Anyone have thoughts on the Peak Consult Zoltans?

Sir Speedy,

I'm told by Peak in Denmark that another review of the Zoltan was just published in Hi Fi News, done by Martin Collums.

As for Audiooracle's contention that Zoltan is not worth it's asking price, please keep in mind that he is a retailer for Usher.

If you need your car to get the kids to school and the groceries home, you don't buy the Ferrari. If you need your car so that you can have the ineffable high of driving a precision-built, luxury machine - you buy the Ferrari.

And while many a forune has been made promising Ferrari performance for Toyota prices, that promise has never been delivered upon. You either own a Ferrari or you don't.

The difference, Audiooracle, is that Speedy knew ahead of time that I was the importer because I introduced myself to him that way on a previous thread. The fact remains that Usher and other Chinese-made speakers are fabulous - for what they are: great for the money, but not competitive at the highest levels. And while it is nice that you and many others are so enthusiastic about Usher, it remains that Usher has not performed at the level of achievement of those whose heels Usher imagines it is sniping at. There may come a day when Usher will design and build a truly world-class loudspeaker able to compete at the highest levels. For now, they are simply a budget alternative. The Ford on a Dyno is a perfect example: it may have the horsepower, but it will never have the build quality, the handling, the aesthetic, the heritage, and the entire scope of high performance (not simply horsepower) of the Ferrari. Usher has carved out its niche, and they make a wonderful budget speaker - But Usher simply doesn't have the chops to compete at the highest levels of the discipline. There is a vast difference between a Great Loudspeaker and a Great Loudspeaker for the Money - and Usher can very proudly claim the latter, but is excluded from the former.

Audiooracle, you are indeed indefatigable.

For me: The fact remains that Chinese HiFi is not about cutting-edge, it is about cutting costs, cutting wages, and cutting corners.

My focus is solely on the highest of the high end performers, the best of the best, and so I am in a somewhat unenviable position: It's not that I mean to be condescending, and I'm sorry if you feel that I am. It's that I must be extremely critical because my clients demand it, and as such I have to call it as I see it.

I have yet to see a Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, Indonesian, or Malaysian product that can compete at the performance level of true world-class hi-fi references from Europe, North America or Japan.

The Chinese HAVE been able to do something wholly remarkable otherwise: They have been able to fiercely and unapologetically compete for price in the mid-fi market. Many of these companies seem simply to copy or emulate established European, North American, or Japanese designs. In fact, Usher has "shown it's appreciation" for established loudspeaker designs within its own catalog:

Usher Model S-520 seems to be a copy of an Acoustic Energy AE-1, Mk.II

Usher Models X-708, X-718 and X-719 are clearly "tributes" to Sonus Faber's old Concerto speakers.

Usher's D2 is quite the "homage" to JBL's legendary K2

Usher RW 729 is as close to a Sonus Faber Electa Amator copy as I have ever seen! Not only is the cabinet and driver compliment copied, even the wooden and stone-base stand is copied!

The Usher R 1.5 and 6.0 amplifiers seem almost dead copies for the old Threshold amps, while the P-307A preamp seems like it took a page from Cello's old playbook.

If Usher wants to be taken seriously as a competitor in the Reference department, they first have to come up with their own ideas. Instead, their catalog seems abundant with imitations and copies. Not that there isn't room for a Speaker-Clone company, but one cannot simultaneously be a speaker-clone company AND have a reasonable hope to be counted among the legends and references, as well.

There may come a day when Chinese products come in to their own and stand on their own and are not simply just "budget alternatives" to and clones of established references. So I suppose that it might be nice that a 300lb speaker from China is only $16,800/pair ... if we were buying speakers by the pound, that just might be a bargain by some measures. But we don't buy speakers by the pound. We hope for a high level of quality, creativity, originality, and technical achievement.

I understand your mission. You feel that there is a level of snobism in high end audio coincident with higher pricing, and you seem to feel that you can represent products that would bring a good measure of high performance to more people at lower prices, and your primary medium is right here in the internet. Nothing wrong with that. Internet sales and transshipping are the most productive ways to do business in this section of the market because it is hotly contested-for with predatory discounting being the most oft used temptation to attract the potential buyer. So while I do not market directly but rather sell only through authorized dealers, I seem nevertheless to have wandered into your pond and thus represent - if not a threat - at least a distraction. I apologize, but keep in mind that we are not necessarily cultivating the same client.

Where you imagine there to be "audio snobism" there is rather a client that is a connoisseur. This is someone who appreciates the advanced performance, the heirloom build quality, the heritage and provenance, the peerless musicality, and the notion that they will own something that is the Real Thing and not the budget-alternative or the clone. This isn't snobbery, it's a deep appreciation for the whole picture.

There is a neatness, a meticulously considered philosophy that is as simple as it is profound, and when one finally comes to terms with its uncomplicated beauty - there is a tranquility that it imbues upon the decision making process:

In reaction to my rude inquiry about how my friend (on a small wage) could afford to have purchased something very expensive, he simply commented, "I am not so rich that I can afford to buy cheap things."

And while the beauty of that sentiment is meaningful to audiophiles on a budget, the fact remains that *nobody* is so rich that they can afford to buy cheap things. Cheap things break. Cheap things deteriorate. Cheap things discolor and crack. Companies that make cheap things disappear and their promises, guarantees and warranties vaporize.

**That means, taken to lengths, that cheap things are more expensive than the more expensive things they are positioned to displace.**

As for a "shootout" with Zoltan - that would be silly. Any comparison should be as close to a dollar-for-dollar comparison between products as possible. As such, I would say the only appropriate speaker to compare the $16.8k Ushers to would be the $16.5k Peak InCognito-X. That leaves a simple $300 deficit between them to the favor of the Peaks, which are also about half as heavy as the Be20 (good news for people with stairs).

InCognito-X's run fairly loud on my 10 watt OTLs, although they'll handle up to 500 watts of solid-state if need be. I'm not certain that the Be 20 could get appreciable sound pressure at 10 watts, nor could it handle 500 watts of program - so I'm not sure if the comparison would be fair.

That very flat impedance and phase response of the InCognito-X really helps any amplifier perform at its most linear, and the excellent sensitivity means that you can throw low power tubes in the mix without apologies. Again - with abilities and peerless measurements like these, it's not necessarily fair to the Usher to compare.

That InCognito-X is a full-range 2-way design means that the acoustic output of the drivers will converge at a shorter distance with less wave interference, making the InCognito-X an excellent choice for even nearfield listening. I imagine that Usher won't do well in small spaces for nearfield listening, so we best not compare in these circumstances in order to level the playing field.

InCognito-X won't hit the 22 Hz mark of the Be 20, but they will come within a gnat's hair of 25 Hz in an average-sized room and will be extremely dynamic, with holographic imaging and midrange to weep for. So while it would work well in the nearfield, it will also (of course) work extremely well at standard listening distances.

Sound by Singer will soon have a pair of InCognito-X on the floor (they begin shipping from Denmark early next month) - go have a listen. You'll be shocked and amazed at what one can buy for just $16,500/pair: A full-range world-class loudspeaker handcrafted with real hardwoods by Danish fine carpenters, some of the best loudspeaker drivers in the world, with music reproduction so fine that - as one HE 2006 showgoer put it (when commenting about the sound of the InCognito-X in our demo room) - "If you weren't touched by the sonics in this room, you're made of ice!"

Audiooracle,

I understand your difficulty and I'm sorry you get so upset. As I said, Usher makes very good budget speakers, many of them copies of past designs from other manufacturers, but still very good speakers for the money.

As for the Continuum: It defies explanation or comparison. If you ever have the privilege of hearing one installed in a truly world-class system, you will forever be unable to listen to other designs. The reason? Continuum changed the rulebook, changed the way in which things are designed, and developed something completely new. And this is indicative of an earlier point of mine: the companies I represent embody the values of originality, extremely high build quality, and unmatched technical achievement. The Caliburn is simply the most extraordinary machine ever made for playing records.

I have nothing bad to say about Lloyd Walker's Proscenium Gold turntable. I enjoyed my chance to hear it in a reference system and it was a very good performer. My team and I then disassembled it and boxed it up to send away, as our client was replacing it with a Caliburn system. I have gotten to hear reference rigs such as the Basis and the SME 30 for the same reasons: clients replacing their "reference" record players with the world's most magnificent record playing machine: The Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn.

It seems to me that you are succumbing to a prejudice that is fairly common but nonetheless distracting: You feel insulted that I would want to compare the InCognito-X to the Be 20 because the X is a 2 way and the 20 is a 4-way. This is not about the weight of materials (300lbs vs. 150 lbs), nor is it about the number of drivers (4 vs. 2). We must only compare quality. Quality of build, quality of sound reproduction, quality of technical achievement.

Fact is, 2-ways' only limitation historically has been LF. Peak has removed that limitation in the InCognito-X, so now the only comparison left to do is one of pure quality, and in that department I guarantee you the Be 20 would have an extremely, EXTREMELY difficult time vs. the InCognito-X. There is no reasonable reason to be upset by the comparison, as the InCognito-X is an extremely fine instrument, and original design, heir to a great Danish heritage of loudspeaker design, and an extraordinary technical achievement on its own.

I'm sorry, as well, if I erroneously labeled you an internet dealer. I assumed that you were simply because that seems to be the only way to survive in the fiercely competitive world of mid-priced hifi. It wasn't meant to be a pejorative, but rather an acknowledgement. Mea Culpa.

As for Usher building clones - that is precisely the reason that they have not yet "arrived" - they seem far too interested in imitating, externally, the successful designs of others (American and European designers), than with developing their own philosophy and presenting it to the world.

The appearance of quality is not necessarily indicative of the existence of quality, and when a company goes to great lengths to create a clone - at least in looks - it seems to tell me that they are more interested in creating a deception of equivalency than standing on their own originality, creativity, and technical achievement. Even their "Dancer" series borrows heavily from the multi-layered laminations of hardwoods in a "lute" extrusion profile that Franco Serblin developed for Sonus Faber. In fact, I would say that Usher seems rather obsessed with Sonus Faber and Franco Serblin's designs and achievements. But there can be no excusing copies and clones. When you say:

>"I will agree with you that Usher does build some clone or homage
>products, but that is an Asian company building a wide range of products
>for the Asian market. Imitation in the case of the Threshold clone shows a
>fondness for the original, which is no different than someone now coming
>up with a new version of the famous Dynaco Stereo 70."

That is truly sad. It allows, philosophically, for theft and excuses them simply because they are an Asian company building products for an Asian market. It is no different than someone putting a Ferrari kit on a Fiero - it may have a similar look on the outside, but it's still a Fiero.

Usher may have developed its own Berylliuim driver, but it was not before nor even contemporaneous with the JM Lab achievement. Instead, it was built after JM Lab put their money, their time, their talent, their originality and creativity on the line to develop the first one. It is extremely difficult to develop something new, and extremely simply to follow in the footsteps of achievement and lift technology. I'm sure they are now developing a diamond tweeter, since the Beryllium has gone somewhat out of style.

Usher seems to remain a very well-funded copycat company that builds extremely good speakers for the money but, so far, doesn't seem to have introduced anything original, nor do they seem to have made strides in technical achievement.

Your quip about Quad is unrelated: Although they are being built in China, they are being built under license from the original designer (Peter Walker, RIP) and the present owners of the original design. Peter Walker's technical achievement is being preserved and reproduced under license, not lifted unceremoniously and reproduced without permission. Shouldn't Usher be paying royalty or licensing to Sonus Faber?

By contrast, Peak uses Audiotechnology to build their custom-designed drivers because Audiotechnology has the heritage, provenance, creativity, originality, and technical achievements of Ejvind and Per Skaaning behind them. Ejvind founded Dynaudio, Scan Speak, and Audiotechnology. There is no better family to have make drivers in the world, which is why companies such as Sonus Faber, Verity, Rockport and Peak turn to them for their custom solutions. And while Peak is not a 30 year old company, they are a 10 year old company (the "X" in InCognito-X stands for 10 year anniversary) and there is no danger of them going anywhere but up.

Heritage, provenance, originality, creativity, and technical achievement. These are the ingredients of the kind of greatness that stands the test of time.

Peak has them.

Usher does not.

.

Hi Metralla - you know, I comletely forgot about TAD and their extraordinary technical achievements with Beryllium drivers! Bad on me ...

I also had no idea that Yamaha made a beryllium midrange at all, never mind 25 years ago! I recall using the old NS10 as nearfield monitors in the studio, but they had a nasty peak that was hard to get past.

Hey Sirspeedy - Off Topic a smidgen: I used to own a pair of Avalon Acent Mk. II loudspeakers, drove them with a Cello Duet 350. What a great system that was - those two seemed to be a match made in heaven. I had tried the speakers with a Mark Levinson 23.5 but it just didn't seem to have enoug juice. Once the Duet 350 came in to play, those speakers were just amazing.

I wound up selling them to a fellow in Belgium who flew to Atlanta to pick them up. He hung out for a few days, we drank beer and watched the Yankees sweep the Braves for the World Series. I'm glad I met him (his name was Ward - very cool guy), but I'm kinda sorry I let the Ascents go - they were one of those historically significant pieces of hi-fi gear that belong in a museum. I sincerely think that the Ascent Mk. II was among the greatest Avalon speakers of all time - if not the greatest.