oceangreen17

Fabulous looking and rare speakers! Best wishes for the sale

I am totally biased and love Zu Audio's current offerings I have a set of Soul Superfly MK1B's and are really impressed with their overall balance and detail. I have compared them directly with my older Avalon Acoustics and Coincident Speaker Technology speakers. The Zu's are just as revealing of source material as the Coincident speakers (if not more so). As a bonus they require less powerful amps and sound good with both tubes and solid state. Having said that, as noted above, they really produce strong listener reactions. When I first heard the Zu's I was slightly underwhelmed, but after 15 minutes or so, I began to really like their presentation. Some people find them too up front or too warm or too old school. They are the opposite of the current trend in many high-end HiFi offerings that signal their treble and bass at you in an (initially) impressive manner - like little sonic supermodels with a rather short use by date! I have personally found them to be very sensitive to the quality of the front end you drive them with. They also play well both loud and soft, some thing a lot of speakers can not do successfully. However, as everyone here is saying, you need to hear them yourself. Highly recommended to contact Cameron at Krispy - Take some of your own music for a very relaxed and enjoyable listening session. Steve

Keitha, I have been down the same road as you in terms of moving to tube amps and to easy load - sensitive speakers. I would strongly suggest second hand speakers as this opens up a lot more possibilities and even some high-end options. For example, I have had a range of excellent second hand speakers (all in the top end of your price range) such as Dynaudio, Obsborn, Krix, Avalon Acoustics, and Coincident Speaker Technology. The Coincident speakers were my first move into low power tube amplification and were altogether stunning speakers. I imported them directly from Canada which was a lot work (and freight), but my main point here is, there are more and often cheaper options outside of Australia as well. You just need a little more time, research and good communication with the seller. Have a listen to the Zu speakers. Some people love them, some people find them too up front, or too old school. I personally love their current offerings. For example, the Soul Superfly MK1B is (for me) a really big achiever for a small floorstander. It compares extremely well with my Coincident and Avalon speakers in many areas. Unfortunately, I realise after saying that, the Superflys, are just a little beyond your budget, but I mention them because the Zu Audio range are very tube friendly and this means also low powered SET amps as well. My experience with the Osborne speakers, mentioned above, was that they needed more powerful tube amps to drive them successfully and open them up. This meant they were not really suitable with some of the low power tube offerings that can be so much fun. Think second hand Decware and Audion products for example or the super cheap Mini Watt N3. There are many forum members with a great deal of knowledge and experience in this area - A lot more than me, but I hope this has been helpful.

Great photos by the way! Good luck with the sale

Hang in there AJ - This is now the boring, and slow part of recovery. I have been in a couple big smash ups myself and it just seems to take forever to get well. Lots of rest, fluids, really good food and good music. Take care mate Steve

I have a gentleman looking at these tomorrow who is the first in line, but if he not interested, I will certainly keep you in the loop. Kind regards Steve

Apologies in advance - I posted this ad by mistake in the Wanted section and have requested that out kind moderators delete it asap. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Item: SOLD Coincident Speaker Technology Victory Speakers - Light Cherry Wood Location: Randwick NSW Price: SOLD Item Condition: Good condition Reason for selling: Moving in another direction as I now live in a small flat Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Stunning Coincident Technology Victory speakers in a rich natural (almost golden honey) cherry wood finish. Superbly engineered, large, and powerful floorstanders that very rarely come up for sale in Australia. I am the second owner and imported these from Canada in 2007 (Freight $1350!). They are in good condition with a few minor marks for their age. Please note the small crack in one mounting bolt flange on one of the midrange drivers. See photos below - Does not appear to have any sonic effect. They include the additional larger out riggers ($US299) and the later model upgraded internal wiring. There are no grills on Coincident speakers. Pick up only: Although I have the original (cardboard!) boxes, these units are extremely heavy – 42 kilos each and would be very expensive to post. Specifications: Frequency Response: 36 hz - 40 khz
 Impedance: 14 ohms (never dropping below 10 ohms or going above 16)
 Sensitivity: 97 db @ 1M - 1W
 Power Requirements: 3 watts - 100 watts
 Dimensions: 42" H x 9" W x 14" D
 Weight: 92 lbs.
 Driver Compliment - per speaker

 Tweeter: 1x Isodynamic planar magnetic 6"
 Midrange: 2 x Fabric 3" units
 Woofers: 2 x Paper Treated 6.5" units Links: http://www.coinciden...om/victory.html Reviews: http://www.coinciden...bfs_review.html http://www.coinciden...review_avg.html http://www.coinciden...ier_review.html http://www.6moons.co...nt/victory.html http://www.audioasyl...ages/63643.html Pictures:

Having made that comment about chip amps I should eat humble pie ...... My little $200 Gainclone still sounds very good against a number of my other amps that cost many times more. Like Bill, despite all the hype, I am still interested in the JOB 225 ....

Remember the Sonic T-amp craze?

Well all these learned musings posted here are ultimately speculations about an amp that no member of this forum has actually heard and then reviewed.

I still think the bi-amping suggestion may be a useful way of getting the best of both worlds... What about something like the APPJ Mini Tube amp - a revised Mini Watt N3 that sells on ebay for $200 - for HF duties? You can still use your Emotiva XPA-2 .... and from memory the Mini Watt has a volume pot to help match gain to the Emotiva Is this a totally crazy idea?

Sorry to hear of your accident AJ Sounds extremely painful and serious .... just hope the nursing staff are looking after you! Get well soon Steve

Cheers - Thanks for that link. Strange they don't have a standard online shop.

The website now states that: " The new 115/230V JOB 225 is now available for $ 1699, shipment included and can be ordered through this website directly " Without seeming overly keen .. where exactly on the website?

Yes I totally agree with Adrocks - We all need to follow the guidelines to be fair to other Forum members. Please nominate an actual price. Thank you

You could get a very good secondhand AUDIBLE ILLUSIONS MODULUS 3A full functional tube preamp for around $1200 - $1400. These are a classic dual mono design and if you run good quality NOS Russian tubes ($160 for a matched balanced quad) they will last at least three years. I have had a M3A for years now and are still amazed at how good it sounds. The Doge 8 is also highly recommended - New from CattyLink Both cheap and excellent designs

Item: TACT RCS 2.2 MINI Preamplifier / Dynamic Room Correction System: Location: Randwick NSW Price: $1850 Item Condition: Near new Reason for selling: Surplus to needs Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Bank Deposit Extra Info: Purchased new from TACT Audio NYC in 2009. Cost $USD3850. Works perfectly. This unit has had around 60 hours of actual use due to a change in direction (full range driver speakers, no subs) and frankly my inability to operate it with enough knowledge and skill! It uses the same software as the larger TACT 2.2XP ($USD5600) but does not have any analogue inputs. This unit is in near new condition and includes the original PC software disc. Background information: The system is designed to be used without a computer, and all major adjustments, can be made on the large front display. In addition to the automatic room correction, the PC software supports Quick Setup that allows correction results in a few minutes. The unit can be used with one or two subwoofers. An electronic crossover can be set with a frequency between 40 and 500Hz and a slope between 12dB/octave and 144db/octave to split the audio signal between the main and the subwoofer outputs. The correction software aligns the subwoofers(s) with the main speakers in the time domain and the frequency domain, for seamless integration. This is a sophisticated room correction preamplifier that measures the performance of the amplifier/speaker/room, and then corrects the frequency, phase, and time response. During the calibration process a calibrated microphone picks up the impulses at the listening position. Both frequency-domain and time-domain response can be determined based on the deformation of the pulse. The actual frequency response is compared to the desired frequency response defined by the user, and the system calculates an extremely complex inverse filter for each speaker that will give the desired frequency response with the best possible time behavior. The filter is itself an impulse (in the time domain) that corrects both the time- and frequency- domain behavior of the speaker-room combination. As the correction takes place in the time domain, the level is the same before and after the impulse with no sacrifice of dynamic range. Up to nine room settings can be stored in the system memory and direct comparisons evaluated on-the-fly via the bi-pass function on the remote control. Main features: Five digital inputs with sample rates up to 192kHz/24-bits; 192kHz up sampler at the inputs High-quality re-clocking at all outputs No noise in the digital domain Real-time 12-band parametric EQ, with shelving tone controls Triple-stage power supply with separate grounds Extremely low jitter Sample rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz; Digitally controlled analog output levels, separate R & L channel level adjustments in m/secs Digital crossovers for two subwoofer Full-featured remote control for both analog and digital inputs with engage and on-the-fly bi-pass function Ability to bypass the room-correction feature and to store nine different user-chosen equalization curves Included installation software disc that allows programmable updating for improved ergonomics and room correction Large screen display with menu that reports the status of all features. Note: I have removed the serial number in photo only. Inputs/Outputs: 5 x Digital inputs 4 x S/PIDF (RCA) 1 x Optical (Toslink) All digital inputs support PCM audio data with sampling rates from 32 kHz to 96 kHz / 16-24 bits. RCA/coaxial input also support 192 kHz 2 x Digital outputs for main channels: 1 x S/PDIF (RCA) 1 x AES/EBU (XLR All outputs support 24-bits at 44.1,48, 88, 96 or 196kHz. 2 x Digital outputs for subwoofers: 1 x S/PDIF (RCA) 1 x AES/EBU (XLR All outputs support 24-bits at 44.1,48, 88, 96 or 196kHz. 2 x Stereo analogue outputs for main channels: 1 analogue stereo single ended (RCA) 1 analogue stereo balanced (XLR) Plus 2 x RS232 interface ports: INPUT (computer) & AUX (daisy chain multiple RS232 components Includes: PC dynamic room correction software disc, calibrated microphone, computer cables, owner’s manual (difficult to understand!), power cord, white papers pdfs and original box. Pick up welcome or will freight via insured courier at owner’s expense. I can PM the owner’s manual and additional TACT technical documents if requested. Links: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue32/tact.htm Pictures:

Thanks so much that is very helpful. Have any owners of the EE DAC tried this?

Is it OK to leave a Gainclone power amp on all the time? I notice mine sounds better after extended listening sessions. On the same theme, I have the original Eastern Electric Tube DAC with op-amp mods (the one before the plus). As I do not use the tube output is it OK to remove the tube, and leave the DAC on continuously? Thanks Steve

I agree with Hensa that examples like the JM Focal he has recommended above would be a good, safe buy - (The Focals are 91 db sensitivity into 8 omhs) Also other European brands like Dynaudio made good slim design entry level floorstanders (Audience series of a few years back) Another idea is look around for some Australian made second hand speakers - I used to have a pair of Krix MDX standmounts a few years back which were around $500 and sounded surprisingly good. Very pleasant and musical speakers. In fact there are far too many choices out there. Call me old fashioned there are great examples on this site right now!