Triton and Zi-Tron Cobra PC are here...

[Kingsrule]

Awesome addition
Do you have everything plugged into the Triton or just the sources?

Looking forward to your break-in reports

[Puma Cat]

Thanks, Ritmo...the plan for this had been in the works for a bit.

@g997:

Right now I have everything plugged into the Triton, including the amp. Appears that I don't need a cheater plug on the power cables to prevent hum, either!

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Wow! You did not mention this at RMAF Stephen - congratulations!

Keep us posted. This is on my list to do as well.

Mike

Mike,
I've come to the inescapable conclusion that if you're not using a Talos or Triton with your Shunyata Black Mamba power cables, you are not hearing what the full potential of your Shunyata power cables truly is. BTW, the Black Mambas have never sounded better! They make a great matchup with the Triton (and I expect the Talos as well). The Zi-Tron cables are considerably more flexible than the Mambas, interestingly.

[Puma Cat]

Well, I must be before the burn-in "burn-in hell" starts, because I wasn't able to get out to get a fan tonight to formally start the Zi-Tron/Triton burn in process, so I had to force myself to listen to this combo through my two complete C-J systems tonight.

I also pulled my Hydra 8 out of the rack and stacked it on top of the Triton so I could do a power cable swap very easily for the TT, preamp, amp and phono stage with the absolute minimal movement of the power cables to compare the two Hydras. All components save for the power cord for the TT power brick are Shunyata Black Mamba CX for phono stage and preamp or BM HC CX power cables for the power amps. The 20 amp Zitron Cobra connects either the Hydra 8 or the Triton to a Shunyata SR-Z1 wall AC receptacle.

Some pics: Note how much larger the Triton is than the Hydra 8:




Here's the two systems being used for evaluation: C-J CT-5/Premier 350/Era D4 small standmounts (the Pr350 "burn-in" system) and my long-term reference: 2) Premier 17LS/LP70S/Dynaudio Contour S3.4. (Yes, I know about the glass on the coffee table; that gets covered up with a soft Pilates mat during critical listening sessions).



The reference recording used was the new Quality Record Pressings 33 1/3 LP re-master of Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, which is absolutely dead quiet and has a superb remastering with extremely accurate instrumental tones and timbres, a nice mix of piano, guitar, bass, percussion, and of course, female voice. This is really a superb recording.

Here's my findings starting with the Hydra 8 hooked up to the C-J CT-5/Premier 350 powering my little Era D4 standmounts...

First, this system sounds exceptionally good, even with the $700/pair Era D4s. The Hydra 8 is really an excellent power distributor providing clean, quiet, low noise backgrounds, a very pleasant "listening ease" and naturalness; in other words, it sounds great.

Switching out the Hydra 8 for the Triton just confirms my observations from last night: notably less noise, grunge, hash, and more detail, transparency, naturalness, detail, bass and loudness with even more sweetness and musicality in the presentation. It's like getting a window really really clean and truly seeing all the beauty that is outside. You hear things with the Triton you simply do not hear with the Hydra 8, as good as it is (and it is really good).

Using the Hydra 8 again for System 2, the Pr17/LP70S; this system sounds very, very musical, very, very pleasant, but has a bit of grain, hash and veiling; a slight smearing of detail, and a thickness to vocal details that can be discerned. These shortcomings aside, it is an exceptionally nice system to listen to.

Switching out the Hydra 8 for the Triton and Zi-Tron Cobra makes for a pretty remarkable improvement: the grain, hash and veiling are notably removed; and there's a notable improvement in detail, texture, timbre and subtle nuances that you simply could not hear before. It's almost as if one just magically popped fully burned-in Teflon caps into the Premier 17, except that it's quieter than just doing that.

It's clear that the Triton makes for quite a significant improvement in the quality of sound, performance, and enjoyment of both of these component systems. The good news is there's more to come once these two are fully burned-in.

The situation regarding the Triton is clear-cut: as good as a Hydra 8, the Triton is a component-level improvement above that.

The only quandary I'm presently in is which combination of components I will end up with that will comprise my long-term permanent system. Having two complete C-J systems in my small space and place is kinda ridiculous, and is out of the question for the long term, so one set of components will go to some lucky soul(s) at some point in time.

The only thing that is certain is the Triton will be powering whatever I end up with.

[MyPal]

Stephen....Great pic, interesting read. Thanks for sharing. Triton is known as the trumpeter...

You know, the more of these current Hydras you add into a system, the better they get. I've noticed that performance gains are cumulative when running off the same circuit as they feed off each other with each AC oscillation. This would be akin to (Triton+Tyhon combination).

It would be interesting if this also applies with the Hydra 8 plugged back into the wall with something drawing power from it while you have the Triton going.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by MyPal

Stephen....Great pic, interesting read. Thanks for sharing. Triton is known as the trumpeter...

You know, the more of these current Hydras you add into a system, the better they get. I've noticed that performance gains are cumulative when running off the same circuit as they feed off each other with each AC oscillation. This would be akin to (Triton+Tyhon combination).

It would be interesting if this also applies with the Hydra 8 plugged back into the wall with something drawing power from it while you have the Triton going.

Steve,
The Hydra 8 will eventually end up being used with the home theater system once the Triton is burned in. While it is not on the same AC receptacle as the Triton it will be on the same circuit so it may function in the manner that you describe above.

[Ritmo]

Stephen,

Great to read your impressions of the Triton-Cobra addition. Keep us posted as they burn in.

Mike

[audiot servant]

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Stephen,

Great to read your impressions of the Triton-Cobra addition. Keep us posted as they burn in.

Mike

+1

Graham

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[jfrech]

Hi Puma, I heard the same thing when I switched out my Hydra v ray 2 for the Hydra Triton. Cold no break in, I preferred the Triton...then the Triton seemed to open up, relax etc over the next few weeks. Then I added the Anaconda Zitron...and more of the same over my King Cobra CX's. I did find the power cords take a LONG time to settle down...for a while I thought I preferred the KC CX's in the bottom end/warmth...but no...the Zitrons actually go deeper and are right there on warmth after breakin..

Congrats...I know how happy you must be...really surprising what Shunyata Power products can do for a system...

[Vhiner]

Stephen,


Sorry I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm glad I finally noticed your pics and review. Well done! I'm jealous of your 350! The rig looks awesome.


I suspect you're in the burn in desert by now. Take heart; you will return to the Oasis. ;-)

I'm actually not surprised the Triton enables your smaller speakers to shine. I've yet to encounter even the most modest quality piece of gear that didn't benefit from the Shunyata PC treatment.

The best compliments I've gotten since adding the Triton Anaconda Triton combo to my system was how much more balanced and musical my system has become. Music is the focus now.....of course i wouldn't turn down a couple of Python Zitrons to accompany my front end....here's hoping the hifi elves are good to all of us this this year. ;-)

Vance

P.S. Grant told me, when using the fan to break in the Triton and pc's in bursts and to even turn things off for several hours here and there. He aso suggested mixing in music playback throughout the process. This seemed to work better than around the clock burn in for me.