Your room and the Zellaton's look like a match made in audio heaven!
The End Of A 35 Year Journey ---Zellaton -The Reference Ultra Final Frontier
- Thread starter Steve Williams
- Start date
Fantastic photos, Steve. I'm sure the Zellatons will be fantastic when they settle in. I never doubted that your amplifiers would be able to drive them adequately. I'm not sure your room should shake, though 
. I hope you will be very happy with them.
. I hope you will be very happy with them.
Hi MsrkFantastic photos, Steve. I'm sure the Zellatons will be fantastic when they settle in. I never doubted that your amplifiers would be able to drive them adequately. I'm not sure your room should shake, though
I never knew it as welll. When I played Queen Mary by Francine Thirteen my entire body was slammed by the deep bass. It is something I have never experienced in my audio room. I remember commenting about how great the bass is with the Plural Evo. The Reference takes it to an entirely different place. And the drivers are smaller. The best way to describe it is “ visceral energy”
Steve, congrats. You may need to wear some protective gear when listening to some recordings.
Ah! Now that's what I'm talking about... look out Charlie!!
Here comes a special event indeed, one of the finest highest levels of SOTA in playback technology. It doesn't get any better than is, it really doesn't maties.
Every element has to come together nicely, system installation, selected gear, listening position, speaker placement and most of all the room, which can be the trickiest element of all. Once these elements form a cohesive platform, you'll notice the level of synergy just takes off! Once that has been achieved, just leave it! And enjoy those fine tunes! This is what most can't do or don't know how to go about it, hence they constantly change... going in circles, even after spending a bloody fortune. Also, keep it simple! If the full freq range is reproduced and it's on the recording, why on earth do you require subs??? Just plain artificial enhancements, not even found on the recording. Enjoy the "music" in its purest form and don't try to artificially enhance things just for the sake of it. Pointless.
When I first heard the Reference Ultra's, and my good dealer mate was saying you just have to listen to these Zellaton's... I said whaaat? Who dat? Zella what? Then when I saw it in person, thought just another fancy multi-driver cabinet speaker with some very very shiny supporting feet. Ok, let's play some tunes... holy smackeroons!!! From that very first note onwards, I knew these aren't your ordinary over-hyped big box design with bling bling and big sound... hell no! These are completely in a league of their own. The three most significant aspects that stand out straight away:
1. The driver coherency is phenomenal!
2. The spontaneous start-stop acceleration and speed is sheer brilliance!
3. You don't hear the damn cabinets!
Zero resonances, zero overhang, zero huff & puff from port enclosures, nothing! Just the recording as is! Ah! This is equivalent to electrostat reproduction I thought, also with far greater weight/impact than any panel type speakers I've come across so far. How on earth did this , what's it called again? Zellaton! Ah, yes those... how did this design team achieve all those 3 aspects with such precision and finesse! It's just bloody marvellous!
The beauty of stats is they can go from zero to 100 in a blink of an eye but with serious impedence swing, ultimately enforcing a lot of stress on an amplifiers' power supplies. So unless you've got serious amplification to drive stats (preferably Class A or AB) most ordinary power amps will run out of puff.
When I initially heard these Reference Ultra's driven with just a single stereo tube amp (35w class A) I was thinking this presentation is going to be really sweet and a softie. However, those preconceived notions were flying out the door! Oh man, that performance was something else. So that was a stereo tube amp of Class A design, using just 4 KT88's in push-pull config by conrad johnson design. Damn beautiful!
**It was one of those stop the train moments** for me, and mind you maties only a very very few systems are capable of this level of fine tooons.
Well done Stevo, hats off to you matey, and of course to Gideon who really understands this particular design with a passion. Otherwise what's the point? I must say, it's a true work of Art! Nothing really more to add.
Now all you have to do is Stevo, light that cigar and pour that scotch! Puff puff... and enjoy those finest tunes!
That deserves a mighty WOOF!!!
Cheers, RJ
Note: just wanted to add: some of the comments I have made in reference to panels, may raise eye brows... don't mean to cause a ruckess nor trying to compare panels with Zellaton's. Those comments coming from a pure full range stat owner, is definitely quite ironic to state. And like I've said before, I own CLX's, there's no other speaker system I'd rather own, regardless of price. These are my endgame stats, I'm done with this madness.
Those three aspects I mentioned above are actually all electrostatic attributes. Since I've grown accustomed to panels & dipoles in general since I was in high school, I know this type of sound when I hear it, and it's one that I simply prefer, that's all.
So for the very first time in long wait, there's another fairly new design team that's brought out a full dynamic type speaker that's capable of those very attributes that stats are known for. It's the hallmark of stats, and when I heard a completely different type of speaker that's just as capable and beyond that extraordinary performance, it's definitely one that commands attention. Everything is presented as is found on the recording itself. If it's not on the recording then it simply won't reproduce it! That's a true reference system. So, just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't upset any Apple or Potato carts... Woof!
Here comes a special event indeed, one of the finest highest levels of SOTA in playback technology. It doesn't get any better than is, it really doesn't maties.
Every element has to come together nicely, system installation, selected gear, listening position, speaker placement and most of all the room, which can be the trickiest element of all. Once these elements form a cohesive platform, you'll notice the level of synergy just takes off! Once that has been achieved, just leave it! And enjoy those fine tunes! This is what most can't do or don't know how to go about it, hence they constantly change... going in circles, even after spending a bloody fortune. Also, keep it simple! If the full freq range is reproduced and it's on the recording, why on earth do you require subs??? Just plain artificial enhancements, not even found on the recording. Enjoy the "music" in its purest form and don't try to artificially enhance things just for the sake of it. Pointless.
When I first heard the Reference Ultra's, and my good dealer mate was saying you just have to listen to these Zellaton's... I said whaaat? Who dat? Zella what? Then when I saw it in person, thought just another fancy multi-driver cabinet speaker with some very very shiny supporting feet. Ok, let's play some tunes... holy smackeroons!!! From that very first note onwards, I knew these aren't your ordinary over-hyped big box design with bling bling and big sound... hell no! These are completely in a league of their own. The three most significant aspects that stand out straight away:
1. The driver coherency is phenomenal!
2. The spontaneous start-stop acceleration and speed is sheer brilliance!
3. You don't hear the damn cabinets!
Zero resonances, zero overhang, zero huff & puff from port enclosures, nothing! Just the recording as is! Ah! This is equivalent to electrostat reproduction I thought, also with far greater weight/impact than any panel type speakers I've come across so far. How on earth did this , what's it called again? Zellaton! Ah, yes those... how did this design team achieve all those 3 aspects with such precision and finesse! It's just bloody marvellous!
The beauty of stats is they can go from zero to 100 in a blink of an eye but with serious impedence swing, ultimately enforcing a lot of stress on an amplifiers' power supplies. So unless you've got serious amplification to drive stats (preferably Class A or AB) most ordinary power amps will run out of puff.
When I initially heard these Reference Ultra's driven with just a single stereo tube amp (35w class A) I was thinking this presentation is going to be really sweet and a softie. However, those preconceived notions were flying out the door! Oh man, that performance was something else. So that was a stereo tube amp of Class A design, using just 4 KT88's in push-pull config by conrad johnson design. Damn beautiful!
**It was one of those stop the train moments** for me, and mind you maties only a very very few systems are capable of this level of fine tooons.
Well done Stevo, hats off to you matey, and of course to Gideon who really understands this particular design with a passion. Otherwise what's the point? I must say, it's a true work of Art! Nothing really more to add.
Now all you have to do is Stevo, light that cigar and pour that scotch! Puff puff... and enjoy those finest tunes!
That deserves a mighty WOOF!!!
Cheers, RJ
Note: just wanted to add: some of the comments I have made in reference to panels, may raise eye brows... don't mean to cause a ruckess nor trying to compare panels with Zellaton's. Those comments coming from a pure full range stat owner, is definitely quite ironic to state. And like I've said before, I own CLX's, there's no other speaker system I'd rather own, regardless of price. These are my endgame stats, I'm done with this madness.
Those three aspects I mentioned above are actually all electrostatic attributes. Since I've grown accustomed to panels & dipoles in general since I was in high school, I know this type of sound when I hear it, and it's one that I simply prefer, that's all.
So for the very first time in long wait, there's another fairly new design team that's brought out a full dynamic type speaker that's capable of those very attributes that stats are known for. It's the hallmark of stats, and when I heard a completely different type of speaker that's just as capable and beyond that extraordinary performance, it's definitely one that commands attention. Everything is presented as is found on the recording itself. If it's not on the recording then it simply won't reproduce it! That's a true reference system. So, just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't upset any Apple or Potato carts... Woof!
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Congrats on the new speakers @Steve Williams! Thanks for sharing the whole process - it's been fun seeing it all come together.
You're going to have some exciting times ahead, testing them out with your favorite tracks!
You're going to have some exciting times ahead, testing them out with your favorite tracks!
Enjoy Steve! Aesthetically Me thinks the darker rings work better!
I see the driver bolts are visible and a different colour or is there something missing, covers?
The drivers rings (when available) can also be SS. Steve would have had to wait longer. If the bolts are SS (hard to tell in the pic) I also like that contrast with the darker rings. Beautiful speakers...
Thrilled for you. I can relate... Brings back memories.
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Great morning of listening. Ray-dude and Gideon. I learned a lot today from these men
Audio legends! Would you share some of what you learned, Steve? Love to hear, here
Absolutely delightful morning visiting with Steve and Gideon!
This is my third visit to Steve's listening room in the past nine months, and the progression/transformation over that time has been amazing. First was the addition of the Taiko Olympus + I/O, then the Zellaton EVO's as a decidedly next level amuse bouche, and then today to meet Gideon and hear Steve's Zell Ultra References (finally!) in person
Congratulations to Steve for the courage and resolve to embark on this level of audio transformation. Each of these steps was an enormous leap of faith from an already very high mountain top, but each step has been transformational. It's been a privilege to hear and witness the step by step evolution in Steve's listening room, and I've learned a spectacular amount about high end audio in the process. Thank you Steve and Cathy for being so generous in opening your home and sharing in your journey
In terms of listening impressions, I've been digesting and reviewing all I heard in my 90 minute drive home, and all afternoon. As I shared with Steve and Gideon, I was a bit at a loss to distill down what I was hearing and experiencing (rare for me, but exciting to be hearing something so new).
I've had this sort of brain churn a handful of times on my own audio journey (Chord Mojo then DAVE, widebanders like the Omega Super Alnico monitors then Voxativ 9.87's, Taiko Extreme then Taiko Olympus), and each time was the beginning of a marvelous turn toward a new and extremely fulfilling area of audio reproduction.
Having been fortunate enough to spend a couple days visiting @Taiko Audio and hearing their Zellaton Classic Reference speakers in their room, I had a hint of what to expect with the Ultra Reference's (and high expectations), but had been waiting 6 months to finally have an opportunity to hear the Ultras in person. I'm immensely grateful to Steve and Gideon for making that possible today, especially in the same place that I was able to hear the EVO's several weeks ago
Right off the bat, what struck me was the simultaneously solidity and invisibleness of the speakers. There was absolute control. The speed and precision was effortless. There was no distinguishing either speaker or any of the drivers on the speaker. The cohesion and sense of speed and control was stunning, and a reminder of what really struck me when I first heard the Olympus.
Simultaneously, there is a physicality and visceral sense of presence that is difficult to wrap my head around. How can a speaker both seem like there is no mass and infinite speed and control, and still be projecting that sort of physicality? This is not something that I've heard at the same time before - I've always had to choose one end of the spectrum or the other. However, it is also what I've been looking for as I hope to step beyond the ultimate phase coherence and speed of my Voxativ widebanders (103dB drivers, no cross over, true point source, etc) and again have that physicality and visceralness and tonal balance/cohesion that I miss so much from my previous floor stander days.
Even with the modest number of hours on these ultra drivers, it is clear that they are something special. I wasn't expecting to be able to meaningfully compare them to what I heard in the Netherlands 6 months ago, but the speed and lightness and control was such a step forward, I can very confidently say that they are a huge step forward from the classic Zell drivers. I hope to be able to do a direct A/B someday, but even separated by 6000 miles and 6 months, it is clear the ultras are a huge step forward from an already one of a kind driver design. Bravo to the team at Zellaton for materially advancing the state of the art.
Aside from taking everything awesome about the Classic Reference and taking it to a new level, there was something else going on that I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around.
I was blown away by the cohesion of the voicing of the Classic line, which gave me a new appreciation for how the tone and presentation of drivers has a huge impact on the integrity and cohesion of music reproduction (obviously not an issue with single driver widebanders, but an unavoidable issue with every multi driver speaker I've heard).
I had always written off that smearing as coming from crossover and physical dispersion from driver placement in the speaker, but the Classic Reference speakers taught me that the drivers themselves have an outsized impact (to my ear, the majority of the impact). What I was hearing with the Classics was the cohesion and control of the widebander, with the tonal range and balance and physicality of a more traditional tower speaker. When I saw pictures of the design changes with the ultra speaker drivers, I knew enough from work in previous lives that there was the potential for a quantum leap in driver performance. What I heard today was spot on and exceeded that expectation.
What was a surprise to me was how the combination of drivers also seems to have been transformed from what I heard before. I'm still struggling to get my head around this, but by analogy if what I heard before was a choir with crystal clear voices coming together in harmony, what I heard today was a single clear voice with full range and physicality. Completely unexpected, and an experience I'll need to reflect on to be able to articulate how different (and striking) it was to experience it.
In my idle speculation, I had been thinking about how crossover design could be reimagined if all the drivers in a speaker were presenting with a single tone and acoustic performance, and perhaps how much of my frustration for traditional crossovers had to do with the inevitable phase/transparency issues when one needs to do a hard cutover from one driver to the next.
Based on what I heard today, there is some serious engineering next level voodoo in the Zellaton crossovers. If the Classic Reference Zellatons taught me about the importance of shared materials and design of drivers, the Ultra Reference Zellatons taught me (I think) about the importance of a crossover design that is optimized for a shared voice for the speaker drivers, vs optimized for combining speaker drivers like pieces of a puzzle.
Yes, the Ultras are a multi-driver speaker, but they present like a mind bending combination of planar speaker and single driver speaker, with a physicality and visceralness that neither of those speaker classes can touch.
I will need to reflect a LOT more on what I heard, but already the Tivo in my brain is revisiting many listening sessions with other systems through this new lens and perspective.
Needless to say, a fantastic experience, and tantalizing taste of a new way to listen to music where what I thought were inherent tradeoffs may not be tradeoffs after all. The Zell Ultras are most definitely at the top of my list as I'm looking towards what's next on my audio Reality Quest.
Thank you again to Gideon for graciously sharing his experiences and insights today (I learned a tremendous amount), and to Steve for again so generously opening his home to a fellow audiophile.
At a more personal level, Steve I'm so happy for you that you had the courage to have made this leap of faith. Where you have ended up is not only better, but new in so many ways. I'm sure that this new mountain top will be an incredibly fulfilling and enriching one for you to explore, and I couldn't be happier for you.
Christoph, that is very kind of you say. That description may apply to Gideon, but I'm decidedly more on the "frumpy geek" end of the spectrum
Kidding aside, the case work and finish on the Ultra Reference speakers was indeed stunning (most definitely next level in person...beautiful)
FWIW I find Ray's thoughts and impressions so well articulated and always spot on and he always brings me back to reflect on my impressions which are the same but said so much better than I ever could. Plus Gideon gave a great history of the Zellaton driver and a comparison to the new generation Ultra driverAudio legends! Would you share some of what you learned, Steve? Love to hear, here
And once again as RJ Big Dog has said here so often that "the boxes disappear". it was once again confirmed to me and to Ray today. It is truly uncanny
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