Anyone listen to Zu Audio's Definition Mk3?

Gear wrote,

An overused and tired fallback position, and one that, if you or anyone else here really believed it, Audiogon would not exist. Most of the verbiage generated is the derivative of debate (and subtle and not-so-subtle insults). Glory caught cobra with his pants down. Cobra has gotten the better of Glory too. So what. Don't go to the Asylum anytime soon.

Not everything is created equal. This is true of most things in life, and audio is no exception. A Yugo would never be confused for a Porsche, nor would a Audion Black Shadow for an ASR.....

You wrote

My only point addressed to agear was his attitude that the ASR is a superior choice to any tube and or SET amp without question and that simply is`nt the case. How is it a platitude to state the 'obvious' fact that different ears will prefer different types of sound(this is why an absolute 'best'stance is`nt possible). A large SS class AB amp with NFB will surely be quite different to a SET lower power amp in class A without any NFB(both types have their supporters).Which is preferred is up to the particular listener, always subjective(by default). Within the realm of SS high power and SET there`s significant variations in performance and a hierarchy develops. Not 'every' SET amp is good, but some are outstanding, same thing of course with any genre of amplifiers.

Dad what are you smoking? How do you read Gear's post and come away saying he thinks the ASR is God's amp and there are none others?


You write
No, I`m not assuming the role of big poppa on this thread. IMO we`re all adults who happen to share a common interest of music and the components that reproduce it in our homes.It seems most of us by this stage have had exposure to enough equitment as to be able to form idividual impressions.

By telling members here to grow up you then become the big Daddy with your paddle. Can you refrain from doing that?

By the way one of my first amps was the Audio Note 300B Meishu. Wonderful amp! I love SET amps with HE speakers.

Wow…this thread has been “all around this world” to borrow a Grateful Dead song title. I could say the same for the 2 months just passed since I received my DefIV’s. I won’t bore you with the non audio related and only a little on the non- Zu Def IV related (some amp trials)

To cut to the chase and fill in the details later, I am listening to some wonderful sound coming from my Def IV’s as I type. It is open, coherent, surprisingly more transparent than my already transparent 1.9’s, beautifully sweet, and most importantly, musically engaging. Sean just left my house an hour ago after having hand delivered a new pair of Def IV’s and picked up my old pair of Def IV’s.

My original pair had a problem with the Hypex amp in one of the speakers. I can’t say enough about Sean’s commitment to making sure the problem was solved and that I was happy with the results. He didn’t need to build and deliver a new pair for me, but he insisted that this would give him the peace of mind that I was fully satisfied with the speaker. I can say unequivocally…I am more than satisfied with the speaker. And Sean’s efforts to fix the problem and ensure I was happy as a customer means a great deal to me. I was already a “Zu fan”, loving my Druids and prior 1.9’s , but this speaker, the Def IV, and Sean’s efforts and communication throughout this period have made me a “Zu Groupie”! Great guy! Great company! Truly Great Sound!

Hours after I first posted in May about receiving my Def IV’s I noticed a low frequency oscillation with no signal going to it. I measured it electrically at the speaker binding posts with my Fluke and found it to vary from ~16 Hz to ~20 Hz depending on parametric EQ settings. Amplitude was as high as 5 Volts at full volume setting on the Hypex. Of course, at this level, the doors and walls in the room would visibly shake. What I was hearing was a somewhat higher frequency than that, though below a 60Hz AC. If I had to guess, what I was hearing was the 2nd and/or 3rd harmonic of what I measured.

The result of all this is that whether for psychological reasons or physical reasons, I had a difficult time enjoying the sound, even with the EQ settings down low enough to not induce a measurable oscillation in that speaker. In direct comparison with my 1.9’s, the 4’s lost and lost consistently. That is definitely not the case today…the 4’s are a very significant upgrade over my 1.9’s!

While I waited for Sean to build and deliver a new pair, I listened to my 1.9’s. I took the time to determine if SET amps would move me in a direction I preferred compared to my Atma-Sphere M60’s. I bought a used Cary 805AE from a dealer in Indy…it definitely was not my cup of tea and certainly not worth experimenting with different tubes to improve it. Sold it and lost a bunch of money . I demo’d old chassis Sophia 845 SET monoblocks and there was much to like, even a hint of midrange magic. Alas, it seemed to impart too much of its own signature, a signature that included a bit of upper midrange glare, for me to be happy long term. It didn’t help that the mfg insisted that I not try an 845B tube (“amps are tuned for the A tube, don’t change tubes”) and not to worry about biasing the tubes (you cannot bias the old chassis amps without going inside the chassis), so I returned the amps to Sophia. I am still very curious about the Audion Black Shadows and also the ASR Emitter Exclusive, so I may seek answers there in the future. However, given how wonderful the sound is through the Atma-Sphere / Def IV right now, I am, indeed, content for the moment.

Daddy,

If you can find this thinking in any of Gear's writings please cut and paste it on this thread. I personally know Andrew and he does not believe that way nor has he written with that tone here on the Fourms. Maybe I am wrong Dad so please help me on this.

We are not married to the ASR/Zu speakers or any audio component. I do tend to think like Phil's write up on Krell/Wilson but the minute you say such things you find someone somewhere has put together a great sounding system with both Krell/Wilson.

My reason for posting his rant on this gear was to show you, Daddy, that one can have an all or nothing approach on audio gear and not be a baby needing to grow up. If you call Gear to grow up, and not finding any of his posts stating your believe about him, and I clearly gave you an example of Cobra doing what you accused Gear of doing then you should exhort 213 to grow up.

By the way I thought the 213 post about Krell/Wilson was a huge Hee Haw.


My only point addressed to agear was his attitude that the ASR is a superior choice to any tube and or SET amp without question and that simply is`nt the case

The Atma amp is an amp I would hold on to. If I could have worked with the OTL Tenor/Atma heat I would have never sold them. You will be hard pressed to beat the OTL. I found the ASR to do just that ...

Germanboxers,

You're in a good spot of equilibrium with Def4 + your OTL.

Two comments:

1/ The Audion 845 amps and Audion SET in general have qualities quite apart from almost all other SET implementations. It's far more articulate and transparent than Cary and its ilk. I did not commit to SET until I heard Audion. Black Shadow is the only 845 amp I recommend unconditionally, with others conditioned on caveats. I generally consider Sophia's 845 as next best to Audion, but trading a little more drive for a distinct loss of finess, articulation and some diminishment of tone.

2/ You can safely use the 845B as a drop-in replacement for the stock 845a in the old or new chassis Sophias. It sounds much better, too. I have two friends who couldn't afford Audion Black Shadows, who stepped down to old chassis Sophias on my recommendation to use the 845B from day 1. They've found the B better in every way, and reliable.

Phil