Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams
- Thread starter Steve Williams
- Start date
Steve, I read your excitement in these posts. Very cool. I remember reading many times that you would go to your grave with the Lamm electronics, but I never read you using similar words for your speakers. Thanks for sharing these latest updates.
These all look like records. What source did you use to do the set up? Were these recordings brought for the set up or do you have them in your collection?
These all look like records. What source did you use to do the set up? Were these recordings brought for the set up or do you have them in your collection?
Hi Peter. Yes those are records and I did post that these were some of Gideon's demo tracks that he brings with him on set up.
As for Lamm you are correct, I did say that about Lamm and a prerequisite of mine when I ordered the speakers was that my Lamm electronics would drive them. I have posted here that 2 very large concerns of mine were put to rest with listening to these Plural Evo loaners
1.. I no longer have any concern about my Lamm amps driving these speakers. We had the gain on the preamp between the 4 and 5 position and there was plenty of headroom. Some tracks we had to turn the gain down lower. When I listened with my Wilson speakers the gain was usually between 5--6 (this is for digital), When we played vinyl and tape, the settings were virtually identical to those when I had my Wilson speakers)
2. I had concern that the size of the soundstage would be much smaller than that when I had my Wilson speakers as I had this preconceived notion that the sound stage would be commensurate with that of a smaller speaker. Such was not the case as the soundstage was equal to that of the larger Wilson speakers
As for Lamm you are correct, I did say that about Lamm and a prerequisite of mine when I ordered the speakers was that my Lamm electronics would drive them. I have posted here that 2 very large concerns of mine were put to rest with listening to these Plural Evo loaners
1.. I no longer have any concern about my Lamm amps driving these speakers. We had the gain on the preamp between the 4 and 5 position and there was plenty of headroom. Some tracks we had to turn the gain down lower. When I listened with my Wilson speakers the gain was usually between 5--6 (this is for digital), When we played vinyl and tape, the settings were virtually identical to those when I had my Wilson speakers)
2. I had concern that the size of the soundstage would be much smaller than that when I had my Wilson speakers as I had this preconceived notion that the sound stage would be commensurate with that of a smaller speaker. Such was not the case as the soundstage was equal to that of the larger Wilson speakers
I thought I would update my personal system blog which has been lately chronicled on the Zellaton forum I thought I would add some initial photos of the new speaker installation which began with a bang on July 4th. The bang wasn't fireworks overhead but rather the fireworks that went off in my head after Gideon did the install and we sat own to listen. It was truly a magic moment for me
Just noticed little species of the foam from uncreating. Gone now
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Ray-dude was our first guest along with Gideon who single handedly set up the speakers (after 4 heavy weights transported them up 2 flights of stair in the crates (each crate was about 420 pounds
The build and finish on these speakers is superb. The photos just dont justify the mirror finish seen in person.
The bottom footer assembly is pristine.. The craftsmanship and polish of the knobs along with the ease of adjustment of these heavy speakers was quite surprising
The bottom footer assembly is pristine.. The craftsmanship and polish of the knobs along with the ease of adjustment of these heavy speakers was quite surprising
Congratulations on your new speakers! Visually, I think these are a better fit for your size than the Wilsons were. Looking forward to hearing them!!
People ask bout the manual. I finally got to "RTFM" a few days ago and I was shocked that it was nothing more than a few pages showing how to uncrate the speakers. Not a word about position, toe in and seating position. That all resides in the mind of Gideon who uncrated them nd set them up all with a few minor adjustments in under 2 hours
Ray-dude posted the first impressions after less than one day of burn in on the speakers
@ray-dude
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.
@ray-dude
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.
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