Steve or Bob would be able to give you the best answer on comparison, but I’ll offer up a few thoughts.

My ERR speakers were built the last year before the ERRx Speakers were introduced.  At last year’s  Decfest, Bob indicated to me the biggest design difference made was the side posts and the hard top.  This was due to the complexity of the shipping the ERR speakers with the removable grills. Sonically my speakers and the 1st generation ERRx are similar, but maybe the 2019 models are big upgrade.  I am not sure.  

I was speaking with a ERR owner at Decfest and he changed out the stock Clarity caps with a fairly nice improvement.  Maybe trying the cap upgrade would be worth it, and keep you happy for a few more years.  I have yet to try this on my speakers, but one day I’ll get around to doing. It.  Here is the cap upgrade notes I obtained from the forum member....

Mundorf supreme silver gold oil 3.0 Mf
Bypassed with a Arizona capacitor
(Capacitor “Red Cactus” .3 mf)
Bypassed with Duelund .01 bypass capacitor (silver in oil)

[Buy at parts connexion]

According to Bob [aka Zygi] the values may be a little low but Do not go over a 3.9 on the total value.


Also....I heard the HR-1 speakers at Decfest being fed  by the 25th Anniversary Zen amp, and it was just unbelievable.  If you have the resources, I would save up and just pull the trigger on the HR-1 speakers, and you would be done for ever, IMHO.   Its like going from a Chevy Leaf to a Corvette.  

I really enjoy the sound of the Radial speakers, and how they fill my large room with vaulted ceilings.  So if the sound of the radial speakers is for you, then the sound HR-1’s will put you in that happy place without ever looking back.

Wait to hear from Lon....he loves his HR-1 speakers, and will be able to give you great insight to the ERR vs. HR-1 comparison, since I believe he has had both.

I hope this helps.

Dom

Many thanks to you both!

Lon, what would you recommend I try (brand & values?) for changing my stock capacitors and resistors?

Based on the feedback here, I think I'll stick with the ERRs that I have and dream of owning some HR-1s one day.  ;-)

Kind regards,

Steve

Mny thanks Lon, I'm going to experiment!

Steve

I think you might be right about the current ERRx, and your guess may be correct.

I believe the ERR that I have are less efficient than the ERRx, and the HR-1 pairs I have are slightly more efficient than the ERR I have.

I think that with the two watt amps room size is an important factor. Two wats just barely "got 'er done" in my large living room/dining room area downstairs. The extra watt or so the Monoblocks give out (and the perceived extra power the mods bring) gave me the headroom I wanted and did more than just "get 'er done." And the Taboo's four watts or so give me even more power in the larger space.

So the HR-1 does work with the two watt amps. . . but a smaller to medium size space will be a more comfortable fit. I almost saved up for the DNA2 when I was getting the Monoblocks with the mods, but I was relieved the HR-1s have worked well.

Just a thought, but if you take your basic SEUFO, which costs about $1000 bucks, you could strap it into mono and get 6 watts out of that amp. You would need to then buy two of them, costing you about 2 grand.  BUT....there is a big difference between the regular 2 watt Zen amp, Lon’s monoblocks, and the SEUFO 25th.  

If you are hooked on the SET sound...then you could just buy the Rachel rated at 6 watts.  Not sure what the right approach is, but I think to get the most of of 2 watt zen amp with an ERRx, you would be best served with the CSP 25th preamp.  

I currently push my Err’s with a sold state amp, so I am not struggling for power, but will be ordering up the 25th Anniversary Zen amp sometime next year.  For my my room size and listening levels, I think I will be fine  with the 25th Anniversary Zen.  

Dom

Thank you, Dominick and Lon.

Dom - I am thinking of your suggestion of strapping a two-watt Zen amp into mono and getting a second amp as my "backup plan."  I noted in your earlier email that you have vaulted ceilings - I have the same.  Glad the radial speakers work well for you in that room!

Lon - Thanks for the amp suggestion, with some more power - I will take a look at it.  It is still striking to me that, with the low power & high speaker sensitivity approach, even 1 or 2 additional watts can make a significant difference.

Thanks for the input - this forum is a great resource for Decware!

I have had my own personal Torii hooked to the HR-1's at Decware during Zenfest.  And of course, have heard the SE84's on them also.  IMO and experience, 2 watts is not enough for HR-1's, nor the ERR/x's either.  But you might get by, in a small room, depending on your listening preferences and how much "gain" you have in front of the amp.  But I'm almost certain you will need a preamp with some nice gain.

You can also bridge the SE84's to mono for about 6 watts - which I have also heard at Zenfest on numerous speakers - this was a pretty good match up to my ears.

Lon... if you want to part with your ERR's - I have a good friend who might be interested... if they wouldn't have to be packed and shipped 2,000 miles at a cost of $500 or more...  

maddog07 wrote on 11/26/19 at 00:15:16:


I've had really decent sound with the only 2 watt Zen amp I have had this decade, a Zen B that was modded by Eddie Vaughn, and driven by a CSP2 preamp. This was 20th Century Decware tech and in my big living/dining room I got just enough output to "Rock out." In a smaller room, definitely would be some headroom. So it does depend on room size but with a preamp with gain you can get some real output. It surprised me how much. You're right, when in more than a near-field small room situation a good preamp makes it happen.

Maddog7 and Tommy - thanks for the replies and the helpful info.

So where I am going is to get the HR-1s, and drive them with an SE34I.5.  I think the extra watts might come in handy, and give my a little bit of a safety margin.