Zellaton Plural Evo - My Review

[SeagoatLeo]

Sorry you weren’t able to experience all they have to offer. In addition to the Esoteric I’ve connected mine to JMF 7001 monos (300/600 AB) and Absolare stereo hybrid (175/275) with no negative impact.

That's what they sounded like on several videos in 2023 with high powered amps.

 

[Steve williams]

Leo

The way I see it, it is all good. That’s why we all have so many choices It’s our ears and our asses in the sweet spot and it’s our money. I did my due diligence on Zellaton with the one prerequisite that they must sound good using my electronics as those for me were keepers. I searched the net, talked to users and watched the same videos ss you did as well as following the threads here on WBF. I talked to Emile in Hollland who uses low wpc tube amps in a much larger room than mine powering the Zellaton Reference Mkll and he’s a very happy camper. Frankly this thread caught my attention as I will be receiving a loaner set of Plural Evos as I await delivery of my Reference Ultra. So I think I’ve done my due diligence on low output amps with this speaker. Honestly you’re the first person I have ever read that said they just didn’t perform. well in their system. But once again it’s all about choices and that for me is what makes the hobby so much fun. In my search there were brands that were on my short list but the mfrs were honest with me and said my electronics couldn’t drive them so I thanked them and moved on. I just think coming into a Zellaton thread and saying your speakers trashed the Z was perhaps a little harsh and as I said I’ve never read in my search a negative comment about this brand but I definitely respect your choice. Peace

 

[MylesBAstor]

Heard the plural evo with CH M, Engstorm, MSB, Absolare amplifications, they sound wonderful, very dynamic and capable speakers. Also herd the Stage with the last three amplifications, absolutely loved them.

I have used integrated amps from Ensemble and Soulution as well as amps from Soulution, Goldmund and FM Acoustics on the Plural Evos. The electronics ranged from 70 to many 100s of wpc and all drove the PE with ease. In fact, the Ensemble integrated that sounded so-so on the Magico S5 Mk.2s was a totally different beast on the Plural Evos. Bass? No issue but one does have to tune the low end to the room (one of Zellatons goals in the Plural Evos was to design a speaker that works in smaller rooms.). The bass has an incredible jump factor (try Elvin Jones' Music Machine LP on MLAS label or the Kip Dobler D2D from Cardas Records--especially with the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL or GAT Hypersonic X4 MCs into the Doshi Audio Evo phonostage) and depth (try the organ that goes down to 16 Hz on the 2XHD 15 ips Audiophile Sampler Tape 1 here.)

What the Plural Evos do need is a very fast and agile amp (wide bandwidth designs like Soulution meet that need nicely) that brings out the speaker's electrostatic-like and extremely linear sound. There really is something to the PE being a semi-wide bander (90 to 7500 Hz) and the same driver driver design for the mid and bass drivers. Properly setup the Plural Evos are capable of astonishing tone, transparency, imaging and resolution! (Try the AP reissue of Dream With Dean, the 2XHD reissue of Shirley Horn Softly recorded by Pierre Sprey [either the 15 ips tape or 45 rpm LP] or Horch House's 15 ips reissue of Saturday Night in SF!!!) You won't be disappointed!

 

[morricab]

I have used integrated amps from Ensemble and Soulution as well as amps from Soulution, Goldmund and FM Acoustics on the Plural Evos. The electronics ranged from 70 to many 100s of wpc and all drove the PE with ease. In fact, the Ensemble integrated that sounded so-so on the Magico S5 Mk.2s was a totally different beast on the Plural Evos. Bass? No issue but one does have to tune the low end to the room (one of Zellatons goals in the Plural Evos was to design a speaker that works in smaller rooms.). The bass has an incredible jump factor (try Elvin Jones' Music Machine LP on MLAS label or the Kip Dobler D2D from Cardas Records--especially with the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL or GAT Hypersonic X4 MCs into the Doshi Audio Evo phonostage) and depth (try the organ that goes down to 16 Hz on the 2XHD 15 ips Audiophile Sampler Tape 1 here.)

What the Plural Evos do need is a very fast and agile amp (wide bandwidth designs like Soulution meet that need nicely) that brings out the speaker's electrostatic-like and extremely linear sound. There really is something to the PE being a semi-wide bander (90 to 7500 Hz) and the same driver driver design for the mid and bass drivers. Properly setup the Plural Evos are capable of astonishing tone, transparency, imaging and resolution! (Try the AP reissue of Dream With Dean, the 2XHD reissue of Shirley Horn Softly recorded by Pierre Sprey [either the 15 ips tape or 45 rpm LP] or Horch House's 15 ips reissue of Saturday Night in SF!!!) You won't be disappointed!

Where do you see that the midrange covers such a wide bandwidth? I could not find that published anywhere. The only divers I know of that cover such wide bandwidths, other than some electrostatic panels, are very light paper cone drivers with very powerful magnets (Lowther, Voxativ, AER, Supravox etc.).

 

[SeagoatLeo]

Where do you see that the midrange covers such a wide bandwidth? I could not find that published anywhere. The only divers I know of that cover such wide bandwidths, other than some electrostatic panels, are very light paper cone drivers with very powerful magnets (Lowther, Voxativ, AER, Supravox etc.).

I recall the Plural Evo midrange covers 90% of the 20 to 20,000 frequency range. Quite impressive. The one area that my friends and I thought were superlative was the tweeter's highs. They were amazing. But then there's the other 90-95%.

I'm happy that so many audiophiles have found the Plural Evos so enjoyable. For my friends, wife and myself, it was not and I became very anxious thinking about purchasing an expensive speaker that sounded bad. Three months later, a like new upgraded 2016 Von Schweikert VR9 was purchased with the Westminster REIs, Poseidon, Jay's Audio CDt3, I am thrilled with recordings from every age and type of music. LPs and 78s even better.

 

[exupgh12]

Where do you see that the midrange covers such a wide bandwidth? I could not find that published anywhere. The only divers I know of that cover such wide bandwidths, other than some electrostatic panels, are very light paper cone drivers with very powerful magnets (Lowther, Voxativ, AER, Supravox etc.).

Midrange Driver:

• The 180mm (7") full-cone midrange driver is a key feature, and it operates across a very wide frequency range, approximately from 90 Hz to 7,500 Hz.

 

[morricab]

I recall the Plural Evo midrange covers 90% of the 20 to 20,000 frequency range. Quite impressive. The one area that my friends and I thought were superlative was the tweeter's highs. They were amazing. But then there's the other 90-95%.

I'm happy that so many audiophiles have found the Plural Evos so enjoyable. For my friends, wife and myself, it was not and I became very anxious thinking about purchasing an expensive speaker that sounded bad. Three months later, a like new upgraded 2016 Von Schweikert VR9 was purchased with the Westminster REIs, Poseidon, Jay's Audio CDt3, I am thrilled with recordings from every age and type of music. LPs and 78s even better.

I have found Von Schweikert speakers to generally sound very good for more or less conventional box speakers...quite lively sounding.

 

[morricab]

Midrange Driver:

• The 180mm (7") full-cone midrange driver is a key feature, and it operates across a very wide frequency range, approximately from 90 Hz to 7,500 Hz.

ok, not sure why this isn't mentioned on the manufacturers website...

 

[morricab]

I recall the Plural Evo midrange covers 90% of the 20 to 20,000 frequency range. Quite impressive. The one area that my friends and I thought were superlative was the tweeter's highs. They were amazing. But then there's the other 90-95%.

I'm happy that so many audiophiles have found the Plural Evos so enjoyable. For my friends, wife and myself, it was not and I became very anxious thinking about purchasing an expensive speaker that sounded bad. Three months later, a like new upgraded 2016 Von Schweikert VR9 was purchased with the Westminster REIs, Poseidon, Jay's Audio CDt3, I am thrilled with recordings from every age and type of music. LPs and 78s even better.

I am wondering if using a not very high sensitivity driver to cover such a wide range is a good idea? High sensitivity drivers that cover a wide bandwidth work quite well up to a certain level and then get congested sounding when complex music is put through them at high SPL. I would expect the same problem with this wide band driver but the onset would be at significantly lower SPL. This would impact resolution and transparency. What I noticed is that the electrostatic like transparency and resolution one gets from the Classic series from Zellaton (IMO, these are possibly the best "box/cone" speakers out there) is definitely not transferred down to the Evo Plural.

I see now that the new Ultra line is also adopting the "wide bander" mid-range, which apparently was originally developed in the Evo line. I now have my doubts about this new line as well because, materials aside (are the new drivers better or just less manual labor intensive to build?), this use of a wide band mid is the major change in the Zellaton design.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Midrange Driver:

• The 180mm (7") full-cone midrange driver is a key feature, and it operates across a very wide frequency range, approximately from 90 Hz to 7,500 Hz.

görlich /zellaton were already excellent mid drivers. There are still companies that can do this with more efficiency, e.g. tonetubby alnico 10"&12"

 

[MylesBAstor]

Where do you see that the midrange covers such a wide bandwidth? I could not find that published anywhere. The only divers I know of that cover such wide bandwidths, other than some electrostatic panels, are very light paper cone drivers with very powerful magnets (Lowther, Voxativ, AER, Supravox etc.).

Read my review in Positive Feedback. From the horses mouth.