The End Of A 35 Year Journey ---Zellaton -The Reference Ultra Final Frontier

I had good news and bad news yesterday but in the end not so terrible. Zellaton informed Giedeon that my speakers would be done and ready to ship in 2 weeks. I said wow, that is good news but asked "what could be the bad news?" Well it wasn
't terrible and I could live with it. Zellaton informed him that they can finish the speakers with black rings around the drivers rather than the chrome rings I had ordered.. The chrome rings if I still preferred that way to go would in fact be available, but with the possibility of yet another 12 week wait. Apparently Zellaton has such strict standards that they could make home rings available on an earlier basis however it would not be to their standards. Bottom line for me is it is all about the sound and even though I ordered Porsche Aventurine green with chrome rings I was happy to change the order to the stock black rings with which most Zellaton speakers ship. For me not a big deal. So as Gideon says, this will be a month of eager expectation but with the guaranty the speakers will ship mid month with a 2 week window to arrive stateside and reach my house. Im hoping Imight have the Schnerzinger Reflectors I ordered at the same time and if so that would eb the icing on the cake. In the interim I have to admit that I am loving the sound I am getting now with the loaner set of Plural Evo speakers. They are really an eye opener.
Hmmmm....i wonder if they ship black rings, and then have on site swap in 12 weeks when the silver rings are done?
 
It’s not a big deal for me Lloyd. Plus i think it’s more complicated than unscrewing one and screwing on the other.
 
It’s not a big deal for me Lloyd. Plus i think it’s more complicated than unscrewing one and screwing on the other.
Fair enough...and it is the sound that matters...the speakers are beautifully made and look it in all events.
 
Fair enough...and it is the sound that matters...the speakers are beautifully made and look it in all events.
If it were a simple swap out and put the other in I would be all over it. I've owned a lot of speakers over the years and the finish to all of them has been wonderful. The Zellaton finish however is truly beyond anything I have ever seen . The ones I have here on loan are absolutely perfect the polish and mirror sheen is something I have not seen in speakers and as Im finding out the standards to which Zellaton adheres is top tier. I was told that they could produce mine with chrome rings however the ones they sourced came no where close to their factory standards and they flat out refused to make them a part of these speakers. Asa result should I have still wanted them in chrome the message I got was that it would be a 12 week wait for an adequate set to be produced that meets the Zellaton standard. Sure it would have been nice but the black with the Aventurine green will look just fine ....and as we all agree it comes down to the sound. Hence my decision, which I feel OK about ....stay tuned
 
Black on Green would look really good. Besides, no danger of chrome ring fading, or other issues that chrome surfaces somehow always have.
Fair enough...and it is the sound that matters...the speakers are beautifully made and look it in all events.
As one member said to me a few minutes ago....." you don't see Porsche showing chrome any more with their cars...its all black trim."
 
I just got back from Day 1 listening at THE Show today in Costa Mesa. Granted it was day 1 and things were still being tuned and burned in but Im now upstairs in my listening room and I have to say that it is good getting home, as even though there was plenty to hear , nothing caught my ears that I could say trumped these little Plural EVO speakers that I have on loan.
 
I just got back from Day 1 listening at THE Show today in Costa Mesa. Granted it was day 1 and things were still being tuned and burned in but Im now upstairs in my listening room and I have to say that it is good getting home, as even though there was plenty to hear , nothing caught my ears that I could say trumped these little Plural EVO speakers that I have on loan.
I haven't heard your room or those speakers but I thought the Evolution Acoustics System Three speakers sounded awfully good to my ear. As well they should at $147K!
 
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I was in the EA room and had a long talk with Kevin, the designer. I thought they sounded better this year than last year and Kevin agreed. He felt it was the room this year was much bigger so it let the speakers open up. Plus Kevin was using Soulution electronics this year and also had a smaller pair of EA speakers working in the rear of the room
 
I just got back from Day 1 listening at THE Show today in Costa Mesa. Granted it was day 1 and things were still being tuned and burned in but Im now upstairs in my listening room and I have to say that it is good getting home, as even though there was plenty to hear , nothing caught my ears that I could say trumped these little Plural EVO speakers that I have on loan.
And you don’t even have your Ultra’s in yet ;)
 
Steve, in the end I think you will prefer the black. Less bling and the black will accentuate and enhance the cabinet color more so than the chrome which creates a not so subtle (look at me) contrast. My new tricked out Mazda CX 5 uses primarily black trim for the accent color.It exudes class and sophistication while providing just the right amount of aesthetic "pop".
 
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I just got back from Day 1 listening at THE Show today in Costa Mesa. Granted it was day 1 and things were still being tuned and burned in but Im now upstairs in my listening room and I have to say that it is good getting home, as even though there was plenty to hear , nothing caught my ears that I could say trumped these little Plural EVO speakers that I have on loan.

Definitely the best room of the weekend has been the Williams room! The Plurals hit WAY above their weight class
 
Last evening was really fun and very informative. I hosted Ray Dude and Nenon for a few hours of critical listening to the Plural Evos. I had met Ray at my house about 6 months ago when I did an open house for Lukasz and Fred for a soft launch of the new Lampi Horizon 360 . I had a chance then to chat several times with Ray and occasionally over the past few months. Frankly I learned a lot from Ray as to set up of the Taiko Olympus and I also got to know that Ray had been in Oldenzaal where he spent 10 hours with Emile doing critical listening of the Taiko products played with Emile's Zellaton Reference Klassik. Ray also knew that I had ordered the Zellaton Reference Ultra and expressed interest in hearing these when they arrive. I finally met Nenon (Vassil) and his knowledge of electronics and digital transcends any bits and pieces I have learned over the years . I meet Vassil in his room at THE Show and as I have said in the Taiko thread, we as Taiko consumers here in the USA struck gold when Emile appointed Vassil the North American distributor for Taiko. Vassil is a diamond in the rough. He hss an addicting smile and he is soft spoken but what comes out of his mouth is one pearl after another. I also learned that it was Vassil who set up the room he was in showing the Taiko Olympus and IO. This room I have already reported was met favorite at the show and I have really never been a fan of YG acoustics but the room was double size with a curtain in the middle and another system on the other side of the curtain, Yet with all of the shortcomings I found t=this room for my ears to be the BEST in SHOW. Vassil has told me during our talk on Friday that Ray would be attending Saturday and Sunday and he and Ray expressed a desire to visit me and hear my system

For me I always enjoy sitting with like minded audiophiles and I was wanting to see if Vassil had any thoughts or suggestions as to my Taiko setup as his depth of knowledge was readily apparent just by talking with him. And Ray also I had found to be very knowledgeable as he looks at all things audio far more analytical than I. Also he had 10 hours of listening to a similar setup as mine sat Taiko headquarters and I was very interested to see if I was drinking the Kool Aid with these loaner Zellaton Plural Evo as I await the Reference Ultra in the next few weeks. Ray has also heard my system with the big Wilson speakers and I was anxious to get his thoughts about these Plural Evo speakers. The PE are smaller than the Reference Klassik Ray heard with Emile as well s the Referene Ultra I have on order. I have said many times in this thread about how gobsmacked I am from the Plural Evo. All of my anxieties as to whether my Lamm Signature series would drive them and I was ankle concerned as to. a smaller speaker than the Wilso would cast a smaller soundstage. I had dismissed these two notions immediately upon my first listen but I was hoping to have a few impartial listeners with gifted ears and great knowledge to tell me what they really think

I played a few demo tracks that I use to evaluate new gear and then I turned the tablet over to Ray and Vassil as they queued up some of their favorites which they also use to demo. Their music a=was simply beautiful and I immediately added several albums to my library. I was also playing the Olympus/IO with the Lampizator XDMI digital card and I was anxious to also get Vassil's thoughts as to comparison in his mind to the Taiko analogue card as, to date my analogue card is sitting on a shelf in my sound room still wrapped the way I received it. I know there is V2 of the analogue card coming with more updates as well as whistles and bells so I felt this would be educational for the 3 of us


Suffice it to say I think Ray and Vassil liked what they heard and I got great feedback from ray as I played tracks which he heard several months ago when he attended the open house I had for Lukasz and Fred. His comments were most informative to. me as I keep pinching myself when I hear these Plural Evo speakers knowing that The Reference Ultra will bring even ore to the table. At first I even apologized to Ray and Vassil that these PE speakers were a smaller speaker but I went on to say that they have brought me to my knees with respect to Zellaton. I let them do the talking as I did not want to put words in their mouths but at the end of the evening listening to their feedback, I felt vindicated

I dont want to say more as I am hoping both will chime in with comments. I do know Ray preferred Emile's Reference Klassik and he is anxious to hear my Reference Ultra and I invited Ray back when Gideon and the speakers arrive and Ray can watch Gideon do the installation.


Ans as for the Taiko Olympus and IO everyone knows that I have been trying for well over a year to have an open house weekend for Emile and there was a glimmer of hope that he might have been able to make it to THE show but for now he remains steadfast with his work ethic at home until all orders have been fulfilled. I admire that work ethic. Vassil did share with me however that when V2 of the analogue card is available to all Rmile and Vassil will hopefully finally come to SoCal for a weekend open house where we Taiko users will be able to a/b the new analogue card against the V1 and also a/b V2 against my XDMI digital card. I look forward to that as Vassil was beaming when he was talking to us about the V2 analogue card.

So I am going to stop here and hope Ray and Vassil will have more to say as to what they heard last night and perhaps Ray might comment in comparing the PE to my now departed Wilson. Plus he also told me the difference in what he heard in Oldenzaal and what he heard last night
 
Very interesting information. If you don’t mind sharing, I would be interested to know what demo tracks you and they were using. Sounds like the Zellatons make a good impression wherever they go.
 
Very interesting information. If you don’t mind sharing, I would be interested to know what demo tracks you and they were using. Sounds like the Zellatons make a good impression wherever they go.
Would love to see the demo list too Steve
 
all the ones I played have been played 1000's of times at shows. I played mine for that reason as it gave us a starting point.

Ray had some beautiful music as did Vassil. We probably played at most 12-15 tracks, alll streaming even though my analogue side of the system was on. Time was a factor as they didnt arrive until late and Vassil was exhausted from The Show and a late night set up of his room

Mine were the usual fare which I play for timbre, tone and dynamics and always use as a starting point

My wife and I are going for a walk with the dog and Ill post mine when Im back
 
all the ones I played have been played 1000's of times at shows. I played mine for that reason as it gave us a starting point.

Ray had some beautiful music as did Vassil. We probably played at most 12-15 tracks, alll streaming even though my analogue side of the system was on. Time was a factor as they didnt arrive until late and Vassil was exhausted from The Show and a late night set up of his room

Mine were the usual fare which I play for timbre, tone and dynamics and always use as a starting point

My wife and I are going for a walk with the dog and Ill post mine when Im back
Great, looking forward to it
 

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