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Acoustic Zen Crescendo Mk2 or Daedalus Ulysses v2

Hi, wanting to replace my old Legacy Audio Signature II towers. Yes, I know the new Legacys are a very good option, but wanting to try something different now.

My priorities are a big, open, uncompressed presentation with prodigious but controlled bass. I want some serious dynamic impact on percussive transients. Needs to be a versatile speaker, as it will be used for both music and home theater. I have plenty of amp power for pretty much any speaker.

I've read stellar reviews of both the Ulysses and Crescendo as having the qualities I am looking for. Does anybody have experience with both?
mtrot
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
The Crescendo sounds terrific with the Triode Labs 845 amplifier on the 3 separate occasions I've heard them, pure musical excellence. The Halcro has more power but that is only one factor of many that matter. I'd take my chances with the Triode lab based on my listening experiences. I've heard the Ulysses and believe it's a very good speaker as well. It was driven by a Mod Wright transistor amplifier which is a nice amp but the Crsecendo had an advantage with the Triode Lab amplifier pairing IMO. I'd like to hear both speakers directly compared driven by the better amp.
david12
1,454 posts
 
Not a direct comparison I know, but I switched from AZ Adagoios to Daedalus DA-RMAs 4 years ago and the difference was night and day. Lou's target at Daedalus is to get as near to live sound as possible and they certainly do that. They are very fast neutral and uncoloured, in comparison with the Adagios, which are very good too by the way, but not in the same class at all.
nekoaudio's avatar
nekoaudio
489 posts
 
If you share your general location you may be able to find someone nearby who has speakers for you to listen to?

FWIW I use the Crescendos for both 2-channel and home theater at reference levels (85dB dialogue, 105dB peaks) and have tested running them set to LARGE to confirm they can handle it.

- I'm a dealer for Acoustic Zen, after being a customer first, so weigh my words as you wish.
mtrot OP
804 posts
 
Thanks for all the replies and info! @David12, I might have to check out those DA-RMAs. BTW, in perusing the Daedalus site in the past, it seemed to me that some of their speakers were for specific room types or specific applications, and I wasn't sure if they would match my room and setup.
mtrot OP
804 posts
 
@Nek, I am in East Texas. Interesting that you wrote about running your mains as LARGE, as that is how I run my system. After a series of unsatisfactory center channel speakers, I just resorted to a "phantom" setup. And I also send the LFE to my Legacy Audio Signature IIs, which go down to ~20hz. My Krell amp has plenty of juice for doing that.
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