The Indra revision 18 (V18) offers improvements over the previous Indra revisions in a number of the original key Indra features, immediately related to the sound quality, in particular 4,5, 6, 8 and 9 ( specified and explained below), and also improvements in appearance.

In 2007, we started experimenting with Ultra-modified PTFE (Teflon material), which lead to development of our newest proprietary connectors – both RCA and XLR – that use this type of Teflon instead of the conventional PTFE. The Ultra-modified PTFE features superior dielectric properties (reduced permeability and a lower dielectric constant – which offer even lower energy storage and further reduced “crossover-type” distortion in cables and connectors), better mechanical characteristics (significantly lower deformation under load, higher elongation and tensile strength – these qualities improve the “grip” of the STEALTH connectors on the chassis mounted counterparts), plus a pore-free and extremely smooth surface – preventing contaminates from being trapped in high purity applications. Appearance-wise, the Ultra-modified PTFE is similar to the PTFE, the only visual difference is a shade of blue in the Ultra-modified version.

Please note the multiple grooves on one of the Titanium rings on the RCA connector, and machined Carbon Fiber shells with multigroove Titanium rings of these new XLR connectors – versus solid Titanium shells on the revision “P” 2005/2006/2007 XLR connectors. The center pin of the RCA connector has also changed: it now has a rounded tip and microgrooves for a better contact. If a contacts enhancer is used, these grooves would “hold” it better than a smooth pin.

The standard connectors for the pre-release (beta testing) Indra cables were: Cardas Ultimate (RCA) and Neutrik XLRs;

The early production (REVISION “EP”)****, made until mid-2005) balanced Indra also had Neutrik XLRs; However, none of the production RCA-terminated Indra cables were ever made with Cardas RCA connectors. The early production (REVISION “EP”) RCA-terminated Indra cables are shown at the picture below and features STEALTH designed and made proprietary RCA connectors.

The full production (REVISION “P”) made from mid 2005 until the end of 2007, featured STEALTH designed proprietary RCA or XLR connectors (machined Teflon dielectric, solids silver contacts, machined Titanium/carbon fiber shells)

The Indra has several key design points (features):

1. Unique Amorphous conductive media (wire) – which is perfectly homogeneous, identical in all directions, since it has
no crystal structure;
2. Ultra thin – 50 AWG – wire – important in minimizing skin effect and time-domain errors – combined with very strong
core, to eliminate breakage, thus assuring 100% reliability, otherwise impossible with ultra thin wire.
3. individually insulated strands (to eliminate direct contact, i.e. electrical interaction between strands)
4. special geometry (STEALTH proprietary distributed LITZ) strands are separated in space from each other to the far
greater distance compare to the wire diameter) – to dramatically reduce electromagnetic interaction between strands
5. electrical resonance control (due to the special geometry: STEALTH distributed LITZ)
6. mechanical resonance control (dielectric and jacketing mechanical properties: density and damping)
7. very good dielectric (porous – i.e. foam-like Teflon)
8. Characteristic impedance control (optimum relationships among capacitance, inductance and DC resistance)
9. Proprietary connectors, designed and made by STEALTH + special termination technique (conductive composite
reinforced high pressure crimping = cold weld)

Specifications
Amorphous conductive media (wire): perfectly homogeneous, grain-less conductor, identical in all directions because it has no crystal structure at all.
Ultra thin wire: 0.001” (one-thousands of an inch) thick, in the Indra case. Thin wire is important for:
minimizing skin effect (which removes harshness in the upper midrange and treble);
minimizing time-domain errors (which is responsible for the clean, well defined bass);
in realistic cable dimensions, allows the use of the STEALTH proprietary geometry**
Proprietary non-resonant cable geometry: STEALTH multicore distributed LITZ** for the Indra V10, and single-core distributed LITZ for the earlier revisions:
Individually insulated strands*** (to eliminate direct electrical contact, i.e. galvanic interaction between strands – otherwise the multiple bare strands behave like a single thicker wire)
Electrical resonance control: the advantage of distributed LITZ.
Mechanical resonance control: (dielectric and jacketing mechanical properties: optimized density and damping. Too much damping usually sterilizes and deadens the sound. Too little damping is even worse since it’s prone to excessive “ringing” (unwanted uncontrolled resonances).
Characteristic impedance control: optimized relationships among capacitance, inductance and DC resistance). The Indra’ characteristic impedance and its resonant behavior (“Q” at RF frequencies) are different from the vest majority of other cables. The overall reactance of the Indra v10 is about twice as low as for the (previous) Indra 08 and earlier Indra revisions.
Low energy storage dielectric: porous – i.e. foam-like Teflon. This material has the lowest dielectric constant of all solid and semi-solid materials. Low dielectric constant = low energy storage = fast sound. Only gases (air, Vacuum, Helium) have still lower dielectric constants, but porous Teflon has an advantage over any gas which is in its mechanical properties: porous Teflon mechanically dampens the wire, while air or Helium does not…
Proprietary STEALTH connectors: custom and highly advanced (re-designed especially for the Indra v10); very low overall mass, solid silver contacts, machined ultra-modified PTFE (Teflon®) dielectric, Kevlar composite frame, machined Carbon Fiber/Titanium shells.
Advanced termination technique: high pressure crimping (cold weld) offers seamless transition between the wire and the connector with no intermediate agent (solder) involved;