Stage III

[Number95]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

DANG! That's one massive cable.

Indeed, one should have strong hands to hold a Leviathan, it is very heavy.

[chessman]

What gauge wire is inside the Kraken? What was your testing method for your comparison? Was it really a short while on a CD player?

[Number95]

Originally Posted by chessman

What gauge wire is inside the Kraken? What was your testing method for your comparison? Was it really a short while on a CD player?

My testing method was pretty easy, I tried Kraken at my system and compared it to Anaconda. The difference was night and day. Anaconda has been my favorite compared to some others that I tried a while ago. So it was an easy decision.

[chessman]

A 15 amp rated wire is 14 gauge minimum for a house in the U.S. But let's assume the Kraken went way above and beyond and has a 10 gauge wire in it (which is beyond the 20 amp minimum), the bulk of that cable is still insulation or wrapping. So why does it slay the Shunyata? Network box? Internal wire geometry? End termination?

I am not trying to be adversarial. You like what you like. And I am in the "cables matter" camp. But swapping a cable on a CD player and getting a "it slayed the other premium cable" result is hard to get my head around, unless the thing is so heavy it is damping vibrations in the CD player.

[Rod#S]

Seeing as audible differences are incredibly subjective he may simply not be able to describe to you in a way that articulates what he hears for you to form a conclusion.

[Rod#S]

This might help, it gives some design features of the cables so you can compare to Shunyata's design

STAGE III CONCEPTS - A.S.P. KRAKEN - HIGH CURRENT PRECISION AUDIO POWER CABLE

The Leviathan product page still isn't up yet.

The differences he hears could come down to Stage III uses silver whereas Shunyata uses copper as I noticed that's something they don't have in common.

[Rod#S]

I found this video which gives a bit of insight into some of the power cords. The Leviathan isn't there but they talk about noise reduction etc.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20EaTQNCVcg[/ame]

[chessman]

Based on the video, the maker is touting: 1) gauge, 2) geometry of internal strands, 3) dialectric quality of insulating materials, 4) silver coated terminals, and 5) proprietary terminal end design.

[Number95]

Originally Posted by chessman

A 15 amp rated wire is 14 gauge minimum for a house in the U.S. But let's assume the Kraken went way above and beyond and has a 10 gauge wire in it (which is beyond the 20 amp minimum), the bulk of that cable is still insulation or wrapping. So why does it slay the Shunyata? Network box? Internal wire geometry? End termination?

I am not trying to be adversarial. You like what you like. And I am in the "cables matter" camp. But swapping a cable on a CD player and getting a "it slayed the other premium cable" result is hard to get my head around, unless the thing is so heavy it is damping vibrations in the CD player.

This thread is not about whether cables matter or not. There are various discussions even polls about that concept.

One has to speak only of his experiences in this hobby. Hearing is believing.

[jfrech]

Originally Posted by Number95

Ok I have started to try Kraken. I don't think it needs to be listened too much to get a view, actually it's the opposite, it is enough to make a fair assessment after a while. Btw the Kraken I have tried is 15a so it didn't fit to main source of Shunyata Triton's 20a so I tried the Kraken with my cd player -the only gear me having 15a plug- rather than the original plan of using it as main power cable for Triton.

Unfortunately the difference between my Ztron Anaconda and Kraken is like night and day. It is hard -at least for me- to believe but that is the case. I am not pleased as heavily invested to Shunyata Anacondas (have 8 Anacondas including umbilical cord of Typhoon and power amps even a/c motor of turntable is fed by Anaconda) but that is the reality. I still think Ztron Anaconda is a very good p/c compared to many others but it is no match to Kraken. If Anaconda is from Earth, Kraken is from Mars. If Anaconda is Porsche Boxster, Kraken is Bugatti Veyron. Kraken has made everything that Anaconda does significantly better. It first sounds darker but then you realize it is not dark, the other cable is bright or having artificial highs added as noise. The dynamics, bass grip and texture are tremendous, the inner details and harmonics are there, there is a significant layering of instruments in terms of depth, the background is pitch black. Overall, the music sounds much more effortless and crystal clear while there is more dynamics and detail which also leads to a more realistic presentation. I wonder what if I had a chance to try Kraken with preamp, phono stage and power amps all together! Conclusion: Stage III Kraken is by far the best power cord that I have ever tried. Compared to another expensive and very good performer, Kraken completely destroyed it. Yes Kraken is ridiculously expensive which is the biggest downside rather than its bulk.

I'd be curious for you to try a Sigma HC, Analog or digital vs the Kraken or your Anaconda's. The Sigma's are a sigificant improvement for me in the areas of dynamics, bass textures and articulation, resolution. They are not so pricey either as re sell is pretty good and the Sigma Analogs/digitals are lower in retail than our Anaconda Zitrons.

I've been very happy so far. I will try a Transparent Opus Power cord this weekend so I'll get at least one comparison point.

Over the years it's been very hard to beat Shunyata for power...in my system.


Speakers: Rockport Altair 2
Preamp: Robert Koda K10 Amp: Ayre MX-R
Cables: Transparent Opus MM2 Spkr, Opus Gen 5 & Magnum Opus Interconnect
Power Shunyata Triton v2/Typhon/DPC-6 v2, Anaconda Zitron cords (x6), Sigma HC (x1), Sigma Analog (x3)
Digital dCS Vivaldi DAC, Transport & Clock w/ Transparent Reference XL Digital cables
Phono: Grand Prix Monaco TT, Spiral Groove Centroid, Jan Allaerts MC2 Finish & Lyra Atlas, Nagra VPS/VFS/MPS
Racks: Grand Prix Audio Silverstone F1 (x2)