Snake River Audio Power Cables - Best Unboxing

First off, I should offer a hint of what level gear I am playing with, when it comes to offering my observations. Most all of my extensive system utilizes Snake River Audio cables, with a sprinkling here and there of RAL and Audio Sensibility umbilical cords, along with Audiolund xTreme and Shunyata Venom, Omega and Delta filling in some of the network connections. The switch used is UpTone Audio's EtherRegen that is powered by an LPS via a custom Snake River Audio DC cable.

Main system components used for evaluation -
CD/SACD - Esoteric P-02 with ANK 4.1 DAC

NAP - Lumin UX1 with ANK 5.1 Signature Pro DAC

Both of the above clocked by Mutec REF 10 SE 120 Master clock
PRE - Canary Audio C800 MK-II

AMP - Musical Fidelity KW750

SPEAKERS - Tyler Acoustics Woodmere's

SUBS - Rythmik F-25's

On to my observations. This is with the understanding that not one thing had changed, other than the addition of a single Takshaka RCA IC installed in between the Pre and the Amp. No other additions or adjustments were made, other than volume or switching from the CDP setup or the streaming setup.

Within the first 20 minutes of installing the prototype RCA cable, I wrote down some notes. Please be forewarned, I am not a professional reviewer, nor would I ever want to be one - or even play one on TV, so I'll just offer you the notes (as written down or sent to folks in our hobby).

Different presentation for sure. Better differentiation of images. The focus within the images along with the location of said images are way more precise....palpable. (that's hard to do). The space between the phantom images is greatly increased, providing a more palpable soundscape.

Mid-bass (upper end of lower registers) definitely more present. Sound stage further and more enveloping. The subtleties are definitely more pronounced….more equal to the rest of the music.

 

Everything is more in focus/palpable.....and the subtleties I mentioned? Wow! They are as clear as day now....without being obnoxious, overwhelming or overpronounced.

^^^ The above was observed just within the first 20 minutes of putting the Snake River Audio Takshaka RCA into my system.

 

As time marched on, I wrote down some more observations (for my own records). Again, this is all with just the addition of that one RCA IC installed in between the pre and amp.

 

So, I just walked into the room with the system on a volume level of 1. I could hear (without a doubt) that the lower registers were way more prominent. Lower level listening folks should enjoy that a lot. Even "Lost cause" (highly compressed) by Jelly Roll sounds good.....and there are many sounds that weren't there before.

 

Listening to Felix Laband's "Red Handed" - The height information…..wow! …..and the channel separation! Holy Crap dude….There has to be 16' of height from below the floor to the height of what I hear....

 

Listening to Janelle Monáe's "Make Me Feel" - An experience..... I don't even know who this lady is....The texture of voices and the finite sounds are not cool, but exceptional. There is so much more to the reproductive effort that displays real music and musical instruments, voices and not just a reproduction. Musical....., in a word.

 

Listening to Yellow's "X-Race" - I feel as if I am not just listening to reproduced music, it is now about being completely sucked into the music. Speakers? What speakers? They are now just big boxes, sitting there doing nothing, as the sounds are coming from everywhere. Anywhere. From out of nowhere.

 

Listening to Bonnie Raite's Luck of the Draw album on CD - You can clearly tell that there is more texture and information coming through that renders the background singers (individually) placed and eerily placed on the sound stage, as if they were the lead singer(s). You know exactly where they are and now you can pick out different background singers and "see" them. That has never been the case before. You used to hear them quite fine but they were never individualized and presented in a way that they were individually pinpoint.

 

That tone....well, that and the tonal balance is beautifully well balanced.

 

She has opened up a bit from last night and to my disbelief, the speakers have disappeared even more than they had. I didn't even know that this could have been improved upon. The variations of notes on singers and vocal fluctuations are strikingly real and come across with an ease/fluidity that you don't need to strain to hear.

 

If something doesn't sound quite right, it always ends up being the recording. But even so-so recordings with high compression sound enjoyable. Think Chris Stapleton...

 

The micro and macro details are definitely vastly improved. It's like the system isn't even straining to offer them to you as well. Just an effortless reproductive effort and the tonal balance is to die for.

Now, with all of that said - it wasn't until I took that prototype Takshaka RCA out of my system that I truly knew what it did. I was overwhelmed with new sounds and unexpected educational auditory revelations - it was when the trial period was over for the Takshaka, that I truly realized what it brought to the table. The more you hear the Takshaka, the more you want to hear the Takshaka.

With that said, and as time has marched on since first listening to the prototype Takshaka's, I now have the Takshaka PC's and IC's in the most critical paths within my rig now, with other Snake River PC's completing the rest of the rig. Simply put, the Takshaka's have completely transformed my rig and…..well, I'll just put it to you this way. Last night, I texted my local Audio buddies and this was the text I sent to the both of them.
 

"So, I now have all Snake River Audio Takshaka power cords in the main components (pre, streamer, amplifier and DAC), with all other power cords being his Signature throughout the rest of the system (on everything else, including the subs, clock, LPS's.....literally everything else).

 

What I am experiencing is truly astonishing. New sounds are pretty common now and the quietness is awesome (even when the song is playing). It's hard to describe but I am flat out flabbergasted at what the Takshaka's did to the rig. I can't wait for you guys to eventually hear it. It sounds nothing like it used too. The clarity is so enjoyable and I don't recall ever hearing any system do what my system is presenting now. You will understand what I mean when you hear it.

 

Don't laugh, but I am actually listening to Madonna right now and for the first time in my life, I am listening as if it were audiophile music......because it sure does sound like it. The system is just so damned musical right now, I am jealous of myself for what I have been able to cobble together. I can't imagine that there would be any more major upgrades, other than for the vinyl setup. Why? Because I am no longer yearning for an improvement with anything. It simply sounds wonderful and these ears could not be any happier than they are right now."

I hope that this helps. BTW, I am in no way affiliated with Jonny or Snake River Audio. I am just a completely satisfied Snake River Audio customer who is currently experiencing a little slice of audio heaven here on Earth.

Tom

@treitz3 Thank you for your observations, that was an excellent review, I know they are not easy to write and very time consuming to do it correctly as you did.

Out of curiosity what was the interconnect that you took out and replaced with the Takshaka RCA IC installed in between the Pre and the Amp?

Thanks for sharing...

@treitz3 thank you for a great review.. You did not mention about high frequencies. How are they compared with signature. In my system this is the only area that signatures can do better - some more extension and air.

Good afternoon to you. Thanks for your kind words.

@lak - The IC in that spot that was replaced was a Transparent Reference IC. It has been in that coveted spot within the rig for about a decade. In fact, all of my References are out of the system now, with one exception. That being the phono IC. It too, will be replaced as funds allow.

@denon1 - Since I did not do a direct comparison with the Signature IC and the new Snake River Audio Takshaka, I cannot comment.

I can say, with complete certainty that both the Takshaka IC's and PC's have "opened" up my system in ways that I didn't think was honestly possible. I thought it was damned good before but now, the depth, weight, height have all been vastly improved. Not just another flavor, a drastic improvement across the board.

I would say that the width has improved but honestly, the width simply disappeared. There seem to be no boundaries anymore when it comes to width, unless it is simply a bad or not so well mastered recording. The sound now just envelops the room, moving well beyond your ears and just filling the room with sound. This makes the speakers just disappear....even with your eyes wide open, you can clearly "see" and hear this.

There isn't much about the Takshaka's that are near any other IC or PC that I have ever had. With pretty much every aspect there is that one pays attention too while critically listening. The change was profound in my system and there is absolutely no strain needed to clearly and undeniably hear the differences. The sound is fluidly effortless and the tone of instruments (as well as singers) is flat out incredible and oh, so natural sounding.

As for your comment about extension? That could mean many things to many people. Are you referring to extension, as in a higher frequency offered or extension, as in sound stage extension? If you clarify for me, I can offer you a better answer, unless I already have.

Tom