Review: Zeta Zero Venus Picolla

The Sound 

With ASL Twin-Head and Zeta Zero power end bits cont.

  After connecting monoblocks my last year’s memories returned immediately, it was when I was comparing different sounds at the Audio Show, and I remembered Zetas seemed to me most musical, even more musical than a phonograph, which I though was thanks to the signal received from the Accuphase DP-700 being exceptionally musical as for digital source. Now I know that it was not the case because Zeta monoblocks are most musical first of all, and then, of course, the loudpeakers as well. Deprived of its own warmth and impressing only with capacitors, the Black Gate Cairn player became completely surrounded by the sound, and wrapped in the warmth of analog blanket, from under which the great energy was generated, as if somebody held a dragon under there. Dear Lord, how did that rumble! The whole room became shaky, I had to move my seat one meter back and just indulge, indulge, and indulge.

Such a sound we had never had before – anounced the junior – nodding his head with appreciation, and then began playing one rock piece after another, and I was listening to it all from my second row. A strip of good stereophonics became wider and without any problem it was possible to listen while seated even three people beside one another, and the things happening in that strip were just magnificient. In comparion to Croft the sound had been enriched. The variety of flavours was wider, just as if you took a higher class of wine, and the dynamic jumps underwent further enforcement. I played binatural records which contained extremely low bands as well as natural, dynamic passages without any compensation. The system took it all without even the slightest damage. What is more, the lowest elements turned out to be most spectacular. I played (or rather my son played) the famous Led Zeppelin drums solo from Moby Dick and not only was is perfectly heard when John Bonhan plays with his sticks and when he used his hands, but what is more important, his hands became perfectly visible, materializing their picture in a purely develish manner. Not less impressive was the measure with which the system could individualize vocals. For the first time since very, very long, and maybe just for the first time at all, I heard the ingredients which had not been present in AKG K1000. Probably thanks to monoblocks, but what does it matter now? I used to listen through Stax SR-009 headphones powered by three times the price Resteka monoblocks and I can say that I heard nothing new in comparison to my own system.

It truly played marvelously, but with analogical quality. Here, however, some individualistic features were displayed more thoroughly and comparing and generalizing it has to be admitted, that the system could much better differentiate the recordings and extract more unique features from them.

I sat there until three a.m. thanking God, or maybe some other Higher Matter, that no one lived below, under me, so that I could let myself go all the way. High, concert- like levels of sound volume played on Zetas have an amazing outburst and a phenomenal viewing of the performance. Viewing – that is right, exactly viewing – for whether your eyes be closed or opened, you can see with the eyes of performers and they are visible, whether you want it or not. That is why you can call it a picture and sound performance, just as always, while listening to a perfect device, only not always is it so overpowering, or rather almost never is.

When you look at it from the other side – with an eye of a critic – there were two things needing improvement. If it was me who would use it daily, I would lower the temperature. It is nothing difficult. Instead a Harmoniks interconnector, connected between the monoblocks and a Twin-Head, it would be better to use a Fadel or a Tara. And if it was meant to be used by someone who is rather wealthy, or if I was the one (meaning well off), it would be advised to reach for a source being able to find more details in the recording and to put more emphasis on the dynamics. In the first place, shared Metronome, which at the battlefield was even better than shared Accuphade comes to my head. But dCS or Reimyo would also probably do very well.