Hey guys. Just wanted to share my initial impressions of Cthulhu's new Azathoth rda, which I received yesterday. If you have any questions, please ask away!
Packaging: Cthulhu took the unique packaging idea of their Gaia RDTA, and upped their game even further. To some, packaging might not be important, but to some of us, we appreciate the small touches some of these companies incorporate to stand out (and in a market where everything is unoriginal these days, with clones of cloned ideas, it's appreciated.) I don't want to focus too much on the box, but I had to mention that this packaging is nicer than the box some $3,000 rings come in lol.
Aesthetics: This is simple. I like simple. I don't like flashy logo engraving on my stuff. I get it, manufacturers want people to know their device is being used in a user's Instagram advertisement, but I prefer the simple, clean look. This is very elegant looking.
Build deck: is DEEP and unique, in a market flooded with velocity-style decks everywhere. Not that I have a problem with the velocity deck, it's just been done to death. I threw some standard 3mm 26g 316L coils in, just to see how it runs in a "standard" configuration. I'll throw my typical fused clapton build in later if anyone is interested in the performance. But I'm more than pleased with standard round wire, and so are my batteries!
I have to mention this. The airflow ports in the deck are pushed back, closer to the barrel, versus other RDAs. Some may dislike that because it's harder to get your coils centered over the airflow. But from what I can tell, they did that so that dripping juice straight thru the 810 drip tip is a LOT less messy. Not a single drop has come out of this when I re-drip. So to me, that design decision is brilliant.
Airflow: is smooth and plentiful. No matter how I adjust it, there's no whistle or any funky noises. Adjusting the bottom airflow is easy, and the top Gaia-style airflow is also easy to use. No issues!
Flavor/Vapor: I'm happy to say, you don't need any ridiculous battery-hungry coils in this to get a nice, moist, flavorful vape. I run the bottom airflow 3/4ths of the way open, and that is plenty of airflow for me, and almost too much flavor.
Build quality: Great, typical of Cthulhu in my experience. No burs, no scratches, smooth threads, and it came clean (although I did, of course, wash it.)
Accessories:
- Ultem 810 drip tip.
- Delrin 510 drip tip adapter.
- 2 extra slotted grub screws.
- SQUONK PIN!
- VERY thick Allen key for the grub screws.
- Extra o-rings.
Things to mention:
- Temperature Control with 316L is great. Resistance reading is rock-solid.
- I pressed really, really hard on the posts to see how tough they are, and make sure they wouldn't snap off. They're tough! Lol
- Zero issues with getting thin wire to stay trapped in the post holes, but you may want to steady your leads a bit while you tighten them down.
- O-rings are on the snug side, so lube them up a tad and you're good!
- There's an option to run this in single coil IF you're running this bottom-airflow only. There is no plug, so if you open up the top airflow slits, there's no way to block off the unused air slit. So stick to bottom-airflow if single coil is your thing.
- I'm not a professional reviewer. Just a lucky guy who won the opportunity to test it out.
TL;DR: The Azathoth RDA is a Gaia RDTA on steroids!
Pictures:
Packaging: Cthulhu took the unique packaging idea of their Gaia RDTA, and upped their game even further. To some, packaging might not be important, but to some of us, we appreciate the small touches some of these companies incorporate to stand out (and in a market where everything is unoriginal these days, with clones of cloned ideas, it's appreciated.) I don't want to focus too much on the box, but I had to mention that this packaging is nicer than the box some $3,000 rings come in lol.
Aesthetics: This is simple. I like simple. I don't like flashy logo engraving on my stuff. I get it, manufacturers want people to know their device is being used in a user's Instagram advertisement, but I prefer the simple, clean look. This is very elegant looking.
Build deck: is DEEP and unique, in a market flooded with velocity-style decks everywhere. Not that I have a problem with the velocity deck, it's just been done to death. I threw some standard 3mm 26g 316L coils in, just to see how it runs in a "standard" configuration. I'll throw my typical fused clapton build in later if anyone is interested in the performance. But I'm more than pleased with standard round wire, and so are my batteries!
I have to mention this. The airflow ports in the deck are pushed back, closer to the barrel, versus other RDAs. Some may dislike that because it's harder to get your coils centered over the airflow. But from what I can tell, they did that so that dripping juice straight thru the 810 drip tip is a LOT less messy. Not a single drop has come out of this when I re-drip. So to me, that design decision is brilliant.
Airflow: is smooth and plentiful. No matter how I adjust it, there's no whistle or any funky noises. Adjusting the bottom airflow is easy, and the top Gaia-style airflow is also easy to use. No issues!
Flavor/Vapor: I'm happy to say, you don't need any ridiculous battery-hungry coils in this to get a nice, moist, flavorful vape. I run the bottom airflow 3/4ths of the way open, and that is plenty of airflow for me, and almost too much flavor.
Build quality: Great, typical of Cthulhu in my experience. No burs, no scratches, smooth threads, and it came clean (although I did, of course, wash it.)
Accessories:
- Ultem 810 drip tip.
- Delrin 510 drip tip adapter.
- 2 extra slotted grub screws.
- SQUONK PIN!
- VERY thick Allen key for the grub screws.
- Extra o-rings.
Things to mention:
- Temperature Control with 316L is great. Resistance reading is rock-solid.
- I pressed really, really hard on the posts to see how tough they are, and make sure they wouldn't snap off. They're tough! Lol
- Zero issues with getting thin wire to stay trapped in the post holes, but you may want to steady your leads a bit while you tighten them down.
- O-rings are on the snug side, so lube them up a tad and you're good!
- There's an option to run this in single coil IF you're running this bottom-airflow only. There is no plug, so if you open up the top airflow slits, there's no way to block off the unused air slit. So stick to bottom-airflow if single coil is your thing.
- I'm not a professional reviewer. Just a lucky guy who won the opportunity to test it out.
TL;DR: The Azathoth RDA is a Gaia RDTA on steroids!
Pictures:
