Musical, musical, musical. Refined treble and upper midrange. Deep soundstage. Black background. The "firehose" appearance is misleading - it's actually very light and flexible.

none that I've discovered

This is a review of the new Helix version of the Taipan Alpha power cord. I originally bought a Shunyata Hydra 4 AC line conditioner and was leery of spending $$$ on the Taipan Helix Alpha, because I thought it would just duplicate the blacker background and deeper soundstage provided by the the Hydra. Well, the Taipan improved on both of those items and then went way beyond the Hydra in sonic benefits. My system was afflicted with harshness in the upper midrange, which was especially annoying with female vocalists. I thought the harshness was coming from one of my components, but the Taipan proved that the AC power was the problem. The Taipan now allows my solid-state system a more liquid sound with a wonderful midrange, luscious female vocalists, less sibilance, cymbals without harshness, piano without glare, orchestral crescendos without roughness, a deep (sometimes awesomely deep) soundstage, and an overall coherent musicality that just sounds right. This is my first experience with an upgrade power cord, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. My thanks to the advisors at Music Direct for pointing me to the Taipan. Be aware that the Taipan takes around 950 hours to break in. I almost returned the product after 350 hours because it hadn't done anything for the midrange! So be prepared for a glacial break-in period before judging it. I ran an electric fan on the Hydra/Taipan combo during all non-listening hours to expedite the break-in. Of course, everybody's AC power is different, so you may not hear the same benefits. As always, try before you buy if possible.