Cthulhu have established themselves very well in the AIO community for releasing top quality products at an affordable rate. But is the 520+ truly an upgrade on the original? Let’s dive right into it and discuss what is what.
What comes with the 520+?
The box is a nice simple clear box design so you can establish what is included before even really opening with a couple brand stickers placed here and there.
In the box itself you will find a 510 adapter to help you build on a normal device, An Aspire Nautilus coil adapter, A PNP coil adapter, an alternative adapter for the bottom of your boro tank (This one will only fit the stock coils and won't work with the actual bridge itself), A Baby blue screwdriver with some spare o rings and gaskets, A good selection of airflow pins ranging from 3.5mm all the way down to 0.8mm (Without any of these It's 4.5mm), And Finally of course the main event itself. The Cthulhu 520+ complete with boro tank and bridge.
The 520+ Up Close.
The 520+ is complete with a couple of little tweaks here and there with the Revised chimney being the main change. A lot has stayed pretty much the same BUT if it isn’t broke don’t fix it… Tweak it!
So upon the tear down we’re going to talk about what has been changed and everything that's the same. The diameter of the internals hasn't changed, but the chimney itself has. We've got an airflow adapter at the bottom pre installed that helps direct your airflow from the front to the side and vice Versa. Removing the rubber plug on the front reveals a rather nicely sized filling port. To remove the internal part, we just pull the in out with the adapter from the bottom.
Having a closer look at the Bridge/RBA itself and we can see that the wicking channels haven't changed (good as the original wicked amazingly anyway), The design on the front of the 520+ is a tiny bit smaller than the original., With a little plus sign added to the “520” with the serial number sat just beneath. Now onto the main part that has changed. The chimney.
When removing the deck away from the top chimney section and cap will show you the change and I promise you, this small change was worth it. On the cap where the chimney is held used to be flat. What they've done to help improve the flavor is, They've put this little bit of doming inside where the chimney connects to and it condenses the flavour towards it. From what I’ve noticed, This change has done its job and it's done so very well. The original didn't have bad flavor as it is., But this one's definitely improved on even the OG. To top this you have the chimney section of course which has a nice swirl going around the outside and finishes off the aesthetics nicely. There is no swirling on the inside of the chimney so it’s just something for looks on that part and not performance.
Everything else appears to be pretty much the same. You've still got the slightly angled post holes to be able to catch your wire, Which is good because as it’s an extremely easy deck to build and wicking is just a breeze. I have had zero leaking issues throughout my whole testing phase.
You can also turn the deck around with it being symmetrical. You can either have it so the 520 logos facing outwards so you can see it from your AIO window, Or alternatively you can use the plain side to the rear of the bridge so it could be nice and plain if you want it to be.
To Summarise The 520+
What do I think of the 520+? One thing I'm happy to see is that Cthulhu actually listened to their customers and fellow reviewers in the community regarding the original 520 and improved upon the already proven format and then… Made it even better! In no way am I saying the original 520 was a bad bridge, but a couple of improvements would've made it solid.
In my honest opinion, they've done exactly that.
The doming on the chimney section has really improved the flavour in a big way. It’s such a subtle change, but quite literally every single flavour just pops no matter what it is. It’s outstanding. Especially for the price point!
All of the airflow pins, the variety that you've got, the amount that you can actually change regarding your experience with this RBA, It can take Nautilus coils with the adapter (brilliant coils in themselves), You can use PNP coils (which to themselves have the ability to be even mouth to lung, Restricted direct lung andeven direct lung )…. It’s just pro after pro with this.
Anyone out there looking to get into the boro/AIO side of things that can't afford the really expensive bits, This is a truly brilliant entry level bridge complete with the actual boro tank itself.
A massive recommendation from myself and I urge anyone that has been on the fence regarding the 520+ to give it a shot. I promise you zero regrets!
Written by Samuel Adams
