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Shunyata Zi-Tron Cobra (new not King Cobra) (Video Inside)

post #1 of 61
6/9/12 at 1:08am
Thread Starter 

 Just thought I'd create a little thread about 'Shunyata Research' as it seems that very threads exist about this

 very interesting 'Born in the USA' company - we all know there is a huge amount of controversy with power

 cords out there - namely a lot of folk who may not have any actual direct experience with some of the nicer

 offerings out there.

 

 

 

 Anyway, I've had a few entry level units from Chord Co and Nordost in the past, now I have the new

 Nordost Heimdall Revision 2 on my Violectric V200 head amp - but I've got this from Shunyata Research

 on order - should come in within the next few weeks, so I guess impressions will be long and far between

 and perhaps this thread was born a little early smile.gif

 

 Just hoping if anyone else including 'Grokit' has one in their audio arsenal?

 

 Anyway, here she is the Shunyata King Cobra

 

 King Cobra 3.jpg

 

 King Cobra 2.jpg

 

 King Cobra.jpg


Edited by Gwarmi - 6/24/12 at 11:24pm
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post #2 of 61
6/9/12 at 7:57am

Shunyata's earlier cords were not really what I'd call neutral. They were ok, but not that great for the money. The new CX designs are pretty good. Not the best, but good. Their earlier interconnect and speaker cable series cost an arm and a leg, for middling performance.

 

The standard Hydra power conditioners are basically insults to the customers, "let's charge these suckers $1,000 for a couple of $2 caps and some outlets". I haven't heard their latest flagship models with the noise suppression tube things, but I'm much more inclined to give my business to Audience, B-P-T, Running Springs, or Silver Circle than Shunyata when it comes to power conditioning.

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post #3 of 61
6/24/12 at 5:29am
Thread Starter 

 Well all locked in now - good or bad - it is infact not the King Cobra but the new Zitron Cobra I will be receiving

 delivery of in the coming weeks.. - crazy cash spent - but I remain optimistic about the results. Now to

 finalise my interconnects and this rig shall be finished *hopefully*

 

 shunyata_zitron_cobra_power_cable.jpg

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post #4 of 61
6/24/12 at 6:12am

Don't make me quote you on that, gwarmi ..... 

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/604282/end-game-headphone-rigs-unicorns-and-other-myths

 

It only ends when we stop coming here/other forums/magazines etc. 

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post #5 of 61
6/24/12 at 6:13am

wow.  I want to hear your impressions when it arrives.  Maybe even in person :)

 

Did you sort out the stealth gear?

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post #6 of 61
6/24/12 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwarmi View Post

 Well all locked in now - good or bad - it is infact not the King Cobra but the new Zitron Cobra I will be receiving

 delivery of in the coming weeks.. - crazy cash spent - but I remain optimistic about the results. Now to

 finalise my interconnects and this rig shall be finished *hopefully*

 

 shunyata_zitron_cobra_power_cable.jpg

 

what's your source? if it's a laptop, or a desktop PC your rig is way short of finished. very short...

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post #7 of 61
6/24/12 at 8:59am
Which component will you be using it with?
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post #8 of 61
6/24/12 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwarmi View Post

 Well all locked in now - good or bad - it is infact not the King Cobra but the new Zitron Cobra I will be receiving

 delivery of in the coming weeks.. - crazy cash spent - but I remain optimistic about the results. Now to

 finalise my interconnects and this rig shall be finished *hopefully*

 

 shunyata_zitron_cobra_power_cable.jpg

 

Are you still using the Audiophilleo and Rega DAC as your computer interface? I don't have any issues with expensive power cords as a concept, but honestly you would notice WAY more of an improvement by spending $2-3K there as opposed to $2-3K on a new power chord - say by replacing the AP and the Rega with an Eximus DP-1.

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post #9 of 61
6/24/12 at 1:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveBSC View Post

 

Are you still using the Audiophilleo and Rega DAC as your computer interface? I don't have any issues with expensive power cords as a concept, but honestly you would notice WAY more of an improvement by spending $2-3K there as opposed to $2-3K on a new power chord - say by replacing the AP and the Rega with an Eximus DP-1.

 

 No DAC is perfect but I really do like the Rega - it has a certain tonality to it that I really enjoy - I guess the inner tinkerer in me just thought that

 it would be cool to 'hot rod' one to see how far they can go in terms of attaining a pure sound. Only DAC that I preferred off the bat that was running

 it's own internal master clock would be the relatively new Esoteric D07x - yowza - that thing is $5000 and positively massive.

 

 @Lenni / Gavtorn

 

 Yes, I did forget to mention that - like Gavtorn there will be a basic open case, fanless, external power supplied desktop replacement in the works,

 should not cost a lot since I build my own PC's and have access to good prices - last night was a perfect display of how bottlenecks can appear

 out of nowhere. The Laptop has not been rebooted in about a week, coming out of a long hibernation period, I fired up a track and then attempted

 to check my email - the amount of clipping and drop outs was substantial to say the least!

 

 @Estreeter

 

 Self denial is a beautiful thing - I should rephrase that and say 'Leave it alone for a bit' smile.gif

 

 Lastly, here's a review on the Rega DAC that at least attempts to support why I love mine so much, it is all subjective at the end of

 the day :-

 

 http://www.enjoythemusic.com/hificritic/vol5_no2/rega_dac.htm

 

 <quote>

 

 So he says several - let's assume 3 times, 1500 British quid is $2310 but like all of Rega's products they sell for much less.

 

 Conclusions

There is very little to dislike here. At £500, the Rega DAC is a class above the competition, and it can stand comparison with DACs

 costing several times its price.  I gave it a score of 55 on high resolution material which makes it the best so far in this sector.

 It is strongly made with good components and should give years of  trouble free music so it has to get a strong recommendation.


Edited by Gwarmi - 6/24/12 at 1:46pm
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post #10 of 61
6/24/12 at 3:54pm

you need 3 of those power cords mate - 1 for the pc 1 for the amp and 1 for the dac..
 

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post #11 of 61
6/24/12 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gavtorn View Post

you need 3 of those power cords mate - 1 for the pc 1 for the amp and 1 for the dac..
 

 

 Haha yeees - perhaps if this came into being  :-)

 

 378913-lotto.jpg

 

 Just a bit more on that tangent above - it seems I'm not the only one plugging away trying to improve the performance of a middling $1000-ish value DAC.

 

 If you look over at the Computer Audio forums, many of us are using 'J PLAY' as our playback program of choice, sure it's a little clunky and what not

 but it sounds fantastic - many of you may not be aware that the head cheese over at J PLAY - actually uses and recommends one of these.

 

 The Musica Ibuki Wooden Case DAC - 700 Euros or there abouts. $900 - cheaper than the full retail on my Rega DAC.

 

 Musica Ibuki.jpg

 

 Now get this! - It uses an old Burr Brown chip that is limited to 16bit/44Khz - that's right, not even 16/48.

 

 Bet a few of you are sitting there, scratiching your heads wondering why a guy who has written one of the best Windows audiophile playback

 systems on the planet elects to run a wooden cased 16/44 DAC that offers absolutely no functionality in regards to the delights of hi-res

 material via HDtracks etc blink.gif

 

 One word - tonality.

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post #12 of 61
6/24/12 at 6:08pm

The power cord I use on my desktop PC server makes a big difference to the SQ.
 

I have a feeling you will get far more improvement from a dedicated server than a power cord however, I guess we will see tho!


Edited by gavtorn - 6/24/12 at 6:09pm
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post #13 of 61
6/24/12 at 7:43pm

I use all Pangea Audio power cords. AC-9 (actually a 7 gauge cable! The 3-meter one I have is insane lol) for anything amp-wise and AC-14 for anything source-wise. They don't break the bank like Shunyata does. I wish I could run a comparison, I doubt there's much of a difference between it and the AC-9.
 


Edited by brunk - 6/24/12 at 7:45pm
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post #14 of 61
6/24/12 at 8:41pm

I've been eye ballin' Shunyata power cables for awhile now.  I'd like to try one and have decided on a used Black Mamba CX HC.  I'll be using it to from the wall to feed my Running Springs power conditioner.  Right now I'm using an Audience powerchord and it sounds good.  The timing is good because prices on the CX model have dropped since their new models recently came out.

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post #15 of 61
6/24/12 at 8:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gavtorn View Post

wow.  I want to hear your impressions when it arrives.  Maybe even in person :)

 

Did you sort out the stealth gear?

 

 

 Someone is already ahead of you there Gav'! ;-)

 

 Look at the back of this guy's rig - 3 x Zitron Cobras.

 

 Zitron.jpg

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Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) › Shunyata Zi-Tron Cobra (new not King Cobra) (Video Inside)