I like the cut of your jib.

I waited until April 2nd and still no quick link.   Not that I'm impatient ... I did wait until the 2nd.

Sure hope this wasn't a ~4/1 joke.

The Zen ULTRA is delayed by at least 30 days due to a paint problem with the initial batch of 50 chassis, which all have to be re-made.

However, I am making progress on the web page and about 1/2 done with the supporting article, so both will be online in the next week or three...

I'm super busy right now, so I'm not going to take questions on it, until after the web page is up and the article is in place.

But, just to be a tease, here is a couple pictures of the new Zen ULTRA, price still pending.









Cheers

Steve  

Too cool. Put me on the list.

Started a thread about the Ultra on the Steve Hoffman board to drum up some interest (and there IS some interest!)

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=247250

Actually, if you hurry, it's more like 400 or less to risk:

http://shop.avscience.com/Sony-BDP-5000ES-Blu-ray-Player_p_216.html

Here's the deal with Sony: Early this year Sony discontinued selling their ES series from any dealer over the internet. It's all brick and mortar and maybe SonyStyle.com, which shows this model as discontinued. Yes it has been discontinued. I've been told that the warranty is good if its new and in the box and has a warranty card.

So yes, you're not going to get this price from a store if they have some in stock. To me the price is worth the risk. I've had my SACD player half way through the warranty period right now with not one lick of a problem, not even a hint. I expect the same with this player, I'm going to send off the warranty card and enjoy it.

Sony replaced this model in the ES series sort of with one half the price in a plastic case and reportedly with a much inferior analog output stage. There doesn't seem to be plans to put out a new one in a metal case, heavily built like this and with this sort of attention to quality playback. So I'm grabbing this model because in my opinion that's the way to go with players, and those type of players are generally more expensive even than the list price of these players.

Yes, and more and more are in small plastic cases and full of cheap crap. Glad you took advantage of that deal, I think it's going to be seen s as an "epic" one.

Well, boy web page creation can sure eat up some time...  Nevertheless I have the Zen ULTRA page  done and on the site.  I also bit the bullet on the pricing on this one, despite what it might look like.  Even though there is less IRON on this than there is on a TORII, there are 4 times as many internal parts which translates to more than twice as long to build and test.  It's a very labor intensive build.

https://www.decware.com/newsite/ULTRA.html

-Steve  :)

Quote:


John,

I have experimented with 7.1 from my Blu Ray player, set up the side channels per spec and was equally disappointed, which left me to wonder why they came up with 7.1 in the first place.  

My guess is that the typical home theater system with tiny little speakers leave so much to be desired from a dispersion standpoint that 7.1 was an effort to keep the sound from JUMPING from the front to the rear.  Adding that extra side speaker should make for a smoother transition.

If you set up good rear channels for wide dispersion, like I have, the system can create an image anywhere between the front and rear speakers making for a seamless sound field.  Example, a motorcycle sound as it drives can go between the right front and right rear speakers without disappearing in the middle.  

In my tests, 7.1 with the two extra speakers is a waste of time.

Steve

Gee, what a surprise!

Looks like a wonderful unit. I know you'll be happy. The waiting begins!

Any thoughts on these Ediswans as the signal tubes in the Ultra: http://www.upscaleaudio.com/tubes/6922/edi-cv2492.html . I have found Russian rubes as cheap as a buck, but something tells me the Ultra will merit better.

Lon:

I think that is great advice.

Right now, my order for the Ultra is without tubes, bur maybe I will rethink that.

Greg

mac5u, as I noted in response to Lon, I think it is good advice to hear what Steve thinks sounds good in the Ultra. I did that with my Taboo. Having said that, it is also true Steve encourages tube rolling. So, I don't think there is any harm in the discussion.

As I said, I am rethinking ordering the Ultra with the stock set. I may love 'em, and in fact, I am confident I will. Steve's philosophy seems to be about superlative sound and good value. More than once, his design notes discuss achieving great results without requiring exotic tubes. Just the same, the prices of sweet NOS tubes just keeps going up, so no harm in thinking about options as I hunker down for the wait.

As for voicing, I have heard several designers offer differing explanations. Alex Cavalli, for example, a headphone amp designer and the maker of the Liquid Fire, which I ordered, says he did not voice to a particular tube or headphone. He says he designed it to met certain engineering goals. It so happens his amp allegedly sounds great with my favorite cans. We'll see. Personally, I like Steve's approach and how easy he makes it to roll your own.

Blu Ray players with analog outputs will smoke this sony player, OPPO sells one or three that I think are pretty good. I have a Arcam older DV-79 w/analog output that cost 1700 new now sell for 400 on audiogon that my OPPO BDP 83 SE kills despite what the dealer says and OPPO 95 slightly modified will stand up against big ticket Blu ray players. I think Steve mentioned that Blu Ray for Sound is far superior than DVD so why waste a dime on a DVD player when Blu Ray will be obsolete soon enough.

love the music, IT"S NOT A DVD PLAYER I'M TALKING ABOUT HERE: It's the last flagship Sony Blu-Ray player that I'm talking about, the BDP-S5000ES player.  I've heard a friend's Oppo BDP-93 and he's heard my Sony and we both agree the analog out is better on the Sony. And he also agrees the Sony is built way better than the Oppo as far as case and design. He's ordered one of the Sonys for his main system. And I've read whole pages of reviews of this player, many of them saying it has a better analog sound than Oppos. So I'm trusting my ears and making a recommendation based on my experience. I'm NOT talking about a DVD player here, but I will say that the DVD picture on this Blu-Ray player has freaked me out, it's so damned good. I am not impressed with the build quality of Oppos in comparison to this flagship Sony Blu-Ray player at its current discounted price. Anyway, I just think at 400 or 500 dollars it's a helluva deal, but I have no vested interest other than just spreading a little news about a great machine at a great price.

I'm glad that your Mk III is sounding great (how could it not?)  I love mine. From my cold dead hands.  . . .  I can only imagine how an Ultra and a system based around it would sound. I'm not into surround sound, but for those that are, I'm sure it's the best option. If I were going to go the Ultra based system route I'd recommend another Torii and ERRs front and back. I'm not a fan of subs in a system, and with two pair of ERRs, I don't think you'd need subs. As for cabling: I always recommend Steve's interconnects, speaker cable, and power cords, they're incredible value for the money.

I'm sure the 95 and the Ultra are going to be a great combo and hard to beat!

I'm just a luddite when it comes to component casing and stuff. I need cases to be strong and heavy. I gave away a Sony BDP-S350 a few weeks ago to a friend because I thought I could be happy with it in my second system where picture and audio quality isn't that big a deal for dvd and Blu-Ray, but. . . it was so flimsy I just couldn't bear it. The friend is happy! He was using a Panasonic that was even flimsier!  I really dislike this trend to make everything cheap and plastic.

Anyway, it looks as if the cheap Sony BDP-S5000ES units are drying up. . . I'm struggling against the urge to buy another one to leave in the box in a closet. It's insane to do so but. . . yeah, I've talked myself out of it successfully so far.

Lon, my bad on the DVD thing, I missed that the Sony was Blu Ray. I actually have an ARCAM that smokes the OPPO and it is a DVD player, only in sound not video, cost much much more, using that now due to selling my Ayre CD5xeMP. Yeah, I'd say the OPPO 95 with good power cord and interconnects all analog will handily beat the Sony but at triple the cost or so. I have an OPPO 83SE and it's really good stock, modified by Tweak Audio, Ric Schultz bring it to cost no object sound possibly but at a pretty penny, like at least 2K total but will smoke just about everything.OPPO's 95 is supposed to be 10% better than the 83SE which is a lot better. For the money the OPPO 95 has great performance, especially in the analog outputs, balanced two channel and the video is amazing for that price. I think you know that, fully modified takes it to a whole new level, but try selling the dam thing afterwards, not easy. The only problem with modifying gear its seems hard to sell.

I contradicted myself. My Arcam sounds better than the OPPO 83SE..For me to go all out and reduce two full blown systems down to one will be quite a project. I am not sure it works for me, I like my two channel situation and I do like my HT. Having a whole new HT by Decware may have to wait for a 5 channel ZEN Ultra AMP which may be NEXT...hint hint if it can be done.....I think Steve is capable of anything frankly.

That is indeed a tantalizing prospect.

I hear you lovethemusic. I went back and forth on this issue of integrating a two channel setup with the HT rig. At the end of the day, for me, it was just an issue of house logistics. I tried to set up two different systems, one for audio and one for HT, and the net result was tha neither got used! That wasn't so much a reflection on what was in each room, as that changed family circumstances made me realize there is only so much "entertainment" time and elasticity in my family situation. And my personal, "hi-res, quality listening" time is spent with headphones. So, having one system that lets me do 2.0 and 5.1/7.1 is probably my better approach.

Don't get me wrong, I don't worry about 7.1. I was only referencing the capabilities of the player. Interestingly, I have a Denon receiver somewhere that I picked up in 2006 that had 7.1 even then. At one point, I had it hooked up  with  a bunch of cheap HT speakers in a small room, but I never heard anything worth listening to.

But 5.1 is something else altogether, and between the BDP-95 and the Ultra, I expect to have something worth watching and listening to.

Seems like this is what we've all been asking ...

for ... except ...

Now it's an OPPO / Sony shoot-out ....

C'mon ... old tired Dad's ... and young wanna-beezz ...

What would you do ... for a Klon-dyke bar ...

Shoot a Sony...or orally gratify ...  an  OPPO ...


Crap ... get back on topic....

Oh so poetic, I forgot to mention hooking it up to the new ZEN ULTRA (the coolest piece of audio gear I have ever seen) with Three TORII MK III and 5 ZOB's and of course a OPPO 95 modded to hilt with VCAPS all around and last but not least attenuated volume controls, a must. Did I miss anything.

Lon, does that mean you caved and bought a second Sony?