Well, there have been developments re my ZenPro Modded Yamaha HS7's:
I have them set up to burn in for ~100 hrs using my unbalanced-to-balanced converter box (Alpha 124A) w/spare audio components. Bizarrely, I have it this set up in a largely empty 3-car garage attached to the house. The HS7's are on the far/opposite wall from the house; when I enter the garage via the connected hallway, I have to walk nearly ~35 feet to reach them. It's hard to imagine a less promising "sonic environment" for powered monitors.
- They arrived yesterday, exactly on schedule, a mere 3 days after ordering them
- Dealing with Warren, owner of ZenPro, has been far above average in every way (a very good buying experience so far)
- They were exceedingly well boxed...and now that they're unboxed, these things are flat out beautiful to my eyes. Yeah, I know--sound counts/looks don't, but I like looking at them.
Despite all that, they actually sound pretty fine, which surprises me. Interestingly, they sound good the whole time I'm walking toward them, but when I get w/in 4-5 feet, suddenly the sound "locks in" as I enter the soundfield. They're not even spaced optimally (just 1-2 ft apart, sitting on a big workbench). But there clearly is a soundfield. These are obviously designed as nearfield monitors (something I knew, but interesting to have it demonstrated so clearly). Hard to really figure out how they sound, given the huge space they're in. But I can already hear a few trends:
So far, so good. These are the first "professional" powered monitors I've heard. I worried that they would be lifeless, flat to the point of annoying, and not "musical." But so far, that's not the case at all...
- The bass is really quite good. I'll use a sub below ~60-70 dB in home office, but even w/o a sub, the bass is pleasing--tuneful with a nice rounded quality. Not the ultra-dry solid-state bass I was 1/2-expecting.
- Treble sounds accurate but not peaky or fatiguing. Again, the real test will come when they're in home office, but I'm not hearing problems in the treble at this point.
- Midrange is the big suprise--there's a lot of musical information coming out of the midrange, way more than I'm used to from my decent but not exceptional powered speakers (Swan M200 MKIIIs). And the midrange sounds quite good--not edgy or forced.
- I started burning them in w/24 hrs of classical music (symphonies for 12 hrs, then massed choral works + orchestra for next 12). Volume is moderate, and the music sounds quite nice. I just changed over to reggae at a slightly higher volume, and damned if that doesn't sound really good. Actually found myself boogying a little to the music (in my garage).
Impossible to draw real conclusions about sound, given how big the physical environment is in garage vs my 13' X 15' home office. Then there's the fact that the key electronics I'll be using in home office (Violectric V281 as amp/preamp; Audio GD DAC-19 or NOS-19 DACs) are light years better than my temp system in the garage (a 30 year old modded Phillips CD player + passive volume controller).
I'll rotate the HS7's into home office system this Wed. More comments to follow. But at this point, I'm encouraged...
Proves my previous point that you can have the accuracy of a studio monitor and "audiophile" like sound with the HS7s. Since it's optimized for nearfield listening, room resonance are minimal and you only need to worry about bass linearity which a sub can rectify.
Wait till it fully settles down. It should impress you with the midrange timbre and tonality that give me goosebumps on how realistic it sounds on some well mastered recordings Also imaging and soundstage should be much more coherent after burn-in