| A NAME WITH HISTORICAL
SIGNIFICANCE
The King Cobra name dates back ten years, to a time
when controversy reigned regarding aftermarket power cords and whether
they made a definable difference when applied to recording or Home
Entertainment systems. In 1998, a small company started by a former
military research scientist released its first flagship power cord
model, named King Cobra. That power cord and its family of less expensive
models forever changed the way after-market power cords are perceived.
At the time of its release, the King Cobra was an almost impossible
product to build, with multiple tubes, an enormous conductor set
and hours of hand labor required to finish each one. The King Cobra's
were not intended to become successful other than as a design exercise
intended to explore what could be achieved by ignoring labor and
material cost. Needless to say, the original King Cobra became arguably
the most commercially and professionally successful product of its
kind.
Fast forward to 2009. Shunyata power cords of all types are
used throughout the world’s finest recording studios and by
the most renowned sound and film professionals, electronics manufacturers
and media outlets.
A NEW KING
The King Cobra name once again designates
Shunyata Research’s top performing power cord model. Destined
to redefine expectations for the state-of-the-art in performance,
the King Cobra CX forms the perfect counterpart to its least expensive
sibling, the Venom power cord, which redefines the concept of value
in its class.
Similar to its predecessor, the King Cobra CX is an
almost impossible product to build and finish. First and foremost,
the King Cobra CX is likely the world’s LARGEST gauge power
cord, with an aggregate 5 gauge conductor mass! Terminations alone
for this model require intensive hand labor, time, experience, craftsmanship
and skill. One look at the King Cobra CX’s finely finished
exterior says everything about the attention to detail paid to its
manufacture. There are a side-splitting 780 conductors within the
King Cobra CX pulled from solid billets of Shunyata’s own CDA
101 copper. There are unique and proprietary insulating properties
with the King Cobra CX and its SR-ZP AC and IEC connectors are also
exclusive to Shunyata Research power cord products. Like its less
expensive CX models, the King is thoroughly treated in-house with
Shunyata Research’s Alpha Cryo process.
APPLICATIONS
Due to
its size and expense, Shunyata Research expects the King Cobra CX
to appeal mainly to recording studios with unlimited budgets and
highly customized systems and to consumers with cost-no-object music
and home entertainment systems. Similar to the Anaconda CX, the King
Cobra is not a tweak or simple accessory. It is a complex, hand crafted
extension of a power supplies primary connection to its power source.
The King Cobra CX should be carefully evaluated and treated the way
any other serious purchase is managed. The King Cobra CX may seem
an obvious reference choice for high current applications, but it
is in fact equally adept with high caliber digital or analog recording
or playback sources. Suggested applications for evaluation would
be first on any critical source component, and subsequently on a
power distribution center such as Shunyata’s Hydra's, or on
any reference model amplifier. Python and Anaconda CX models can
fill out the balance of any complete Shunyata power system.
Make
no mistake, the King Cobra CX completes a circle started with the
original King Cobra, and represents the current pinnacle in reference
power system design and performance. |
