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

[Steve williams]

Hi Jason, there are really no words to properly describe and convey what The Statement Ultra can do. Congratulations for being the first to own them.

The white pair is going to Toronto??

My home town. Most of my family is still there. I must look up your shop to come for a listen

 

[B.A.G.]

Hi Jason, there are really no words to properly describe and convey what The Statement Ultra can do. Congratulations for being the first to own them.

Hi Rob, I thought my enthusiasm level was already >100% and as high as it possibly could be.

But after reading this and your other message, as well as Michael’s own impression of being even more blown away than even he could predict, I would just say my excitement for the arrival of the statement is infinite!

Thank you for the kind words and congratulations. I do feel very grateful and honoured to have the first pair in the world coming to me.

 

[davidavdavid]

The white pair is going to Toronto??

My home town. Most of my family is still there. I must look up your shop to come for a listen

You definitely should visit the Boutique Audio Gallery (B.A.G.) in Toronto. I liked it so much this month that I'm travelling up North from Ohio next month to attend an audio event debuting new products. I would not call the B.A.G. a shop, it is so much more than that. Think of it as a full-blown audio salon where one can experience and listen to gear in a bucolic environment.

Anyone truly serious about high-end audio and the brands Jason represents, enumerated on his website: boutique.audio, should visit much sooner than later. He could not have been any more gracious to someone from outside the country, specifically the United States, even though for some of his products, I'm outside his sales territory and could not/would not purchase from him.

 

[Audioarts]

Just returned to NY from Zellaton installs in Kentucky, and of course for Steve in Cali. Off to Munich tomorrow so thought to share a few quick impressions from these installs. The set of Plural’s in Kentucky are mated to latest SS Burmester whereas Steve is using low powered triode based Lamm. An obvious contrast…, yet both systems exhibit similar characteristics in terms of speed, openness, power, color and expressiveness. Pure immersion.

 

[Audioarts]

And I’ll be returning from Munich with exciting news from Zellaton - stay tuned

 

[Steve williams]

And I’ll be returning from Munich with exciting news from Zellaton - stay tuned

Is the news about when they will ship my speakers

 

[Audioarts]

Is the news about when they will ship my speakers

Patience, youngling

 

[davidavdavid]

Show me a patient audiophile and I'll...you know, never in the annals of the hobby have those two words ever been expressed as a couplet. If ever there was a demonstrative example of an oxymoron.

 

[Steve williams]

Very cool, Steve!

The room looks great and I am sure it sounds even better!

Would you mind comparing and contrasting them to the sound with your Wilsons?

Hi Patrick....I spent most of yesterday listening and was able to make some observations as to what Im hearing now as compared to what I heard with my Wilson speakers. First off these are highly different designed speakers and I was certainly a Wilson zealot as I have owned so many of their speakers over the past 35 years. The Wilson philosophy is to time align the drivers and to focus the image directly at the listener's ear height based on the sitting distance from the tweeters. The speakers comes with a manual and the algorithms to be able to set the upper 3 modules based on the aforementioned parameters. Essentially the speaker had a laser like focus specific only for the listener in the set spot leaving all other listeners with an out of focus listening experience. So also were there problems if the next listener in that sweet spot happens to be taller or shorter than the person for whom the upper modules are set. This is why at Audio Shows there tend to be so many criticisms of Wilson as there are so many guests in th sweet spot with different heights as well as so many listeners in other seats around the room . For those who follow my system blog

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...e-new-listening-room-of-steve-williams.10535/

you will find detail over the past several years where I switched the upper modules to defocus this razor sound as well as to move the listening position into the triangle where I felt I achieved the best sound ever from my Wilson speakers

Such is not the case in the setup of the Zellaton speakers. I was quite amazed that Gideon had the speakers out of the crates, the rates taken apart and moved downstairs into my garage and that the speakers were positioned, the seat position changed and with some slight toe in, the speakers were ready to listen to all in just over one hour.

Yesterday I listened to vinyl, tape and streaming and truly enjoyed what each format brought to the table, such that I was able to make the following conclusions based upon what I heard


1.Wilson has a sound and is voiced whereas Zellaton has no sound whatsoever and sounds like I am listening to an electrostatic.


2. Wilson has over ripe bass whereas Zellaton is tight and fast but truly natural. This for me was the biggest difference in both speakers. The bass in Zellaton was tight, fast and linear, meaning nothing in the frequency spectrum stood out. IOW the sound was balanced and sounded very natural .Many speakers have sharp highs or overextended bass etc.but Zellaton sounds like a point source

3.Wilson uses different drivers whereas Zellaton uses all in house drivers made by Zellaton so more coherent sound. I feel this point is worth mentioning as I believe it explains more accurately point number 2 above. The Zellaton drivers are very interesting in design as they are foam lined


4. Zellaton has proven more efficient and sounds bigger with less power. This for me was the biggest worry I had when I ordered the speakers as the Wilson speakers are 95 db efficient whereas the Zellaton is 91 db efficient. My prerequisite to Gideon was that the speakers had to be driven by my Lamm ML3 Class A tube amp at 32 wpc. This was a deal breaker if that test could otherwise not be met as I was not considering any change in my Lamm electronics. What stunned me was that I was able to listen to the Zellaton speakers daily and there was so much head room in all of the formats to which I listened, that I found myself having to lower the gain control. My other concern prior to the Zellaton being set up was that they must achieve a soundstage commensurate with that thrown by my big Wilson.....IOW the sound stage must be reality and believable. From the very first track we played this criterion was not only met but exceeded my best anticipation. And this again is with the Plural Evo not with my soon to arrive Reference Ultra. Gideon promised me the soundstage and listening will be even better. I look forward to and am counting the days when these new speakers arrive


5. When compared to the Wilson I felt that Zellaton has much greater resolution and lower noise floor . One interesting caveat was that with the Wilson speakers always had tweeter and midrange driver transformer hum from my Lamm ML3 which I could never ameliorate until I began using the Schnerzinger Grid and EMI Protectors. With these the transformer hum became so faint that it could only be heard with an ear up close to the drivers. With the Zellaton the transformer hum is totally absent


6.Finally the biggest difference that I heard and continue to comment about is just how fat the deep bass and mid bass are with the Zellaton. Without casting aspersions the Zellaton Zellaton is so much faster whereas Wilson in comparison sounds slow and bloated, especially in mid bass

so what does all this mean to my ears....the Zellaton sound is tight, fast and linear with nothing that stands out to suggest coloration. The sound seems to breathe so much easier.IOW there seemed to be so much air around what I was hearing thus creating a feeling that the speaker was an electrostatic yet can move enormous amount of air. The question of using subs with these speakers was raised many times earlier in this thread by readers but TBH then (prior to hearing, and now (after hearing) I have no desire to consider the use of subwoofers as the sound just seems so natural heard with only the speakers. The sound is completely balanced throughout the frequency spectrum and nothing was accentuated. It was linear from top to bottom

So in summary, these are my first thoughts with these speakers and it only makes me look forward to the arrival of my Reference Ultra.....yet having said that, I must say that these Plural Evo speakers at their price point leave little to the imagination

HTH

 

[Steve williams]

The biggest takeaway for me however is that not only does my 32 wpc Lamm ML3 amp drive this speaker but it does so with ease and I found that I was even turning down the gain from my standard listening position as the Zellaton allowed me to listen at lower levels without any loss of full resolution. That was my biggest anxiety before hearing the speaker in my system

 

[Vicks7]

Congratulations Steve, I am really enjoying this thread in particular as I was not aware of these speakers beforehand. I am following with interest as this could be a potential future speaker if I ever decide to move on from the Evolution Acoustics MMThrees.

I saw in some previous threads you had some hesitation about your amplifiers but that this was not an issue on the Plurals. Out of interest, what amplifiers do Zellaton themselves recommend that they think work particularly well with the speakers in terms of system synergy?

Also I am intrigued to learn more about these Schnerzinger products in particular as I suffer from dirty power, voltage oscillations and brown-outs constantly.

Congratulations again on your journey - very inspiring.

 

[Vicks7]

Also, sorry for the quick follow up, but can someone help explain the hierarchy of the speaker line as the website lists the product line in the order Ulra, Evo and Klassik.

Is the following correct?

Ultra Reference
Ultra Stage
Klassik Statement
Klassik Reference Mk II
Evo Plural
Klassik Stage
Evo Emotion
Klassik Legacy

 

[Audioarts]

Vicks -

The Ultra line is ZELLATON’s top range and Evo line is below it. The Klassik line is former top range.
Legacy monitors have been discontinued for a while now.
Any other questions?

Gideon

 

[Vicks7]

Vicks -

The Ultra line is ZELLATON’s top range and Evo line is below it. The Klassik line is former top range.
Legacy monitors have been discontinued for a while now.
Any other questions?

Gideon

thanks, so my question is where the Klassik line sits in the range. I assume for example the Klassik Statement and Reference are still superior to the Evo Plural or is that not the case and it is simply Ultra, then Evo then Klassik.

 

[KeithR]

Vicks -

The Ultra line is ZELLATON’s top range and Evo line is below it. The Klassik line is former top range.
Legacy monitors have been discontinued for a while now.
Any other questions?

Gideon

Gideon, what is the US MSRP for the new Ultra Stage? Thanks

 

[MylesBAstor]

Gideon, what is the US MSRP for the new Ultra Stage? Thanks

Correction: current price is around $150k depending on finish.

 

[pk_LA]

Hi Patrick....I spent most of yesterday listening and was able to make some observations as to what Im hearing now as compared to what I heard with my Wilson speakers. First off these are highly different designed speakers and I was certainly a Wilson zealot as I have owned so many of their speakers over the past 35 years. The Wilson philosophy is to time align the drivers and to focus the image directly at the listener's ear height based on the sitting distance from the tweeters. The speakers comes with a manual and the algorithms to be able to set the upper 3 modules based on the aforementioned parameters. Essentially the speaker had a laser like focus specific only for the listener in the set spot leaving all other listeners with an out of focus listening experience. So also were there problems if the next listener in that sweet spot happens to be taller or shorter than the person for whom the upper modules are set. This is why at Audio Shows there tend to be so many criticisms of Wilson as there are so many guests in th sweet spot with different heights as well as so many listeners in other seats around the room . For those who follow my system blog

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...e-new-listening-room-of-steve-williams.10535/

you will find detail over the past several years where I switched the upper modules to defocus this razor sound as well as to move the listening position into the triangle where I felt I achieved the best sound ever from my Wilson speakers

Such is not the case in the setup of the Zellaton speakers. I was quite amazed that Gideon had the speakers out of the crates, the rates taken apart and moved downstairs into my garage and that the speakers were positioned, the seat position changed and with some slight toe in, the speakers were ready to listen to all in just over one hour.

Yesterday I listened to vinyl, tape and streaming and truly enjoyed what each format brought to the table, such that I was able to make the following conclusions based upon what I heard


1.Wilson has a sound and is voiced whereas Zellaton has no sound whatsoever and sounds like I am listening to an electrostatic.


2. Wilson has over ripe bass whereas Zellaton is tight and fast but truly natural. This for me was the biggest difference in both speakers. The bass in Zellaton was tight, fast and linear, meaning nothing in the frequency spectrum stood out. IOW the sound was balanced and sounded very natural .Many speakers have sharp highs or overextended bass etc.but Zellaton sounds like a point source

3.Wilson uses different drivers whereas Zellaton uses all in house drivers made by Zellaton so more coherent sound. I feel this point is worth mentioning as I believe it explains more accurately point number 2 above. The Zellaton drivers are very interesting in design as they are foam lined


4. Zellaton has proven more efficient and sounds bigger with less power. This for me was the biggest worry I had when I ordered the speakers as the Wilson speakers are 95 db efficient whereas the Zellaton is 91 db efficient. My prerequisite to Gideon was that the speakers had to be driven by my Lamm ML3 Class A tube amp at 32 wpc. This was a deal breaker if that test could otherwise not be met as I was not considering any change in my Lamm electronics. What stunned me was that I was able to listen to the Zellaton speakers daily and there was so much head room in all of the formats to which I listened, that I found myself having to lower the gain control. My other concern prior to the Zellaton being set up was that they must achieve a soundstage commensurate with that thrown by my big Wilson.....IOW the sound stage must be reality and believable. From the very first track we played this criterion was not only met but exceeded my best anticipation. And this again is with the Plural Evo not with my soon to arrive Reference Ultra. Gideon promised me the soundstage and listening will be even better. I look forward to and am counting the days when these new speakers arrive


5. When compared to the Wilson I felt that Zellaton has much greater resolution and lower noise floor . One interesting caveat was that with the Wilson speakers always had tweeter and midrange driver transformer hum from my Lamm ML3 which I could never ameliorate until I began using the Schnerzinger Grid and EMI Protectors. With these the transformer hum became so faint that it could only be heard with an ear up close to the drivers. With the Zellaton the transformer hum is totally absent


6.Finally the biggest difference that I heard and continue to comment about is just how fat the deep bass and mid bass are with the Zellaton. Without casting aspersions the Zellaton Zellaton is so much faster whereas Wilson in comparison sounds slow and bloated, especially in mid bass

so what does all this mean to my ears....the Zellaton sound is tight, fast and linear with nothing that stands out to suggest coloration. The sound seems to breathe so much easier.IOW there seemed to be so much air around what I was hearing thus creating a feeling that the speaker was an electrostatic yet can move enormous amount of air. The question of using subs with these speakers was raised many times earlier in this thread by readers but TBH then (prior to hearing, and now (after hearing) I have no desire to consider the use of subwoofers as the sound just seems so natural heard with only the speakers. The sound is completely balanced throughout the frequency spectrum and nothing was accentuated. It was linear from top to bottom

So in summary, these are my first thoughts with these speakers and it only makes me look forward to the arrival of my Reference Ultra.....yet having said that, I must say that these Plural Evo speakers at their price point leave little to the imagination

HTH

That all reads great! I am so happy for you. They sound fantastic.

Your comments on the Wilsons echo my own experience. The Wilsons great speakers, no doubt. But, they do have certain idiosyncrasies. As you might recall, we struggled to ever find a true sweet spot with my Alexx Vs due to the extreme asymmetry in the room.

I very much look forward to hearing the Zellatons! Your comments on the bass are great. That was the single biggest question I had on them but it sounds like they are fantastic. Like you, I prefer quick, accurate bass.

 

[Big Dog RJ]

ATTN: Stevo said : 1.Wilson has a sound and is voiced whereas Zellaton has no sound whatsoever and sounds like I am listening to an electrostatic.

Big Dog replies WOOF!!! and that's why I will never change from any other speakers, regardless of price. Electrostats have always been my preferred choice, no other speaker I'd rather own. Maybe Zellaton's if ever to change over to dynamic driver types, perhaps in another lifetime. With these types of speakers, especially at this level, where everything is properly balanced and not over-blown, the limitations are only found on the recording itself, nothing else.

As Stevo clearly explained, Zellaton's use one type of driver material (most of the time) and with this very fact, you hear one sonic waveform, like it was cut from one cloth. Not several types of driver materials firing in all sorts of freq ranges... just all over the joint, and then you have to design very complex cross-overs to accommodate this driver mix-up. Not any easy task to reproduce recorded music with accuracy, detail and high definition based on the recording.

When you actually sit down and seriously listen to speaker systems, such as Stats and Zellaton's, you realize the immediate coherency factor of that soundwave... then when you listen to other types of speakers with multiple carbon this and diamond that... you can identify the disconnection straight away! There's absolutely no denying it! The only thing is, in order to make this comparison and fair judgement, you have to first compare the two. Until that's done, most are pretty clueless when it comes to speakers designed with one type of material. It's a fascinating thing and damn beautiful when it all comes together, bloody marvellous!

Really happy for you Stevo mate, and not only will be you experiencing new detail from your favorite recordings but you may also put on slightly more weight... after listening for endless hours, Ha! Keep those arms flexing and legs pumping! Burn some calories before listening sessions, they're longer than anticipated. I know so.

That deserves another mighty WOOF!!!
Cheers, and most of all, enjoy those finest tunes.
RJ

 

[Steve williams]

I totally understand RJ

The other thing i have noticed is that with prolonged listening there is absolutely no fatigue

 

[Big Dog RJ]

I totally understand RJ

The other thing i have noticed is that with prolonged listening there is absolutely no fatigue

110% correcto mundo!
And that's the beauty of tooobs... You gotta luv em.
Woofty woof'n!
RJ