[dspringham]

Looking for one of these beauties to run on my Zu Druids.
Anybody have one that they want to part with after finding that their speakers are not efficient enough to run on 2 watts?
Maybe just looking for a change?
Maybe just need the cash?
All of the above?

Serious buyer waiting in the wings.

Thanks,
David
starnail@telusplanet.net

[miklorsmith]

Close . . .

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1206112471

$2,300 might seem high but there's an 8-week wait from Japan for a new one and they are smokin' good.  6 months ago, a few went for around $2k but lately the used prices have been going up on those rare occasions when they do go up for sale.

[dspringham]

Thanks Mike,

Ya, that one has sold. Not sure what it went for but the price did seem high to me since it was the 08 (4-5 years old) version and not the new and improved A-08S. The 08 was only $2250 new. A new A-08S goes for $2750 I think.

Hey Mike, by the way - you've been to the brink TWICE with your 08S. Sure you don't want to make it THIRD time lucky?

By the way, I just picked up a Red Wine Signature 30.2 and it sounds sweet on the Druids. I thought the perfect combo would be the Yamamoto for those intimate late night jazz sessions and the Sig 30.2 for those time when one might want a little more "horsepower" to curl the wallpaper a bit.

Also, I purchased Zu's Signature Tweeter upgrade with the new minimalist network (Mundorf Supreme Silver PIO cap and single Mills resistor) with B3 cable harness. I think that this tweeter and network is similar to what is being run on the Def II's and Presence. This new network increases the output of the tweeter by about 2db in along with a smoother presentation.

Dave

[miklorsmith]

Hey Dave, you don't miss a beat.

Alas, that third lucky time came and went.  Actually it was a fourth time, but that's another story.  The short version is I was holding the S in reserve for when I Really Needed the dough.  It wasn't a matter of IF, rather when.  The offered deal was so good I just couldn't refuse.  Man that sucker is good with the Def. 2s though.

I did keep the 45 bottles and I absolutely guarantee another Yammie will grace my space in the future.

Your two scenarios with those amps are brilliant, and perfectly described.  I didn't know Zu was doing that tweeter upgrade on the Druids.  Going from the old network in the Druids and Defs to the new one in the 2s is quite an ear opener.  I would love to hear Druids with that setup some time.  Nice work, you're on a path for the long haul.

[sts9fan]

How much are they charging for that upgrade?  Do you have to send the speakers back?

Thanks
Kris

[dspringham]

Mike, bro - I can't believe you did it. Well I guess all you can do now is stare longingly into those lifeless EML 45's and pine for the good ol' days when they were alight with "the sounds of music".

Kevin - the upgrade was $500 for two new tweeters with attached networks and B3 cable harness. I simply installed the new tweeter assemblies into the existing waveguide lenses (after unsrewing the old assemblies). There is a return credit from Zu for the old tweeter assemblies.

I initially found out about the upgrade from a Zu ad in Stereophile (before Christamas) whereby they were offering a FREE "Signature" Tweeter upgrade ($500 value) with the purchase of a pair of Druids. May have been a limited time offer.

The upgrade does transform the high end presentation of the Druid. Allows for a more open, smooth, transparent and extended top end without degrading the warm sonic signature that is the essence of the Druid. I think this mod effectively addresses the "sometime" critism of the Druid as being somewhat "closed in" or "soft" on top. Sound goog to me.

Hey, I thought that this thread was about finding a Yamamoto for me! Oh, I guess I started the Zu talk.

Dave

[miklorsmith]

Yah, you're not kidding.  Luckily for me, the Lamm>RWA>Def. 2 combo is unreal.  It's not as holographic as the 45 setup though which is why it WILL return.

Having heard the old tweeter network and now the new one with the Def. 2s, I'd say $500 is a no-brainer upgrade for Druid owners.

Hey, it's still about finding you an amp - all the discussion keeps the topic "on top".   It's way more fun than a periodic BUMP post.  

[dspringham]

"Having heard the old tweeter network and now the new one with the Def. 2s, I'd say $500 is a no-brainer upgrade for Druid owners."

Ya, no doubt. I bought my Druids used for $2000. The upgrade just makes them an even better value.

Regarding the Yamamoto I may consider the kit version - $2150.00 delivered. I'm an electronics engineering technologist by trade - easy kit build, however i would rather purchase preowned for around the same price.

Dave

[kck]

Does this upgrade also apply to Def 1.5s?

[dspringham]

"Does this upgrade also apply to Def 1.5s?"

Call Sean at Zu.

[doug s.]

Looking for one of these beauties to run on my Zu Druids.
Anybody have one that they want to part with after finding that their speakers are not efficient enough to run on 2 watts?
Maybe just looking for a change?
Maybe just need the cash?
All of the above?

Serious buyer waiting in the wings.

Thanks,
David
starnail@telusplanet.net

you may also wanna consider an almarro a205a mkll.  i have one that's been modded w/hovland musicaps, & i can tell you it's outstanding w/efficient speakers.  while i have not heard the yamammoto, according to the folks at 6moons, the yam isn't better, yust different.  (and, iirc, they were comparing an unmodded earlier wersion, not the latest mkll iteration, which is even better.)  for the difference in price, it's definitely worth a shot, imo...

doug s.

[kck]

Ditto on the Almarro. I said this only yesterday to someone in a PM... I just missed buying one of those nice used Yammies last year. Moping and on the rebound, I got the A205II. With stock OR NOS tubes, it delivers a wonderful, emotional and communicative sound, and I can honestly say I don't feel I missed anything with the Yammy. Of course, those who have heard both may disagree... but I have not heard both and don't feel I need to!

Although I am using different amplification now to get better control of the bass, the Almarro is still with me as a second amp for when that sort of mood strikes.

[doug s.]

Ditto on the Almarro. I said this only yesterday to someone in a PM... I just missed buying one of those nice used Yammies last year. Moping and on the rebound, I got the A205II. With stock OR NOS tubes, it delivers a wonderful, emotional and communicative sound, and I can honestly say I don't feel I missed anything with the Yammy. Of course, those who have heard both may disagree... but I have not heard both and don't feel I need to!

Although I am using different amplification now to get better control of the bass, the Almarro is still with me as a second amp for when that sort of mood strikes.

when you run an active subwoofer system, you don't need to worry about the bass response of your main amp/speakers...   

doug s.

[miklorsmith]

True words, Doug.  This is THE WAY to do it.

[Srajan Ebaen]

not to stray too far off topic but I just talked to both Adam and Sean since the Presence review pair finally landed in Cyprus... the tweeter network on this and the Def 2 runs a silver/oil Mundorf and Kimber cap in parallel (not as a bypass cap). And, these caps are matched to within 0.1% tolerance. On the Druids, the matching goes to 0.5%. Also, all the tweeters now are being rebuilt when they come in from their supplier, with the voice coils being realigned and certain critical sub-assemblies refixed.

Check out the burn-in rack where the drivers with wire harness and filter network get pre-tortured 

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/zu12/sidebar1.JPG

And to confuse the Yamamoto issue further, Shigeki-San e-mailed me with news about a new flagship amplifier coming out this year. It'll run 300Bs. Not sure yet whether that's a tweaked-up A-09 or altogether new model.  aa

[dspringham]

Thanks for the new information Srajan. It sounds like the Presence/DefII tweeter assembly is indeed significantly different (improved) from that of the Druid "Signature" update. None the less, the Druid update does have a lot to offer and definately worth the price of admission.

While you're hear Srajan, can you offer any comments, opinions or speculations on the Druid IV/Yamamoto A-08S combo. As mentioned I have the Red Wine Sig 30.2 and really enjoy the synergy with the Druids - just looking for a little more potential holography with the Yamamoto 45's.

Any insight appreciated.

[Srajan Ebaen]

While a 12-ohm load (good) and plenty sensitive (twice good), you're asking a 2wpc amp with no feedback to run the Druids full-range. Even though the Druid starts to attenuate rapidly at 40Hz, the amp is still asked to put out and be responsible for the full bandwidth. That's not an ideal scenario at all. On the Definitions and Presence, the active bass systems take over and that's far more ideal. Even more ideal, at least theoretically, would be to bandwidth limit the Yamamoto actively and not let it see anything flat below 80Hz. I have an active crossover with 80Hz low/high-pass which can be run in tandem or just the low-pass. I'll experiment with that on the Presence where the widebander doesn't reach as low as on the other models seeing it's in a tiny sealed enclosure (the upper 5th of the column). I have a good hunch that if the widebander is filtered at 80Hz while driven by the Yamamoto, the li'l amp could be very happy.

Back to your scenario. I'd be far more inclined to run the Almarro A318B ($1,850 or thereabouts and 18wpc) or the $3,000 Melody I2A3 (18 watts) on the Druid for that tube thang. The Signature 30.2 will still kick their butts in the upper bass transient attack field and have more amplitude down low but especially the Almarro's 6C33Cs ain't slouches in the bass and both tube amps will give you that holography valves do...

Mind you, the Yamamoto will play plenty loud and you'll have additional gain in your preamp. But loudness and control and definition aren't the same thing.

The other thing is to experiment with a tube pre on the RWA. I have the ModWright and Supratek to do it with and it works very well. It's not exactly the same as a valve power amp but for a bit of take, there's also a lot of give (or should that be the other way around?)... and the RWA Isabella is due out in 30-60 days and that should be priced just right to go with the Siggie amp...

[anubisgrau]

Ditto on the Almarro. I said this only yesterday to someone in a PM... I just missed buying one of those nice used Yammies last year. Moping and on the rebound, I got the A205II. With stock OR NOS tubes, it delivers a wonderful, emotional and communicative sound, and I can honestly say I don't feel I missed anything with the Yammy. Of course, those who have heard both may disagree... but I have not heard both and don't feel I need to!

Although I am using different amplification now to get better control of the bass, the Almarro is still with me as a second amp for when that sort of mood strikes.

when you run an active subwoofer system, you don't need to worry about the bass response of your main amp/speakers...   


what if your active bass system is fed with the speaker cables and not with a line cable? the speakers i will use soon are having this in order to get a sort of similar bass flavour throughout
doug s.

[doug s.]

Ditto on the Almarro. I said this only yesterday to someone in a PM... I just missed buying one of those nice used Yammies last year. Moping and on the rebound, I got the A205II. With stock OR NOS tubes, it delivers a wonderful, emotional and communicative sound, and I can honestly say I don't feel I missed anything with the Yammy. Of course, those who have heard both may disagree... but I have not heard both and don't feel I need to!

Although I am using different amplification now to get better control of the bass, the Almarro is still with me as a second amp for when that sort of mood strikes.

when you run an active subwoofer system, you don't need to worry about the bass response of your main amp/speakers...   
doug s.

what if your active bass system is fed with the speaker cables and not with a line cable? the speakers i will use soon are having this in order to get a sort of similar bass flavour throughout

i am not sure what you are getting at here, but what you need to do is actively cross over your main speakers, so they & their amp do not see any low frequencies.

doug s.