Anyone listen to Zu Audio's Definition Mk3?

Spirit,

You're right, the Black Hole is effective if the problem you have is the one it solves. Since you already own one, you conclude it's still valuable to your system when you move to Def4. And at $1250 it is an affordable antidote to a vexing sound problem in some rooms.

Gloss finishes on Zu speakers come at a premium, so the maximum performance per dollar point is obtained with one of the stock matte finishes. If you have a rambunctious family, the matte finishes will be more maintainable. If your environment is serene, the gloss finishes seriously raise the perceived value of the speakers. You might look into ebay and Audiogon history for some data mining to see if there are patterns in value retention different for matte or gloss. I don't know. I have a 60" final gen Pioneer Elite Kuro between my Defs in gloss and distractions during movie watching aren't a problem for us. I can't say with a larger image cast by a projector. But it you are wary of visual distractions from gloss reflections, consider getting your hardware anodized black. Silver FRD rings and the big supertweeter lens are more noticeable than reflections, in HT. IMO, among the mattes, Cosmic Carbon looks more suited to the value of the speaker than absolute flat black, in a domestic setting. But if HT is your prime concern, matte black with black metal hardware, will vanish visually in the dark.

Phil

agear,

Migrating from Audionote to Atmasphere to Tenor to ASR isn't a direction I'd take, and I've heard all of it. So I don't know how anyone would judge that or any other system as " the most musically convincing system to date." Well anyway not for me.

I did listen to ASR in my system. Even had a chance to buy it at half price. It didn't earn a spot, simple as that. If someone asks my advice ASR isn't going to be on a short list from me, but if someone else likes it, it's their call. I'm unswayed.

Phil

Phil, Glory's sonic evolution was predicated on his system in its entirety. If our analysis is not holistic in that sense, we miss the boat. The ASR is ruthless, so silver wire, source, and other variables potentially color one's perception of it more so than tube gear. Plain and simple.

Agear,

A system is always holistic, else it's not a system. I don't think anyone -- and certainly I don't -- changes or adds compenents without adjusting the context.

When I listened to ASR in my system, I used all-copper cables first; reverted to silver-content for reference, but I had no expectation that silver would be the right context for an ASR amp. I listened with eight different phono cartridges on three turntables with five tonearms. And I listened to a variety of digital sources. But none of that mitigated the basic character of the ASR, which was undesirable to me.

The interactions that affect perception of ss gear aren't any more numerous nor fewer than those that affect perception of tube gear. Glory chose an amplification migration that I'd find unsuitable or more to the point, drifting *away* from convincing music presentation. I'll also note that every step along the way Glory contended in these forums that each amp was his destination, only to become further dissatisfied. If that happens with the ASR, what then? The trial and restlessness is often the indicator that the path is wrong. But if Glory is happy with his ASR, his cable choices and his Zu based system overall, I have no quarrel with that. It's his to enjoy on terms he sets for himself.

Phil

Sorry 213 but each amp I moved from had a reason other than dissatisfaction. The OTL amps were head and shoulders above the noisy/colored sound of the SET amps I had. Heat from the Tenor amps drove them out of my FL. Home.

Musical to you may not be musical to me but there is no way with the system you have built around the Def4 you can get better results than I have with my Def2. It takes T&E and $$$ and lots of wisdom to build a musical connecting system. I wish it were that easy to P&P Zu speakers in a Ford Focus system and get HE results.

Moral of the story is one must build, from the wall out, with SOTA gear to hear the Def speakers at their best. Having so so gear on a Def4 will not make it sound better than a Def2 with Nano drivers that has from the wall out HE gear.

Enjoy your system as I do mine.

Over and out.