Zellaton's Long-Awaited Plural EVO Loudspeaker Arrives!

First introduced at a show in August 2019, not long before COVID-related supply shortages put a major damper on new product releases, Zellaton's 3-way Plural Evo loudspeaker (€69,950/pair) is finally available. One main goal of the design, according to company president Michael Schwab, is to minimize the impact of the sound of the speaker's materials on the music.

Unique to Zellaton is a cabinet whose midrange section is open in the back (above), and whose bottom is also open on the inside-facing side of the speaker. Both openings are designed to eliminate any possibility of compressed sound. "Our goal is the most natural reproduction possible from a speaker designed to support a smaller size room with less expensive electronics," Schwab said. Although it's very hard to see in the photo below, the speaker's open bottom includes a strip of fabric that can be changed to fine-tune the speaker.

The Zellaton Plural Evo contains a 1.1" soft-dome tweeter, 7" "full-cone" mid/woofer, and two 11" "full-cone" woofers. With 4 ohms impedance, 23Hz–34kHz frequency ranges, and 92dB sensitivity, it weighs290lb. and measures 50" × 13" × 21".

It took three tries to be able to hear the Plural Evo. On my first attempt, there were too many people involved in too many chats to allow for focused listening. Try two was foiled when all attention was understandably focused on another reviewer. But on visit #3, I was finally able to experience the speaker's excellent slam and power and fabulous huge soundstage on a DSD256 transfer of Albeniz's Asturias performed by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. I also enjoyed a fair amount of color and nice flow on an LP of Hideo Ichikawa's On the Trade Wind.

Also in the system: YS Sound's forthcoming YSS-382JP preamplifier ($TBD) and stereo power amplifier ($TBD); Reed Muse 1C turntable with one tonearm base (€13,400 in Germany), Reed 5T tonearm (€17,160 in Germany), and Lyra Atlas SL Lambda MC mono phono cartridge ($12,995); new fully balanced Staltmanis Lab WS8 phone preamplifier with L/R RIAA network ($TBD) and Staltmanis Lab fully balanced, DSD-based D4 stereo D/A processor with output transformers ($TBD); and Schnerzinger Resolution series Protector & comprehensive cabling system.

X