Revealing of micro-dynamic 'action' that makes players seem to 'come alive' - does not blunt natural explosiveness or add obscuring overhang that makes performances sound veiled or slow. Nicely saturated tonal colors, though not completely neutrally balanced (again see below), but mostly coherent top to bottom, without narrow-band colorations like nasality, boom, or sizzle. Overall, lends definition and a 'springiness' to amps or systems that could use those qualities, but are not themselves inherently balanced too much on the lively, 'present' side for the combination to work. On the right gear, can make many other cords sound 'boring' and like they're muffling information, especially dynamically, but in the wrong context, or used too liberally, can be a source of irritatingly unbalanced sound, so experimentation is advised. Give this a try for tubed amps driving speakers that are politely balanced and needing some bass control.

Not the most refined-sounding cord out there - it's a little raw-boned in its exuberance. The treble isn't especially grainy, but is not as 'feathery' or delicately extended as some others, sounding a touch cooler and harder, with more mid-treble metallic 'sheen'. 'Air' is not significantly curtailed, but is not as wide-open in this region as the octaves below. Biased toward the leading edges of transients, and not as full in the presentation of trailing decays that give a sense of instrumental 'body', so the effect can be a little 'skeletal' in the wrong mix. Good for tightening up flabby bass, but if you don't need it, will not give the feeling of 'plushness' prefered by some. Similarly, the bold presentation may not be for those who value the type of sound that 'invites' you to 'relax' into the music, rather than having it 'grab' you. Texturally and harmonically, this cord is not as neutral as can be had, instead favoring the midrange, upper midrange, and low treble, and imposing somewhat of an 'electronic' timbre that can help rock 'cut through', but is less convincing on well-recorded and -mastered acoustic material. For instance, piano can acquire a bit of a 'clangy' edge to it, slightly reminiscent of upright tack-piano as opposed to a truer grand-piano sound. In the same vein, voices can sound more like what you may imagine are the microphones and less like unamplified natural voices than with some other cords. Won't bring out latent 'warmth' in solid-state electronics - although it doesn't itself sound overtly 'cool' or 'whitish', just a little on the 'hard' side, which in the wrong mix can contribute to some 'glare' developing at higher volumes - and is a bit constrained in the lower mids. Not for those prefering diffuse over focused imaging, or who seek to tame 'edgy' components, though these aren't faults of the cord. Be careful using more than one Sidewinder in an all-solid-state system, but I do like this cord overall for what it does best.

Worked best with amps/preamps in my system, but particularly tubed power amps. Also good for feeding main power conditioner/distributor from the wall and for turntable motor drives. Not as successful for digital sources, but Shunyata makes other cords for that. Although this cord has a definite sonic character and is not without flaws, I did like it better than the newer, closest replacement for this now-discontinued model in the Shunyata lineup, the less expensive ($175 new list) but lighter-guage Diamondback, making the Sidewinder a good used buy for those desiring its strong suits.

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Shunyata Diamondback Harmonic Technology Pro AC-11 Custom Power Cord Company Top Gun Synergistic Reaseach Master A/C Coupler van den Hul Mainsstream Hybrid

Solidity? Emphasizes bass and treble?

In my case - hardness.

I am puzzled. Years ago, when I bought this cable, it seemed to do its business. Solid bass etc. There's been an annoying hardness in the treble of my system for a long time now. Guess what? I've been using Sidewinder with my Copland 288 CD-player. I replaced it with a cheap and simple powercord. Part of the problem disapperared. I don't know what has happened, but I'm not putting it back. I'm using Ensemble powerflux on my Audio Analogue Puccini, which seems ok. By the way, Puccini amp and Copland cd are supposed to be sweet-sounding products!

Similar Products Used:

Ensemble powerflux

Very powerful punch and good control on fast bass

Not extremely analytical at the high

Compared with other famous "powerful" power cord like Harmonic Tech Pro AC11, NBS sigature III, NBS Monitor III, Sidewinder is the most powerful, clear, fast and good control on flashing bass. It sounds very real with no artifical favoring nor thickening at the low like NBS. The result is extremely accurate music production for extreme dynamics with an uncolored sound. Punch is excellently produced and especially suitable for rock, pop, jazz and heavy drum. It helps the power amp with speed and well focused power.

However, it is not best suited for devices other than int. or power amp. To plug it for CD or DAC will result a too thick and fat sound without an adeqate tonal balance. For the same reason, I guess it will not be good for tube amp or thick sound amp like McIntosh or Krell

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MIT Z-cord

allows your equipment the ability to have a clean power feed without the squashed dynamics so often accompanying "black boxes"

price (on the black mamba)

I agree with the previous posting although I haven't used the new Sidewinder which replaced the $395 list Mamba....I have three (3) Black Mambas in my system...one on the Wadia 830 and two on the BAT VK500 solid state power amp which is dual mono....the most dramatic change was on the digital front end, stripping away electrical junk that allows the Wadia to realize more of its potential....a significant but subtler change on the amp, which made it even more musical sounding than before....this gear supports Martin Logan SL-3 speakers. 5+ rating on digital gear and 3+ on amps.

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MIT Z Chord II

Reveals layers of detail previously hidden

makes you wonder what "Black Mamba" would sound like in your system......you may get bit

Anyone with @$4-5000 system should start to use after market
IEC power cords, they really make a difference in better systems. Start with CD player first, allow cable to break
in for several days of continuous playing, and you will
be surprised at the detail unlocked. Sound is more dimensional, less digital sounding, fine detailing is
now revealed, everything is in better focus. Proceed with pre-amp next then amp. Sidewinder at $280 is great for $5000 system if you have betterm system of course go for Black Mamba or higher. There are many brands availbale now,
you may want to call Cable Co. first and arrange home trail
of several cords. BTW I went with Sidewinder after trail
with Cable Co. My System:

Musical Fidelity X-Ray CDP
0.5m Silver Audio Hyacinth
MF X-P100 pre-amp
0.5m SA Hyacinth
MF X-AS100 amp x 2 (bi-amped)
8ft AP Oval 9 double runs (bi-wired)
PSB Silver-i speakers