So, how does it sound?
Yes, I read what Zanden has to say, but the proof in the pudding is always in the listening. And I’m pleased to report that there’s real meat on them bones. Let me try to highlight a few examples.
The first is a highly regarded piano recording of Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata on RCA (45RPM) by Ikuyo Mamiya that many use a reference recording. Although one might argue that some moments of the recording are “cringe worthy” (especially on side two) it is still a superb and illuminating recording of a Bosendorfer Grand Piano. Using the standard RIAA curve in standard phase with no 4th t/c adjustments, it is certainly a very enjoyable recording. But when I implemented Zanden’s playback specifications (EMI EQ curve, 4th t/c “low”, “reverse” phase), the reality of hearing the piano in the room lept to another level completely. Simply put, the piano coming from my system sounded much closer to the sound of an actual piano (Steinway A) sitting in the opposite end of the room. Now a Steinway is never going to sound like a Bosendoirfer, and a 6’4” piano ain’t ever gonna sound like a 9’ Bosendorfer. However, here’s the key observation. The sounds coming from a piano can be clearly localized based on frequency and their reflections off the sound board and open lid. Bass notes come from the back of the piano nearest the hinged lid and treble notes comes more from the mid and front and thus differ in their height as heard by the listener This isn’t usually the case when you hear a grand piano 25 rows back in a 2500 person concert hall like Carnegie. But it is common in what you hear on studio or live recordings since we aren’t really hearing the sound of the instrument at all, but rather the sound as captured by microphones which are placed much closer to the instrument than 25 rows back. All I can say is that with the standard RIAA EQ settings, the sound is open but the sound seems to originate from a generally broadly defined place in space. With the Zanden circuitry in place, the sound originates from a
specific place, and the difference is startling. Simply put, the piano sounds more like it’s there in the room, right in front of you. You can hear the bass notes emanating from a deeper place in in the instrument cavity than the mids and highs, just as you do with a real piano. Simply put, the Zanden refinements make the piano at one end of the room sound far like my real piano at the other end of the room.
And the difference isn’t primarily due to frequency response. Rather, its due to, dare I say,
time. I suspect it is the phase adjustments implemented in the Zanden playback circuity that make the instrument’s reproduction seem more authentic from a temporal perspective and how the sound arrives at the listener, which underlies this great effect on spatial perception by the listener. (It’s also commonly accepted that in large part it’s the phase error in a recording vs a live performance that allows one to hear an instrument from the street through a second story window and know it’s a real instrument, not a recording.) As has been said before for many perceptual things in audio, once you hear an LP reproduced through a Zanden that incorporates EQ, phae, and t'c correction, it’s hard to unhear. And this new sonic reality just goes on forever in recording after recording with Zanden’s adjustments that are provided in his guidance for every known record label.
Let’s take another piano recording such as Bryon Janis’ Mercury recording called “Encore” made by Wilma Cozart and her husband. Listening to the standard RIAA curve and positive polarity without t/c correction makes for wonderful listening. But implementing Zanden’s recommendation to play it back using the EMI EQ curve with “low” t/c correction in reverse phase just take this to another level of reality and room presence.
Here's another example. There’s a Fone recording called Duettango (2017, Germany) that records the music of Astor Piazolla by a 4 musicians; piano, bandoneon, violin and voice. Standard playback- just lovely. Spectacular even. But using the Zanden recommendation of Teldec EQ, “mid” t/c correction and reverse phase? Let’s just say if I wanted to throw a tomatoes at each player’s and hit them in the nose, I would have no doubt of exactly where to aim! The spatial cues made more precise by the temporal qualities embedded the LP reproduction by the Zanden are simply astonishing. And those effects that it imparts on the emotional component of the listening experience are enhanced accordingly.
I could go on with example after example. Orchestral music reproduction is but one genre that benefits enormously from Zanden's approach to LP playback.
Is there a downside to Zanden’s approach? Well, yes. To begin, you have to optimize playback for every label and LP that you play. However, the way I think about this, is that there is almost nothing about LP playback that is “set it and forget it”. We all know that infinitesimally small adjustments in tracking weight, VTA, anti-skate, azimuth and cartridge alignment can have profound sonic effects. If, for example, you believe that your settings that are optimized for one record thickness such as with 180gm LPs are optimal for other record thicknesses (such as 120gm LPs) then we will just have to agree to disagree. The point is that playing an LP optimally is a exercise in precision which quite honestly can be a royal pain in the ass and frankly, exhausting. While many of these adjustments are physical in nature, the Zanden options made available to extract the full benefit from any LP require no more than the turn of a dial and the push of a button on the front of their phono stage. And that folks, is something I can live with. In fact, now that I’ve heard what it does, I can’t live without it.
What I am suggesting is that it has been some time that we have been hearing about how digital is getting better and better. Advancements have moved the SOA forward and it is always compared to analog for its veracity to the sound of real instruments in space. But what Zanden has accomplished is something that I believe is a genuine advancement in LP reproduction. Digital reproduction may have taken 2 steps forward in recent years. But LP reproduction, reproduced through Yamada-san’s novel circuity, has pushed analog another step forward from where it has been resting largely unperturbed for decades. By my take, even the best digital still has some catching up to do as the goal posts have now been unequivocally moved.
*Some of the technical info contained herein has not yet made it to the Zanden web site. Thanks go to Eric Pheils, the USA Zanden distributor for this information. He can be reached at
eric@zanden-usa.com