H J s system !

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
hai may name is henk jan and i come from Amsterdam holland .
I am a part time speakermanufacturer besides my occupation as a free lance technician.
My current system uses a 2 times 10 watt 8 ohm hawk A 18 amplifier which i made 10 years ago as a do it yourself amp package and what got it all started .
Speakers i switch out a lot , or i am building new ones.
I am a measurement kind a guy and i design lineair high impedance models and high efficiency min. 90 db and up
I am also a dealer of some products i really like




_DSC0004 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0005 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0006 by andromeda61, on Flickr


DSC_0461 by andromeda61, on Flickr
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Thanks .
No not the woodwork , i draw the models and select all the components and design /measure the crossovers of the speakers .
I outsource the construction of the speakers as its a craft in itself , and i dont have the time either

here some pics of another model i made/ make although i will leave accuton in the future for midsections and also change bassunits i ll use Eton further on

http://www.alpha-audio.nl/2011/02/op-de-koffie-bij-andromeda/ its in dutch :eek:

If you click on the pics they go fulls screen
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
The reason i put the krells for sale , and yes the dynamics are there and headroom to spare and off course the zanden magic .
The sound is fantastic on a 90,5 db speaker with a maximum impedance dip off 10 ohms.
Very gentle refined sound and the 300 Bs last a very long time , incl lots off reserve tubes ,

_DSC0343 by andromeda61, on Flickr

_DSC0340 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0337 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0338 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0336 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0339 by andromeda61, on Flickr
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Well its time for a zanden review , the review is based on the zanden alone not with the cat driving it, it is used with the sophia electric royal princess tube 1000 euro pair considered one off the best , the takatsuki possibly bettering it at 1800 euro retail :

I was a bit afraid how well it would drive the speakers , but the zanden SET 300 B came along for a reasonable price from a person who lived in amsterdam , so i thought i give it a try .
Plus :
most obvious is more transparency and detail , it is said SET s are detailchamps and that is very true compared to the cat /krell/hawk amp .
Bass , believe it or not bass has improved , it has more weight /aplomb it is fuller and more defined , it fills the room with low freq more so than the krell, especially with organ or orchestra music , most movies as well , although gunshots(heat ) sound a bit more fierce/snappy with krell.
Voices and music on cd and musicaldetailsoveral are on another level , the feeling of reality has much improved
sense of space has improved and the soundstage became bigger
I think its been a logical upgrade and a good learningexperience .
I probably would state from now on that tubebass is better than SS
Headroom is enough but that is all , i usually listen to cd s at vol 12 or 1 oclock and movies at 3 oclock so i have some headroom left although its not that much but no problem there .
There is absolutely no sign of compression when driven with volume fully open , no smearing or harshness just pure clear sound
The person whom i bought it from said he never heard the zanden better , he heard it on tannoy and audio note speakers :D
He himself listened usually with AKG K1000 headphones


neg :
I am afraid i will have to buy the zanden 1200 phono as well in the future , the cat phono is now to noisy at listening volume and i think the zanden will deliver much more detail and transparency and overal sound quality .
I do know the legend is much more quit and has a step up transformer built inside for up to 58 db gain
The zanden 1200 has 2 gain outputs 1(high) is 68 db (probably more dynamic sounding then compared to the legend )
I do suspect a problem though , using my beloved decca carts on the zanden as it has a fixed loading of 4 ohm on the high gain output and a fixed 40 ohms loading on the low gain output , deccas need the 47 kohm loading to sound good and going lower reduces the soundlevel and doesnt sound nice , on the cat that is
The krells do sound a bit better with electronic music / house
 
Last edited:

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
Nice review!!! i am a BIG fan of Zanden, having enjoyed my Zanden DAC for 5 years and still loving it. FWIW, i have spoken with an audiophile with decades of experience, a discerning ear...and one serious, state of the art system of his own...Alexandrias, behemoth amps, you name it. He went to go hear the Aidas...heard them on some SOTA mega SS amps...no magic. He nearly gave up, and asked the owner of the store for another amp...they switched to the Zanden monos...uncertain if they would drive them. Blown away...he said he was superbly impressed with the Zanden monos and felt they were possibly the equal...certainly a competitor of the mighty Lamm ML3 monos. And despite being eye-wateringly expensive, they cost less.

I have heard great things about their phono preamps, digital, preamps and amps...actually i guess that's everything they make. ;) Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
THanks good to hear , the guys at soundstage wrote similiar about zanden 9600 versus ML 3 s .
Its a pity that lamm is not played with here at the big shops , they have an importer again since a couple of years before that kharma was distributing them if IIRC.
THe current importeur i spoke to a couple of times and he is (probably) gonna come over as soon as i finish my next project.
I think its a case of " high end politics" .:( it could also easily be that the big shops sell the regular popular speakers the lamm ml2 cannot drive like avalon wilson (sasha, sophia )sonusfaber magico other brands , i dont know of an audiophile overhere who has X1 or X 2 s or ML 2 s let alone ML 3 s
There is no importer / dealer of Convergent as well

Note ,i dont know if the zanden has a transformer in the signal path or not .
 
Last edited:

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
Nice setup! - I could not find the specs for your speakers thou....
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Thanks , currently i use the duelund vsf copper tweeter serial cap with the model in the picture but the mundorf silver /oil and silver/gold/oil are also very good , the duelund is very expensive
From 200 hz up it stays within 4 db so +- 2db , here are some more specs.

http://www.andromeda-design.nl/producten.php

I am sorry its in dutch , i still have to translate it in english
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
One very remarkable thing about this SET amp among others , is that it is able to portray the dynamics of a trumpet , i bought a miles davis cd today and put it on my definetively not very much high end player .
It goes from soft to loud incredibly dynamic without smearing or compression , i have never heard that before, hanging completely free in space , quite amazing i had to turn the volume quit a bit as the peaks got very loud
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Well , i had a trade in offer plus some extra cash for my krell evos , if everything goes well i ll be having a Boulder 1060 in the system as well in about a weeks time see how that plays .
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
interesting...so are you thinking of keeping both the Zanden amp and the Boulder 1060?
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
No not really but it is a good deal in my opinion and a good way to hear boulder in the system, i always can get rid of the boulder as it is quality stuff .
I always like to hear something new .
I dont suspect the boulder will surpass the zanden in the most important areas , the maingoal still remains to get the zanden 1200 , but i am in no hurry.

Greetings henkjan
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
No not really but it is a good deal in my opinion and a good way to hear boulder in the system, i always can get rid of the boulder as it is quality stuff .
I always like to hear something new .
I dont suspect the boulder will surpass the zanden in the most important areas , the maingoal still remains to get the zanden 1200 , but i am in no hurry.

Greetings henkjan

Enjoy! and look forward to hearing your 'review' when the boulder arrives.
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
Thanks , sure i will , i am looking forward to hear the bass reponse and it seems to be ultra quit with excellent channel separation, and off course seeing the buildquality. :D

Note , dont get me wrong that i " miss" the bass reponse of SS , i have heard the octave jubilee monos driving kharma 1,2 diamond enigma on a couple occasions and now the zanden set driving my own speakers and with music in general i stand by this claim
 
Last edited:

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
I listened to the krells for the last time , and regret they are gone , fantastic amps , but as in every hobby , things change,...a new kid(rock) on the block.
One thing i can say about the boulder is that it has Iron fisted SS bass


_DSC0347 by andromeda61, on Flickr


_DSC0346 by andromeda61, on Flickr
 
Last edited:

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
It will be very interesting to learn more about your findings on the Zanden vs Boulder, both great amps with different signature for sure - I just did the opposite and moved from a classic SS amp to a tubed one, as for today I am not missing the SS one nevertheless the bass control is not at the level I had.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
It will be very interesting to learn more about your findings on the Zanden vs Boulder, both great amps with different signature for sure - I just did the opposite and moved from a classic SS amp to a tubed one, as for today I am not missing the SS one nevertheless the bass control is not at the level I had.

+1
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,354
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
It ll take a couple of weeks of comparing movies and music to make an opinion .
Besides that things are always system dependant off course.
With all these amps youre all talking quality stuff i think , and they have all things i can enjoy .
With which measure should i compare them all ??
Enjoyment , being first in my case , the rest is next.

Lets say krell is bold and beautifull , boulder is more seductive its beauty grows on you after a while .
Zanden is hyperdetailed and is more a window into " reality"
Boulder does have fabulous basscontrol , i hear now some deep rumble in movies that werent that obvious through the krells , it adds a bit downunder
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
Exactly, which amp moves you, gets you closer to the music and keeps you engaged is key, of course this is highly subjective since it will depend on your system, gear, taste and moon phase :) but I trust your ears since you design speakers, so....keep us posted!
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing