[Mad DOg]

Disclaimer: The following opinions are mine and mine only. They have been arrived at using my gear(and some of Shokunin’s), in my home, with my listening preferences… These opinions in no way reflect those of AudioCircle. Thank you.

I want to start off by saying that this was one of the most enjoyable sessions ever. Those in attendance were Shokunin, Sa-dono, Cryotweaks, John Casler, and Pin (new member from AVS). All great guys who are great company to hang out with!

Also, I’d like to give thanks to everyone who brought over some goodies to play with…

Frank Van Alstine: Special thanks for allowing us the opportunity to audition the Biro L/1s.

Shokunin: SPECIAL thanks for bringing over a Sony XA-777ES SACD player, a Shunyata Hydra w/ Elrod power cord, Cardas speaker cable (not sure which model), Zu Druid monitors, TG silver power cords, Bolder Cable Nitro interconnects and a bunch of SACDs to listen to.

Sa-dono: Thanks for bringing over the Channel Islands passive preamp.

Cryotweaks: Thanks for bringing over a second set of plug and play Bybees for speakers.

John Casler: Thanks for bringing over the battery powered Audioquest speaker cables.

Pin: Thanks for joining us for the listening session. I hope you enjoyed all the gear and music.

Room: approx 12' W x 14' D x 8 1/2' H

Placement: speakers placed about 8' apart on 24" Sanus MDF stands 3' away from the back wall and away from the corners. listening position is approx 6-7' triangulated from the speakers and 4-5' from the back wall. right side of the room has a sliding door that is covered by drapes. left side of the room opens up into the dining area. floors are carpeted. ceiling has popcorn treatment.

Equipment:

Preamp:   Rogue Audio 99 Magnum
Amps:      Aragon Palladium II monoblocks w/ TG silver power cords
DAC:      Perpetual Tech P-3/A w/ Modwright Lev 1; P-1/A upsampler jitter reduction
Sources:   Rotel RDD-980 CD transport; Sony XA-777ES SACD player/transport
Power:      Quantum Symphony Pro, ElectroClears, Shunyata Hydra w/ Elrod power cord
Interconnects: Onix Blues, ZuCable Disco, Bolder Nitro
Speaker cable:   Onix SP-200, Cardas, Audioquest battery powered cables
Speakers:   Onix Reference 1 from www.av123.com ; Biro L/1 from www.avahifi.com
Sub: Onix Rocket UFW-10 Alpha version
Music:      Norah Jones, Diana Krall Live in Paris, Tears for Fears Greatest Hits, Dave Brubeck Time Out, Kasey Chambers Sampler, Coldplay Parachutes, Dave Matthews Crash, Vivaldi Four Seasons Gil Shaham, Yellow, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Echo, some Irish choral track that Cryotweaks brought (not sure of the name).

Biro L/1 loudspeaker impressions:

These speakers arrived double boxed with the speakers packed in the inner box suspended by stryofoam corner protectors inside the outer box. The speakers look exactly as they do on the www.avahifi.com website. The natural real wood oak veneer finish is very good and should match most decor. The enclosure of the exposed tweeter looks rather industrial. Overall shape seemed kind of awkward. I don’t think they are going to win any beauty contests for their overall appearance. The cabinet seems to be constructed w/ ¾” MDF. The Biros use dual gold plated binding posts allowing for bi-wiring or bi-amping if one so desires. Enough on appearances, though…More importantly, what do they sound like?

After I had given them sufficient time to break in and given my ears sufficient time to assimilate to the Biro sound, I found that these speakers sound very nice! They image extremely well. In fact, this is the best imaging speaker I’ve heard in my setup! The image is just so well focused and 3 dimensional. Also the exposed tweeter gives the speaker more airiness and transparency that is breathtaking. I truly appreciated the Biros strength when it came to imaging. But as good as the Biro tweeter is (and it is excellent), it never let me forget that I was listening to a metal dome tweeter. I have never been a fan of metal dome tweets but the implementation of the Biro tweeter is one of the best I’ve heard w/ metal domes. Very smooth and revealing. There was a hint of ringing and harshness at 90+dBs. The imaging and airiness of the Biro was even better than that of my Onix Ref 1s which already do a fantastic job on the qualities. When switching back and forth between the Biro and Ref 1, it is easy to tell that the Ref 1 tweeter is mounted in the baffle.

The Biro mids were good but sounded a bit lean on all material I’ve played on them. This was more apparent when conducting A/B comparisons w/ the Ref 1s. The leanness in the mids seemed to disappear as the volume was turned up. We did most of our listening between 80-95dBs.

The bass performance from the Biros was also quite good compared to most monitors. They are spec’d to extend down to 58 Hz to 20 kHz + and -2 dB in free space and - 3 dB at 42 Hz under typical listening conditions. In listening to the speakers, I found this to indeed be true. In comparison to the Refs, the bass was not quite as tight. This was apparent on track 5 “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” upright bass solo (about the 1” mark) from Diana Krall’s Live In Paris CD. In listening to the Ref 1s, I seldom find the need to use a sub for music. The Biros definitely benefit a great deal when I switched on the sub.

The Refs 1s and Biros are both outstandingly fine sounding speakers that deliver music in different ways. The Refs are more forward in their presentation giving one the impression of front row seating. The Biros on the other hand give me the impression that I am sitting a bit further back. This is evident when listening for attack on both speakers. The Refs excel at attack while the Biros do not have quite the bite and edge in this regard. The decay of the Biros seems to fall off sooner as well. Both are equally enjoyable to listen to, but very different in their approach.

I have included my scorecard rating the 2 speakers. (i had the chart in excel and it didn't come over quite right)

                             Biro L/1              Ref 1
Sonics   Treble                         4.0             4.5
      Mids                             4.5                 5.0
      Lows                            4.0                5.0
      Imaging                  5.0              4.5
      Airiness/Transpareny   5.0                4.0
      Attack/Decay                4.0            5.0
      Overall presentation       4.5          4.5
        Subtotal                   31.0             32.5
         
PhysicalCabinet construction    4.0             5.0
       Finish                       4.0        5.0
       Aesthetics                    2.5             5.0
         Subtotal                   10.5           15.0
         
Total                                41.5              47.5
         
In conclusion, I would like to applaud VanAlstine and AV123 for giving us such wonderful speakers to choose from. Both are excellent (better than most every other speaker I've heard in the price range), each with their own strengths. I will mention that the Hydra and XA-777ES dramatically improved the sound of both speakers. The Hydra brought more blackness to my setup while the XA-777ES used as a transport improved all aspects of the sound. Tighter bass, cleaner highs, and improved clarity. Both speakers are able to resolve changes in upstream components and sounded tremendous with the addition of these 2 pieces with my nod still going to the Refs by the same small margin as above.
 
The Zu Druid monitor did show up and we did give them a listen but I felt that there was definitely something wrong with the speakers. The Druids are supposed to be identical to the Zu Druid floorstanders which I heard at Sotantar’s place a while back with the exception of bass extension due to a smaller cabinet. These sounded NOTHING like those. These were chesty, congested and boxy sounding in the midrange. Not anything like what we heard at Sotantar’s. It is possible the problem may be break in but we played a few tracks of Billy Idol Rebel Yell to put them through the paces and there was no improvement. I’m going to check w/ Zu to see if they might have any thoughts on this cuz Sotantar's Druids sounded very capable and certainly on par w/ some of the finer speakers I've heard. These Zu monitors were a far cry from anything fine I've heard.

I hope all the other attendees had as much fun as I had yesterday and I hope those of you who have taken the time to read this review have enjoyed it as well! Happy listening!

[Sa-dono]

First off, I want to thank Mad Dog and his wife as usual for being such gracious hosts. I also want to thank all of the other attendants for bringing their gear and music, or just attending.

And as always..the following thoughts are simply my opinions. They are certainly not representative of Audio Circle or anyone else. As always, I recommend to give a listen for yourself, especially in your own room and setup, and come to your own conclusions.

As far as aethetics, they definitely ranked a little low. Rather boxy shape, and the tweeter stuck out like a sore thumb. The finish was rather nice though. My only dislike there, was using a separate piece of wood for the seams and edges. This of course really all comes down to personal tastes, so if you like the aesthetics, and more importantly if your spouse does, then great

Onto the important part..the sound. Let me just stress that despite the negatives to follow, these are indeed very good speakers that Frank can certainly be proud of.

The midrange is definitely a tad on the lean side. The bass is a bit shy, and not as tight as with the Ref's. These elements did particularly improve at louder volumes. Adding a subwoofer to the Biro's also helped out, and anyone interested in them would be highly recommended to match them with a musical subwoofer.

As to the highs, they were still a little metallic and tinny, giving off a slight amount of harshness (especially at higher volumes). Still one of the most incredible metal tweeters I have heard. There was also a slight loss of decay and sustain from these speakers. I personally feel that this allowed for more of a direct sound, responsible for the appearance of better imaging.

Even despite these negatives, the Biro's are still highly enjoyable speakers. They are certainly comparable or better than the majority of speakers I have heard in the price range. They are definitely better than the B&M speakers in the price range, and even above. I would have no problems whatsoever just sitting down and listening to the Biro's for extended periods of time, with a good subwoofer and at moderate volume levels. I would without reservation recommend giving them a listen. In closing, I also want to thank Frank for sending out the speakers for us to listen to.

[Mad DOg]

Oh, man! I forgot to thank my lovely wife for allowing me to host yet another listening session! We subjected her to 5 hours or so music...music that she didn't have a choice in listening to. and never once complained.

Man, am I lucky!

[John Casler]

Thank goodness MD and Sadono already wrote most of the story.

Upon arriving MD had the Biros playing and I jumped into the sweet seat, and noticed immeidatly that they did throw a nice center image and soundstage.  The cut was "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears, and I am very familiar with the "vast" soundfield this song can throw up in front of you.

But to be honest I was not that impressed.  I felt the midrange was weak and the highs a little metallic.  I also felt the bass was good but not up to the level of the Ref Ones.

Well that was right after I walked in the door and we hadn't "inserted" most of the goodies, nor had we "turned it up" much.  I would guess the SPL was around 63-65db.

Well let me assure you things changed, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I won't detail each move, but at various times we inserted several other components and accessories in the system, of which the biggest difference can from the SACD player, an Elrod PC, and the SHunyata we used before.

We then unwrapped and plugged in the ZU speakers.  Certainly "wild" looking in their "YELLOW" paint job.  After listening to the Refs and Biros, they didn't sound up to the task.  Now I missed the first ZU audition and MD and Sadono said that these were not representative of the other "floorstander" that they had heard.  So we felt it might not have been broken in and proceeded to maybe loosen it up a bit, with a couple Billy Idol Cuts, like "White Wedding", but to no avail.  

They still sounded rather dry, raspy and had no bass to speak of.

We were all had higher hopes, based on the previous listening sessions (which again I had missed)

Well then volume levels stayed up a bit (remember we had taken Billy Idol out there a bit as in - 92-95db peaks) and Lo and Behold the Biro's started to sound "MUCH" better to me, in fact they were much closer to the Ref Ones, at levels of 75db and over.

Now the volume still did not ameliorate what I thought were the differences between the two and that is the mids were down just a touch making the midrange sound ever so "thin" in comparison to the Refs and the same thing with the Bass (more on that in a second)

And while MD seemed to really like the tweeter (even thought it imaged better than his Refs) I still felt it was a bit metallic (but when I say this it is in comparison to the two best speakers in this price range I am familiar with and the one we had there on hand, was the Ref One.

Now to put this in perspective, My Reference Speakers in this price category are the 626R, and the Ref ones.  While this category ($1500-$1800) has many candidates, I would solidly rank the Biro in the top three, along with my two References.   Especially if you play your music with a bit of volume, and like a good image and soundstage.

Your listening preferences will certainly determine which one might be your cup o' tea.

Now the surprising thing we found was that Bass response for all the speakers.  We used a series of test tones from 200Hz to 20Hz

I performed the same tests on my 626Rs although in a much larger and different room and distance from the speaker.

It looked like this:

    ------ Ref One ---       ZU ---       Biro ---       626R

200   ---      88  ---           87 ---        87 ---          88
160   ---      85   ---          85   ---      85   ---        86
125   ---      85  ---           81   ---      85 ---          90
100   ---      87   ---          82   ---      84  ---         90
80    ----       89    ---        80   ---      86  ---         87
63   - ---       87    ---         74  ---       85  ---         81
50    ----       85   ---          72   ---      87  ---         81
40    ----       73    ---         61    ---     74  ---         84
31.5 -       71   ---          60   ---      68  ---         80
25    ----       68    ---         00   ---       65  ---         72
20    ----       62    ---         00    ---     62   ---        66

Boy do I hope these colums come through.

In any event this bears out most of our bass impressions for all the speakers.

It is rather late right now and I need to eat dinner so I'll post further thoughts if I have any

I hope no one interprets any of my impressions as negatives, these are all very limited impressions and I felt all the speakers were very good.  I even have a feeling the Zu would have perfromed much better with about 100 hours of breakin.

I'd like to thank Frank Van Alstine for letting us hear his Gem, and congratulate him on having such a great contender. (shouldn't be surprised though)

I have to encourage anyone looking for a speaker in this category to entertain these speakers.

I'd also like to hear the Zu's again after they get a few miles on them, to see if they loose the congestion.

All is all we had a great time and MD is right, he is lucky to have a wife who not only puts up with us but is gracious and a great smiling host.

Hey MD does your wife have an older sister?

[shokunin]

Once again, thanks to Mad Dog and his wife for being the gracious host for lunch, drinks, and music.

The Zu's have had very little playtime since I received them from Zu friday afternoon.  Adam at Zu mentioned that the drivers were replaced and have had little break-in and that they will need more hours on them to fully break in.  We did not use the ZU B3 connector, and ended up using the Cardas speaker cables (with spades) onto the cardas connector on the back of the Zu Monitors.  I will say that the Zu Monitors are very cool looking speakers, with the custom machined metal plate in the back, and the machined screw for the cardas binding post gave it a great modern, industrial look to them.

How much the sound will change from the break-in period is hard to tell.  What I did notice from the druid monitors was some kind of midrange peak that I did not notice at sontantar's, who has the Druid Towers.  It could possibly be due to the smaller cabinet volume taking away some of the balance of the lower midrange / midbass, but I'll try and put as many hours on them as I can over the next week.

THe Biros and Refs were both excellent speakers and everyone else has pretty much summed up our listening session.  The Biros indeed open up when the volume is raised up a bit.  The bass was not as tight nor as fast os the Ref 1's.  The metal tweeter did have an extra shimmer or airiness to it that neither the Ref's nor the zu's had.  Mad Dog seemed to like the extra sheen but I felt that on some music it came across as being a bit more tinny and at other times more extended.  Now these were very minor nitpicks of an otherwise excellent speaker and will come down to personal preference, room, and gear as to which one is preferable.  

One thing was very apparent was the lack of port noise that I typically hear in front ported speakers when the volume is cranked up.  The ports were lined with some kind of dampening material, whch seemed to be doing a very good job of controlling noise.

I have the Zu's in my setup here and will break them in and play with various x-over settings with my sub to see if it ameliorates some of the midrange glare that we heard.

[cryotweaks]

A great time last Saturday, wish I could've stayed longer guys! Many thanks to Mad DOg and his gracious wife.

My impressions of the Biro.
The Biro's had a very pleasant sound to my ears. Yes I could tell it was a metal dome at times, and yes the midrange was a bit recessed,  but they threw a nice image width wise and depth wise.  These came across to me as a very equipment and recording friendly speaker.  It was more "forgiving" in other words, of lesser recordings and equipment.  It made them very easy to listen to.  Their design was utilitarian, but I have a feeling that most of the money one would spend on this speaker is for what's inside.  One clue to that was the damping material used on the front firing port.  A nice touch.  Makes me wonder what else they did.

I would definitely recommend this speaker to someone who listens to a broad range of music, and likes a wide sonic presentation.  There are times I can honestly say that I wish I had this type of speaker.  Especially listening to some of my older recordings, and newer alternative selections.

When switching back to the Ref 1's, they immediately revealed that the tweeters were mounted in a baffle, but overall on Mad DOg's system,  I would have to say that the Ref 1's presentation was better.  Why?  First, the depth was a bit better, and the midrange had all of the detail that I am accustomed to in my system.  However, Mad DOg had mentioned that they are a bit particular about the gear they are paired up with, and can sound harsh if not mated to the right gear.  I would say Mad DOg has done an excellent job of matching up his system throughout.

[ton1313]

Hey Guys,

Adam told me a while back that he was sending along a set of speaker cables with the B3 connection plug (8 pole speakon). If he did, USE IT!
This really makes a difference. I have the Druid 2 floorstanders, & compaired 2 identicle sets of Zu WAX cables, one with spades the other with the B3. The B3 presents a more musical & developed presentation. The B3 continues the speaker cable geometry right up to the voice coil, where the Cardas conection is a jumper set of wires.

Hope you all have fun with them

[Sa-dono]

Hey Guys,

Adam told me a while back that he was sending along a set of speaker cables with the B3 connection plug (8 pole speakon). If he did, USE IT!
This really makes a difference. I have the Druid 2 floorstanders, & compaired 2 identicle sets of Zu WAX cables, one with spades the other with the B3. The B3 presents a more musical & developed presentation. The B3 continues the speaker cable geometry right up to the voice coil, where the Cardas conection is a jumper set of wires.

Hope you all have fun with them

I don't recall seeing the SC's included, but I'm sure this is not responsible for the large difference we heard compared to the Druid 2's or Ruins. Hopefully break-in will help, or we can figure out whatever the problem is.

[John Casler]

I knew I had forgoten something.  I took a couple photos of the session we had (as promised) to remove some of the "mystique" surrounding the rugged good looks of the parties involved.  

This first photo shows Shokunin (or at least the back of his head) Mad Dog (in the center) and SaDono.

Now they told me that the sweet spot was this big for the REFs but I couldn't hear it.  They are trying out a new Passive Preamp of SaDono's



It seems that they found that this "Nearfield Extreme" positioning shrank the soundstage and in this next photo Shokunin is pointing to the top of Nora Jones' head, which is about 18" high as Mad Dog and SaDono discuss and share ideas of how to "regrow" her to 5'3"



If I was a little more of an adept photographer, I would have gotten more of the Biro, the top of which can be seen in the bottom right.


Of course I'm joking  but these are some of the members of the LA Audio Society (or Mafia depending on who you talk to)

[avahifi]

Looking at the photos, I would urge MadDog to look into doing the back and side walls with acoustic fabric.  It is available from any "high end" paint and wallpaper store, goes up like wallpaper (except its 60" wide rolls) and will make that room drasticly better sounding -- probably a bigger sonic improvement than any equipment (or wire) changes would make.  It comes in a nice variety of colors and texture patterns and certainly is less expensive than "audiophile" sound traps and the ilk.  My sound lab is completely done in acoustic fabric and is an absolutely awesome place to listen  -- quiet and non-colored.  The only problem, the cats can climb it (spydercats!) so we have to fix it once in a while when a kitty pulls the wall down.  

Frank Van Alstine

[eric the red]

All that gear, all those gear heads, a five  hour listening session, and not a beer bottle in site

[Mad DOg]

Frank,

Thanks for the recommendation!

[ton1313]

Hey Guys,

Have you been breaking in the Druid Monitors still? Just wondering if you have determined if it was a problem with the speaker or just a lengthy break-in.

[Mad DOg]

Hey Guys,

Have you been breaking in the Druid Monitors still? Just wondering if you have determined if it was a problem with the speaker or just a lengthy break-in.

i believe shokunin still has these in his possession...

[mca]

Whatever happened with the Zu Druid speakers? There were a ton of people signed up to get a listen to it, but they kind of stalled out!

[doug s.]

here HERE!!!  i was on the list to audition the zu monitors.

doug s.

[audiojerry]

Has anyone on the audition list tried to contact Zu with an email or phone call?

[doug s.]

jerry, i have but not recently...  unless ya count the email i yust sent a coupla minutes ago.  

doug s.