Zu Soul Superfly

Roscoeiii,

I do not have much information on these Aleph monoblock clones at all. I know it puts out roughly 60-70wpc but didn't inquire too much farther. I recently purchased an Atma-sphere S-30mkII which is a bit under the weather at the moment. It appears a resister may have gone and I am not a DIY guy so I've been trying to diagnose it/get help.

In the meantime I have a local friend who recognized my rig has been down for a couple of weeks and offered to loan me these unused monos.

I was liking a lot of what the S-30 did, especially after a tube change, but I'll tell you--in my system I think I actually prefer the Alephs. There is a similar level of transparency to the OTL amplifier with a significantly less analytical sound... 16 tubes in the Atma-sphere and the SS Aleph clones are a touch warmer with better tonal colors. They're offering really good control over the the drivers and are more engaging. I felt the staging of the Atma-sphere was a little flat, but its wider and deeper now.

I have my heart set on tubes at the moment as I'm hoping for that midrange lushness, staging and ultra emotional presentation that I've experienced a few times with tubes, but these things are damn satisfying and I like them better than... probably everything I've used with these Souls so far. FWIW I'm not sure my Atmas were healthy specimens for the comparison... Then again, I wasn't looking for a comparison--just wanted to hear music again and stumbled on a great pairing.

I'm believing more and more that these speakers do indeed come alive more with some extra juice.

I have been speaking with 213cobra quite a bit via email and his enthusiasm for the 845 tube and my faith in his ear from prior conversations and advice led me to purchase a pair of monoblocks to discover for myself. He believes the 845 SET to be the ultimate amplification for driving Zus and I'm excited t find out for myself!

Thanks for the detailed reply. And how would you compare the Alephs to the F1 or F1J you had in your system. I have had an F1 in my system so would be interested in that comparison. Slowly making my way around the First Watt stuff myself. And your comment put Aleph on my radar in a big way.

I have been using a Music Reference RM 10-MKII with the superflys for the past two weeks and am really impressed with the match. It gives you a decent amount of the tubey midrange you would expect, but is still quite resolving throughout the full spectrum. I had previously been running primarily with a Marantz SR7002 and also tried an EL34 (dyanco clone) amp. The Marantz pairing was very bad. The highs were brittle and harsh while the bass was non existent. With the EL34 based amp, things loosened up particularly in the midrange and bass, but there was a noticable lack of detail in the highs. With the RM 10, you get a nice detailed sound, but without any fatigue and just a touch of warmth. The more I listen to this pairing the more I dig it.

I would say its sound is more similar to the F1J than the F1. The F1 was leaner a little thing harmonically and perhaps a little cooler in its tonal balance--The F1J on the other hand was a little warmer and richer and seemingly quieter while being 'cleaner'.

The Alephs tonal balance is more along the lines of the F1J to my ears, but with improved dynamics better staging and perhaps better tone--its more engaging. The F1 and F1J both had a little dryness that I'm not experiencing here.

Has anyone by chance tried the Soul with Modwright KWA 100/150 amps? Would that possibly be a good match?