bi-ZERO observations

OTL Asylum

OTL, Output Transformerless Amplifier User Group.

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I have been using ZERO autoformers for approximately 9 months now and am extremely happy with the results. Better bass, lower distortion, and more life were added by the addition of the ZEROs. On the whole my system sounded less fatiguing as well. On occasion the sound was somewhat â€˜edgyâ€™ in the high frequencies, but I lived with this as the benefits of the ZEROs outweighed this negative by a large margin.
A while back, Luis, an ASOG contributor, pointed out an alternative 2X wiring configuration. This cured the â€˜edginessâ€™ resulting in smoother, laid back, sound. Detail increased slightly but perceptibly. It also improved imaging noticeably. One drawback was a slight reduction in bass output. Again, the plusses greatly outweighed the minuses. I probably would have been happy with this configuration for a long time had I not tried the bi-ZERO configuration.
In my system (tweaked N.E.A.R. 50Me II loudspeakers/AS M-60 II.2 amps) using the alternative 2X ZERO configuration on the high frequencies and the standard 2X configuration on the low frequencies, everything seemed to gel. The whole seemed vastly greater than the sum of the parts.
For the first time I had more than just a hint of soundstage depth. The whole presentation became more credible in just about every area except image height. The sustained decay of instruments was one notable sign of the increased resolution. Increased detail is apparent from the low end of the frequency spectrum to the top. Musical nuance abounds. Background vocals become a more prominent part of the music, separation of the various components improved significantly. The music has more texture. So radical is the improvement that many times it seems like you are listening to a different piece of music. One of the really cool things about a great upgrade is having music that previously didnâ€™t do much for you now become more interesting and occasionally eclipse previous favorites on the same disc. This has happened numerous times in a week and a half of use.
I hope someone out there will try this and report their results. This upgrade has been, by far, the most revolutionary improvement to my system ever.
One note, I am also using Walker Audio High Definition Links Mk. II on all speaker connections and I believe these are partially responsible for the great sound I am getting with the bi-ZERO setup. Another thing, I strongly believe that ZEROs and bi-ZEROs really help maximize ones investment in sound equipment and accessories if the speakers in the system are candidates for ZERO use. The N.E.A.R. 50Me II has nominal impedance rating of 8 ohms and does not dip below 6.5 ohms impedance according to the manufacturer.

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Topic - bi-ZERO observations - Michael 11:28:10 03/15/02 (0)

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