Mya Saray Collosus

[Lucias_D]

Well, after about a year of use from my hookah (hookah-shisha - King Tut) the stem finally gave way and work-hardened itself into two pieces. Although the workmanship was pretty good, this hookah had seen some abuse from lending it to friends, etc. So, the time has come for the new beast. THE COLLOSUS

For awhile I have been trying to decide on a new four person hookah. I do most of my smoking with 3-8 people in my basement so the 4 hose had become a prerequisite for my next hookah purchase. Although this is a towering giant, the fact that I can adjust the height by removing sections of the stem was probably the seller for me. In addition, once I make the table for this the stability issue should be resolved. It was either the Collosus or the Obelisk, and the Obelisk only came in black.

First things first - Measurements and construction:
I was skeptical to purchase this hookah at first because of it's behemoth size (looked like a tower ready to topple) but I think I made a wise choice.

The Base:

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All around this base has thick glass, a huge plus. Mya quality all the way around, in fact, I'm willing to bet this is one of the thickest constructed bases out for a large multiple-hose hookah. I don't think I can find a spot the goes below a ¼" thick. The base is 9" tall from bottom to stem flange. The upper 1 3/4" is thicker glass, as well as the very bottom of the base. Where the stem sits on the base, there is 9/16" wide flange which really adds stability.




The Stem:

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The Stem is really a work of art on this hookah. However, it is also a lot of work to assemble. I would not recommend this hookah if you intend on traveling a lot, or doing alot of tear down and reassembly with it. The stem is comprised of 21 pieces that either screw into, or rest on each other. The marbleized sapphire paint really sticks out and adds beauty to this piece. Here is a more detailed view of the bottom section of the stem. I labeled my parts for easier assembly.

The top and the bottom portion of the stem are each about 12" high. Seems to be made of a soft metal (pewter), but in general seems solid.

Another wonderful feature about this hookah is the ability to remove a section of the stem to reduce the height. You can't configure this hookah to any height, but you can choose between around 24" or 12". I found this quite useful when smoking by myself or 2 people rather than in a group setting, it also makes it less likely to be knocked over.

One low point here was the fitment of the hoses, into the stem. The gromets seemed to be quite far into the adapter, it felt as if the hose wasn't fitting properly into teh adapter. This aside, the hoses seemed seal well, and I've had no other complaints

The end of the stem which extends into the base is also a noteworthy item. Internal diameter is 9/16" (quite wide ) and height is 9½". A low point on the design of most hookahs is that the bottom of the stem doesn't extend far enough into the base to provide good cooling of the smoke. This design "flaw" (as I'll call it), also creates more internal volume that you must fill with liquid. The Collosus's stem is far enough in the base that you don't need a gallon of water, and hight enough that shrouding doesn't occur. Mya really did there homework here.


Hoses:
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As many of you know the Cloisonne hoses smoke quite well so I'll let that review sit in the hose section. But what I will not is this isn't your typical Cloisonne hose. I do believe the construction of the hose is identical, however, the handles look different than standard Cloisonne hoses (the ones I've used). This is where the Collosus scores more style points. The standard Cloisonne hose is a marbleized smooth shafted hose, while the ones which came with the Collosus are matched to the stem. Here are some macro shots of the hose next to the stem. The patterns and paint are identical =D.


This also lets you see some of the detail which sheaths the entire hookah


Bowl:
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Well, I haven't even used the stock bowl, so I'll edit this post as soon as I do!

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-how she smokes _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Now onto the good stuff.
Setup

Base: About half ice, half water by volume. Base is also stuck in the freezer for awhile before I smoke. along with the bottom shaft of the stem. Fluid level was approximately 1¼"-1½" above the bottom of the stem.

Shisha: I started smoking 2 bowls of shisha (not in one session, setup was the same though) that I've become familiar with.

bowl #1: Tangiers Medium Phunnel bowl w/Al Waha Orange Cream Shisha. Loosened up and set out for about 40 min before smoking to acclimate. Bowl was packed so about 3/16" gap was between foil and shisha. Small holes were made around the outside edge of teh bowl all the way around, with no holes in the middle.

bowl #2: Tangiers Medium Phunnel bowl w/Nakhla fruit "roll up" (as we call it). Setup identical to above.

Coals: Stargate finger coals. Cut about ½" thick and three placed on the bowl towards outside edges

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Flavor: The flavor took longer than expected to come to become full when smoking out of this hookah. Nothing too long here, I'm talking about 5 minutes. but it did seem a little odd. Could have been setup error or something, but nothing bad, just took longer.

Smoke: The smoke appeared to be the same or slightly less dense as compared to my smoking experiences. I thought to myself, wow I expected this to just roll plumes of smoke out, so far nothing exciting. About the same time the flavor started to peak, the smoke started rolling faster and thicker, and the density became quite nice.

Flow: WOW, this is the highpoint. On my last hookah (King Tut) flow ability was low, but the problem wasn't that obvious at first because of the hoses we were using. The large chamber held a lot of smoke so that it had enough to supply 4 people, and you didn't empty the chamber all that often because the hoses were smaller than the cloisonnes I was using now. The old hoses also didn't allow a lot of volume to flow. On the Collosus, with 2 people pulling harder than normal, I found negligible differences in smoke thickness, temperature or ease of flow. THAT SAYS A LOT. Under hard pulls with 3+ it would clear the chamber, but the smoke had enough velocity to keep supplying the hoses with an adequate smoke supply.

Recovery: This is another characteristic that I find important on multiple hose hookahs. I define it as "how soon the smoke chamber recovers all the lost smoke from inhaling". Down time was minimal with this hoohah, and only took 2-4 seconds to go from an empty smoke chamber to completely full. I've found this to be quite important when a lot of people (4-8) are smoking)

Art: This hookah is absolutely gorgeous. It exceeded my expectations in style points (just look at the macro shots). The only part which didn't impress me was the base. The construction was quite solid, but the decoration on the base just didn't compare to everything else on the stem and hoses.

I give this hookah a
9.0/10.0
There are always was to improve a product and I don't think this is perfect by any means. This is however one of the best four-hose hookahs I've ever smoked out of, if not THE best. Edited July 27, 2007 by Lucias_D

[BrotherBuford]

I just got my Collosus in today from hookah-shisha.com, who also set me up with a metal screen, wind cover, huge duffel-style carrying bag, and cleaning rod (none of which I expected as part of the package). I have smoked it twice with two different Starbuzz flavors. My only gripe with the quality was the interior stem pipes had a little rough aluminum cruft around the openings from where they were cut, but a couple minutes with a reaming knife fixed that issue. Other than that minor issue - which was an easy fix - it is by far the most well-built shisha I have ever smoked. Like stated above, it disassembles into a ton of pieces for cleaning and storage and reassembles easily. The interior pipes' interiors are smooth and look to be easy to clean with a gun cleaning rod and patches. Despite its height it appears to be very stable owing to the wide base.

The metal parts that come in contact with smoke look to be aluminum (the interior stem pieces) and chrome/silvery plated brass. The decorative cloisonne pieces are metal and very substantial feeling. The hoses are basic Mya hoses - don't wash them, as there have been threads about this - but they have decorative metal cloisonne pieces as well as wood on one end which gives them a little heft. The bowl is a standard Mya Egyptian style, unglazed in the actual bowl but glazed on the exterior.

I have smoked shisha off and on since I was in college back in the late 90s, using various Egypians, whatever they give you at hookah bars, and a couple Mya QTs, and this by far is the sweetest smoke I have ever had out of a shisha. My last smoke went on for an hour and a half and was great until the finger coals completely ashed and I never even had to move them. (Granted, that may have been due to a good setup.)

The Collosus is a beautiful piece and a sweet as hell smoke. Tomorrow I'm going to set it up with a three-hose configuration and see how well that works when folks are over for D&D. It can be set up as a single-hose with a regular hose port and purge valve and two plugs (included) or up to four hoses depending on your configuration with self-sealing check-valve hose ports. Mine is a three-hose model.

[BrotherBuford]

It's now been nearly a year since I bought this shisha, and I'm reporting back with how well it has held up:

Beautifully.

I disassemble it completely after every smoke and take good care of it, which plays a big role, but it is just as good today as it was 10 months ago, and all original parts are still intact. You really can't go wrong with this one.

As a side note, an empty Starbuzz tin is perfect for storing all of the small gaskets and chromed parts when it is disassembled. Completely disassembled it can fit into a bottled beer 24 case box (I used to use a Franziskaner one, which is sturdy) with a coal tray, several tins of Starbuzz, and a wind cover.

[ilikemyusername]

okay, so I just got the colossus the other day, and so far I am highly impressed with it.
here's an exploded view of everything you get for the money, except the tray (doh) it is sitting on my dishwaser just out of my sight.



notice how the downstem that goes into the water is very large while the two main stem innard pipes are a bit thinner, this leads to a draw thats not the best in the world, but for some mystery of physics produces some extremely dense clouds. certainly blows my Mz way the hell out of the water.

This is a bit more of a closeup so you can see what i'm saying about the stem components, the sownstem is chromed while the innards are aluminum.



this is the whole pipe setup and ready to go.



stock Mya bowl and tray.



and the pipe set up and ready to rock again in the configuration I like best.



the pipes height is slightly adjustable

[ilikemyusername]

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closeup of metal working.


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this vase is something serious, it feels so good to the touch, its so smoothe you can't feel any imperfections in it, plus it looks killer. no bubbles, no lines and the way the light hits it in real life makes your pants feel happy.



now, onto the free case.



its cool that it has a programable lock on it, to keep people out but theres no stopping someone from taking the whole thing, kinda pointless. It's big enough of course to hold the entire thing plus some extras.



theres something under that box of exotica easy lites, but what could it be?


why, its 1250g of nakhla!

I've hooked up my razan hose to this pipe to make the draw better, it doesn't make it flawless, but it helps. Seriously though, the smoke that comes out of this thing is just unbefrigginleivable!
9/10! my only qualm is the draw, but without that tightness I'm fairly sure the clouds would be weakened as a result of too much air flowing through it.

[Stuie]

[color="#FF0000"][size="3"][b]Mya Saray Colossus
[/b][/size][/color]
[b]Total Pipe Height:[/b] 36”
[b]Stem Length:[/b] 34-1/2”
[b]Base Height:[/b] 9”
[b]Tray Diameter:[/b] 7”

[b]Stem Construction:[/b] Chrome Plated Brass
[b]Heart: [/b]Open Chamber
[b]Grommets:[/b] Silicone and Rubber, seal perfectly
[b]
Pull: [/b]Amazing quality, what you expect from Mya Saray
[b]Purge:[/b] Doesn’t purge as great, about 60% of the smoke
[b]Appearance:[/b] Breath Taking
[b]Cleanability:[/b] Easy to clean
[b]Price: [/b]$224.95
[b]
Purchased From:[/b] Hookah-Shisha.com
[b]
Overall:[/b] 10/10 This pipe is amazing. Breathtaking even. This thing hits hard. I have a bowl of SB Pomberry and I am getting MASSIVE Clouds, Easy to smoke. Plus side it’s so tall the smoke is so cool by the time it gets to my mouth. The Downside is because of its size the center of gravity isn’t close to where the base and stem meet but I got the grommets worked out so it’s almost completely snug erasing the problem. If you like tall hookahs, this is the one to get.

[img]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm126/tunes4x/ColossusCase.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm126/tunes4x/ColossusParts.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm126/tunes4x/ColossusBase.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm126/tunes4x/ColossusSetup.jpg[/img]

[SaintPendulous]

preeettty happy everybod has posted detailed pics....so i do not have to!​

 

I took it from my phone....shut up
 

OK Down to business im gonna make this short and sweet becasue all the other reviews are articulate and i plan on swearing and stumbling through this like a drunk Monkey. Mostly doing a review because Mush wanted me to!
 

Holy Crap.....this is one sexy piece, in the pictures above you can see the detail, but what i did not expect was for it to be etched into the pieces of the stem and not just painted on! Assembling was for the most part straight forward but the bottom part of the stem that enters the base and actually goes into the water IS NOT ATTACHED!! which i have not seen, It really threw me for a loop and i stood there like a damn neanderthal for about 5 minutes trying different holes to figure out where in the hell this damn pipe went....Then i figured it out and felt like an ass. Once I had it all set up i was a little wary about the whole thing right off the bat because it seemed unstable and wobbly(once i got the bottom part of the stem screwed in it really made a difference)The hoses were surprisingly heavy as well, the handles on the hoses themselves are also made of the same material as the 2 parts of the stem!

 

The case it came in actually has a combo lock, which really surprised me, i probably will not mess with making my own custom code because with my luck ill forget it and end up not being able to use the case at all, 

MYA Colossus

3 hoses *I spent extra on the auto-seal adapters for a better smoking experience with multiple smokers*
Bowl: Tangiers Phunnel
Shisha: Tangiers Noir Peach Iced Tea

Smoke: Impressive! i really didnt expect the booming clouds, and I was honestly nervous about how it would smoke with such a large stem

Duration: about 2.5 hours and i wasnt even trying, the people that shared my hookah were not regular smokers and hardly hit it at all complaining about lack of smoke....but i was puttin out booming clouds

Pull: Was surprisingly easy, with a great effect
 

 

Overall: ill give it a 10 outta 10, i really do not have a reason not to be super excited and completely pleased with this purchase, though a bit pricey ($269 + $21 for auto-seal adapters) it actually surpassed my expectations and took all of my concerns away with the first or second pull!
 

I definitely recommend this bad boy to anybody whose looking to make an investment that is worth every penny.