Zu Audio
Something did not add up when I sat down and began listening in the Zu Audio room. The build up for the Zu Audio Dominance ($40,000/pr) had been sizable and its capabilities were obvious. However, the system displayed was not in agreement with my analysis of the sound it was producing. The other displayed components were a Mac desktop using iTunes and Pure Music, what appeared to be the Melody Audio Pure Black 101 ($4,499), the Yamamoto Sound Craft Corp. A-08S “45” Single Stereo Power Amplifier, and Zu’s Event top end cables.
I commented to Ron Williams of Zu that the speaker should in no way be producing that powerful and defined low end with the Yamamoto amp, regardless of the efficiency of the speaker. He filled me in on the secret, the unseen Pass Labs XA-30.5 Class A 30wpc Amplifier powering the speaker’s 15” bass driver. Also unseen was a Peachtree Nova (see my review) being used for its 24 bit DAC. Further, in discussion with Ron I was made aware that though the speaker is nearly finished, they are still tweaking the crossover, as evidenced by the attenuation employed on the speaker’s binding posts.
Incorporating the variables involved, this was the best sounding speaker thus far at the show. It was in a small room, though wisely treated, making the listening position too close so as to not allow the 10” full range drivers to become seamless, was using fairly low power, was using a competent but not top end DAC in the Peachtree Nova, and was not finalized in the crossover – yet, with all those less than ideal conditions there was fantastic potential in the sound. Just as I had heard tremendous capability in the less than perfect demo of the Kingsound King, so also the Dominance fairly oozed untapped capability for extreme sound. My initial reaction to this speaker is very favorable.
Blue Light Audio
A more radical contrast in scale could hardly be envisioned than moving next to the Blue Light Audio room, featuring the premier of Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne Loudspeakers ($2,000/pr)! These are reference quality two way monitors at a very reasonable price, and were summarily added to my “Best Bargain” list for the show. Though I did not hear them with my own demo music it was one of the few smaller speakers to impress. Helping to propel them to such heights was a prodigious system comprised of Wave Kinetics NVS Reference Direct Drive Turntable ($To be announced), Durand Talea II Reference Tonearm ($7,900), Ortofon MC A90 Limited Edition MC Cartridge ($4,200), darTZeel NHB-18 NS Reference Preamplifier with MC Phono section ($30,000), Playback Designs MPS-3 CD Player with USB input up to 6.1Mhz ($8,500), darTZeel NHB-108 Model B Reference 16WPC Stereo Amplifier ($25,000), Ampex ATR-102 reel-to-reel deck with Aria Electronics, along with Evolution Acoustics’ own cabling.
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