Funny, that’s what Gideon suggested.Well maybe keep the Reference at the office and put Statements in the new room
The End Of A 35 Year Journey ---Zellaton -The Reference Ultra Final Frontier
- Thread starter Steve Williams
- Start date
Steve,
Congratulations on a fantastic purchase! I've had the fortune of hearing a variant of these speakers and was absolutely blown away. They have a unique ability to sound natural and music but also modern with high extension. I can only imagine how wonderful they sound with your all Lamm system.
Hoping to visit soon to experience.
Congratulations on a fantastic purchase! I've had the fortune of hearing a variant of these speakers and was absolutely blown away. They have a unique ability to sound natural and music but also modern with high extension. I can only imagine how wonderful they sound with your all Lamm system.
Hoping to visit soon to experience.
Steve, I can only hope that your current speakers offer you bliss and beyond. Congratulations!
Tom
Tom
Thanks Tom. Today I’m finally going to get to listen to tape on the new speakers, something I haven’t done yet. I’m betting it will be quite an experience
Today was probably the best dauy of listening so far. The speakers first of all are settling in nd I am amazed as to just how quick the burn in process with Zellaton is. Perhaps it is related to the construction of the drivers and their relative light weight and what they are constructed with,\. Nonetheless it was a day of learning for me. I understand now why Gideon prefers to listen to analogue when he plays music on Zellaton speakers.
Here is the first caveat which really shocked me. Foer years my go to arm and cartridge hghas been the 12" SME3012R with the Van Den Hul MSS and rarely have I played with the SME 3010R and my ZYX UNIverse Premium copper cartridge. One thing that I have never done I have to admit is to send my VDH MSS back for overhaul at 150 hours as it has always sounded so good so I honestly don't know if this is a factor but today listening to both arms and cartridges I have to admit that my clear favorite which emerged was the SME. 3010R with the ZYX. It sounded so much better tha theMSS on the SME3012R. I must admit this shocked me but that is fact number one
Playing the vinyl version of my favorite demo disks as great as they have been sounding the 10" arm with the ZYX was truly the winner
Here is the first caveat which really shocked me. Foer years my go to arm and cartridge hghas been the 12" SME3012R with the Van Den Hul MSS and rarely have I played with the SME 3010R and my ZYX UNIverse Premium copper cartridge. One thing that I have never done I have to admit is to send my VDH MSS back for overhaul at 150 hours as it has always sounded so good so I honestly don't know if this is a factor but today listening to both arms and cartridges I have to admit that my clear favorite which emerged was the SME. 3010R with the ZYX. It sounded so much better tha theMSS on the SME3012R. I must admit this shocked me but that is fact number one
Playing the vinyl version of my favorite demo disks as great as they have been sounding the 10" arm with the ZYX was truly the winner
Then the balance of the day was listening to tape and the second learning experience was tone,timbre and dynamics which for me defines a system. I have most all of Ed Pong's Ultra Analogue tapes and these are all virtually duos or trios with only piano, cello and/or violin. The tapes are superbly recorded and also well mastered.
This gave me an in depth lesson as to what true timbre of these instruments sound like. Never have I heard a piano sound so realistic in my room as I did today and by there same token the beauty of the violin and cello strings resonating with each bow movement brought goose bumps and raised the hair on my head. I have listened to these tapes countless times and always marveled at the sound I heard. Today however was totally different as for the first time the tone , timbre and dynamics of the strings and keyboard was the most realistic I have ever heard. The seamlessness of the Zellaton drivers and the wide band driver produced music in my room Im betting as good as it sounded the day Ed Pong recorded them.
More on this tomorrow as Im exhausted playing conductor with my hands . The experience I had tonight with tape on the Zellatons was simply breath taking
Big Dog RJ is right on. You dont hear the boxes nor a single driver. The coherence of the drivers and wide band created a lifelike sound stage with proper depth height and width. The music came midway down the side walls to my ears.
This gave me an in depth lesson as to what true timbre of these instruments sound like. Never have I heard a piano sound so realistic in my room as I did today and by there same token the beauty of the violin and cello strings resonating with each bow movement brought goose bumps and raised the hair on my head. I have listened to these tapes countless times and always marveled at the sound I heard. Today however was totally different as for the first time the tone , timbre and dynamics of the strings and keyboard was the most realistic I have ever heard. The seamlessness of the Zellaton drivers and the wide band driver produced music in my room Im betting as good as it sounded the day Ed Pong recorded them.
More on this tomorrow as Im exhausted playing conductor with my hands . The experience I had tonight with tape on the Zellatons was simply breath taking
Big Dog RJ is right on. You dont hear the boxes nor a single driver. The coherence of the drivers and wide band created a lifelike sound stage with proper depth height and width. The music came midway down the side walls to my ears.
Congratulations, Steve, on your SOTA Reference Ultras and thanks for posting the photos. I can just imagine you in your chair with a vast smile of satisfaction.
May I ask about the effect of sound energy radiating from the rear face of both the PLURAL EVOs and the ULTRAs? How much did that feature affect the setup and positioning of the two different designs? Would you say there’s a minimum front baffle to front wall distance to achieve proper setup of those two speakers?
May I ask about the effect of sound energy radiating from the rear face of both the PLURAL EVOs and the ULTRAs? How much did that feature affect the setup and positioning of the two different designs? Would you say there’s a minimum front baffle to front wall distance to achieve proper setup of those two speakers?
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Thats's a very good question but Im not so sure at my early stage I can answer it intelligently. FWIW I have never gone behind the speaker while hey are playing to listen to what if any sound emanates from those rear baffles. the Pliutal Evo IIRC had only one baffle and that as at the top behind the tweeter whereas theReference Ultra has 4 rear baffles behind all of th drivers. Gideon did th setup and I recall asking him about position oof the Reference ultra as he brought them forward a few inches from where the Plural Evo was seated, He did comment that the reason for moving the Refereference Ulyta forward was due the extra energy emanating from the rear baffles of the Reference Ultra. This would be a good question for Gideon to answer but he is away in Poland for a wedding and the head fro the sunny beached of Croatia for a week followed by a week at a spa in Swetzerland. I will reach out to him and if successful and he has the time perhaps he can give you the best answer
All I know is that yesterday's listening was a true revelation for me both with vinyl and then with tape
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The Reference Ultras needing a little more “breathing room” to the wall behind them compared to the Plural Evos is very interesting. I guess it’s not so surprising, though, when you consider the much larger openings in the rear baffles for release of back pressure waves. From your photos, it looks like the speaker front baffle to front wall distance is about 5 feet. Would that guess be about right?
Congrats to all the new Zellaton owners! We are a fortunate group of music mavens to be immersed in our favorite recorded music through these superb loudspeakers. Every listening session is a treat to look forward to with Zellaton!
Although I am a few "rungs" below many of you - sitting here with my Plural Evos driven by the "entry-level" superb Soulution 311 integrated amplifier- (Gideon's spot-on recommendation for me), I too hear a big slice of all that Steve and others have reported so well. Everyday is a new learning experience. Each CD or LP brings its palpable recording air and boundaries and layering of musicians into my room for my enjoyment and immersion. The PE's soundstage is unique in my experience with its effortless room filling sound, its natural scale of images and its startling dynamic coherency and drama top to bottom (even at low volume). All this from a demure-sized loudspeaker beautifully finished playing in my room which is quite long and narrow. Partnered with the Soulution 331, every musician is where they should be; every note or vocal begins and ends with natural breathe, pace and timing and all with inviting ease, liquidity and control.
Now what fun it is to have the splendid Neodio Origine CD player join my listening party! With the Neodio Origine, I now have even more appreciation for the Soulution's special bass quality and for the PE's ability to mine ever more woody propulsive mid-bass and low bass energy. I could never have imagined in the mid bass and low bass realm how much more air, tactile rich timbres and human touch the Soulution and Zells deliver. The Neodio Origine (recently discontinued, unfortunately) is a stunning reference CD player (getting closer and closer in my listening so far to LP's quality for naturalness and continuousness and the way notes start, bloom and decay in their natural spaces)..
It's a lot of fun here and I can only imagine the benefits that come from further up the Zellaton and Soulution product ladder that others are experiencing and reporting on with delight...Kudos and gratitude to Gideon for all that he does to guide us in our pursuit of music's joy and adventures!
Although I am a few "rungs" below many of you - sitting here with my Plural Evos driven by the "entry-level" superb Soulution 311 integrated amplifier- (Gideon's spot-on recommendation for me), I too hear a big slice of all that Steve and others have reported so well. Everyday is a new learning experience. Each CD or LP brings its palpable recording air and boundaries and layering of musicians into my room for my enjoyment and immersion. The PE's soundstage is unique in my experience with its effortless room filling sound, its natural scale of images and its startling dynamic coherency and drama top to bottom (even at low volume). All this from a demure-sized loudspeaker beautifully finished playing in my room which is quite long and narrow. Partnered with the Soulution 331, every musician is where they should be; every note or vocal begins and ends with natural breathe, pace and timing and all with inviting ease, liquidity and control.
Now what fun it is to have the splendid Neodio Origine CD player join my listening party! With the Neodio Origine, I now have even more appreciation for the Soulution's special bass quality and for the PE's ability to mine ever more woody propulsive mid-bass and low bass energy. I could never have imagined in the mid bass and low bass realm how much more air, tactile rich timbres and human touch the Soulution and Zells deliver. The Neodio Origine (recently discontinued, unfortunately) is a stunning reference CD player (getting closer and closer in my listening so far to LP's quality for naturalness and continuousness and the way notes start, bloom and decay in their natural spaces)..
It's a lot of fun here and I can only imagine the benefits that come from further up the Zellaton and Soulution product ladder that others are experiencing and reporting on with delight...Kudos and gratitude to Gideon for all that he does to guide us in our pursuit of music's joy and adventures!
Nicely stated. I would suggest however that the Plural Evo is no slouch. I had them in my room for several weeks and it blew me away as to how good the sound was. I truly did not expect it. I suspect the magic is in the coherence of all the drivers together with the wide band driver. Gideon said to me last week that you never hear the tweeter and I’m learning how true that is. In fact you never hear a single driver. Enjoy your PE. It’s a great speaker. I have said here many times that my interest in Zellaton was stirred by the excellent review done several years ago by Myles Astor another tribute to the PE was several months ago the see that was GI come to me after the Dallas show was purchased by a member here after making many trips back to Gideons room. And finally the set of PE that I had here on loan was auditioned by a fellow WBF member from San Diego. He got home and called Gideon and purchased the speaker
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