Paul McGowan said
Our setup at the office is Sprout with these very speakers and it is a near perfect setup. Works great!
Paul, maybe you meant B6? The F6 (x2) have 6 beefy magnet 6.25" drivers... physics do come into play eventually :D
When I got into the volume on some Veritas 2.2i’s, the sprout happily cut itself off for a few seconds (probably saving itself or my speakers). No match for the C100 integrated. Also the deepest bass is simply missing vs. the C100, so the sprout might be “cheating” a little.
The F6 suggest a big room & might be, pushed at times…
…if it’s the F6 & it works/sounds good, awesome!
Really appreciate the great insight Scott! Maybe I'll make the switch to a pair of B6s and a separate sub as my starter setup.
I’ve been following the development and roll-out of the spout for sometime and finally wanted to add my two cents as well since I’ve just pulled the trigger on my purchase of the sprout. I’ve been waiting for a new house to be finished and to find the right speakers to pair. I love the peachtree D5’s Scott has but I wanted to go more dynamic for my new man cave. After a long detailed search and speaking with the gents from PS Audio and Garret from Zu at length, my new sprout will be paired with a set of Zu Audio Soul Superfly Mk-1B. I am a fan of FRD and I’ve been jonesing over Zu Audio for a while and the sprout seems like the perfect complement with these 16ohm 102db efficient speakers. The boys at Zu are high on this product so I wanted to solicit a response from either Scott or Paul to get their thoughts on the marriage? The room size will be medium, and I plan on using sprout as I said, with vinyl but also the analog out will feed a Definitive Technology Supercube reference sub which I plan on phasing at 30HZ and below.
I’ve heard the sprout with Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 and the Zu Audio on my peachtree 65SE but never together. Regardless my Zu’s are on the way and I have the kit to power them but the sprout is so intriguing, retro and dynamic I am overly excited to see how this pairing goes.
OK, we are so excited for you! The efficiency of the loudspeakers and the addition of your reference sub are going to give you every inch of Sprout’s performance. I have not heard the Zu + Sprout combo, but I have every confidence the reproduction will be warm, musical, dynamic, and engaging as all get up.
Can we ask for your review once the pair is up and rocking?
Thanks for the great post and best of luck, we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
First let me compliment you on the Sprout. The mid-century minimalist design alone is “sexy” as can be. The build is solid, the lines clean and the overall appearance is spot on for what I was looking for, particularly as I make my current transition. To set some context, I’m moving away from a set of Definitive Technology Mythos Supertower ST’s and STS. These were coupled to Peachtree Audio Nova 65SE and 125SE. The DefTechs are awesome speakers but with age comes refinement so I’m going for a more specific vocal-centric sound which is why I have gone to the ZU Audio offerings.
I have paired the Sprout with a new set of ZU Audio Soul Superfly editions.
The efficiency of these speakers is downright criminal and ideal for SET tube amps. I’m a genX guy and as much as I love TUBE warmth, simplicity is still very important to me so the Class D amplification packed into the diminutive Sprout was too attractive to pass up. Now with the 16ohm load I went in knowing that I would be halving the 8ohm wattage from Sprout, but being so efficient it wouldn’t be a problem. The only issue with ZU’s is that they will call out inferior amps and poor recordings, they’re so transparent and revealing that there’s no way to mask the compression of a low quality digital file. ZU are music speakers, with Full Range Drivers and NO crossover network which just puts the music in your face with no apology whatsoever. When I audition new speakers, mainly to beg the wife’s forgiveness for my splurging, I run the gambit of musical genres. These speakers excel from everything from classical to electronic and are amazing at soundstaging and vocal presence. I started off using the Bluetooth connection using my iPhone to play her some Conway Twitty and Ronnie Milsap. Now although these artists are not my cup of tea, the vocals of both men cannot be denied and the reproduction from the sprout and zu combo is mind blowing. Zero background interference with a delicate high end and a tight punch in the low. The mids were warm with no harsh frequency roll-off presenting a concert like setting. Many recordings come off as a more intimate acoustical setting. I moved on to Dire Straits, Eric Johnson, Adele, Enigma, Yo Yo Ma, et all. Its an amazing feeling to be relaxing on a couch just enjoying music without the overly harsh digital tones that are more common. The sprout powered the ZU’s with zero effort as I left the gain dial at the 10 o’clock position which was LOUD. When I pushed the envelope further and pushed the gain to 12 O’Clock it was concert level and still the Sprout and Zu’s showed no sign of strain. The efficiency of these speakers allow the Sprout to put forth it’s tone without bottlenecking the frequency and output. What’s even more impressive to me is the fact that my wife and I are “refugees” right now. We sold our house September 30th and the new home isn’t set for close until November 30th, so this audition is in a rented AirBnB without ideal speaker placement and acoustics. That being said, the speakers are so forgiving with placement it doesn’t seem to matter. I can fill a very large room with precision and punch at all volume levels with the Sprout and ZU combo.
I’m so sold on the combo that I’ve purchased a set of ZU Omen’s and a set of ZU Souls in a custom walnut cabinet to match the sprout. The DefTechs will be going up for sale as I’ve found the sound I’ve been looking for. When I setup in the new house, the vinyl and Sonos audition will be forthcoming. Now I just need to decide if I should replace the Peachtree’s as well with some more sprouts as the tonal characteristics are a great match. Mid Century modern looks with a quality build and amazingly efficient soundstage. Quite honestly it’s a perfect match given you aren’t relegated to smaller monitors. I’m a fan of both companies, couldn’t be happier with the purchase of the Sprout as it’s done everything I needed and kept it simple. Given my music that concert type feeling while affording me ample digital and analog inputs.
Thanks @cwazyirishman for the great review! I have not heard Sprout paired with Zu, but I am indeed going to try it based on your excellent suggestions! I do know how a good pair of loudspeakers will bring out the best (and, consequently, the worst) in any amplifier or source materials, and we are happy to hear that Sprout met or even beat expectations. Once, I played Sprout on a pair of Floorstanding Raidho D3’s ($80K/pair, I believe, at the time) and Sprout performed insanely well!
The efficiency of the Zu’s at 101dB means there must have been PLENTY of gain. Hope we didn’t knock too much paint off the walls
Between the ELAC Debut B6 speakers and the Wharfedale Diamond 220s… which do you recommend for pairing with the Sprout? I have long been a reader of Wirecutter and their reviews - and they rate the ELAC B6’s higher than the Diamond 220s stating: “During our testing, Wharfedale’s Diamond 220 speakers had good detail and nice bass but sounded boxed in when compared with other speakers in the lineup. These speakers produced a soundstage that was narrow and confined to the center of the room, while other speakers created a more expansive stereo image. Aside from the soundstage, the quality of the sound was good, and we liked the build of the speakers, but we all preferred a sound that was more open.”
Meanwhile they have rave reviews of the ELAC B6… however, they’re not testing speakers with the Sprout - so I was wondering which you suggest is the best option, both in terms of sound quality and which is a greater sound for the price. Currently, there’s a $20 price difference. I’d like to stay under $300 as that is my budget currently.
I haven’t directly compared the two but from my experience, Andrew Jone’s work on ELAC is far more musical and closer to what I would listen to than that of Wharfedale.
We’ve tried them with the B6’s (an amazing pairing, which can be found on our website and sold as a package here: http://www.psaudio.com/products/sprout-elac-system-2/ ) and we listen to a pair of floor standing F6s here in the shop, and they sound amazing. I have not yest personally tried the 403s but I’m sure it will all sound absolutely fantastic! Thanks!
First post/reply on this forum. I’m still waiting for my Sprout to arrive but when it does it will be hooked to the new NHT C3’s and a b10d sub. Can’t wait to hear the difference from my old Pioneer Elite VSX 30. Also curious to see how it works with my B&W P5’s.
Night one in the books with the new Sprout. Unfortunately only had a couple hours to play around after work so will have to post again in detail. Had some issues getting my laptop to link up with the Sprout using USB but setting up Bluetooth couldn’t have been easier. Only listened to a couple songs through the B&W P5’s listening to Diana Krall Live in Paris on Spotify via the digital setting. The vocals where impressive and will make me feel a bit less like I’m settling for headphones over my main system when the little guy is sleeping. (more to come).
Now for the C3’s. I don’t have the cable yet to hook up the Sub so last night was just for the books. Started out with a little Beck Morning Phase and ended with Daft Punk. Every strum of the guitar was crisp like it was with the Elite VSX-30 along with the vocals. I’m guessing with break in time on the Sprout I will see some real separation between the two products and be able to really describe the performance. Where I noticed an immediate impact was with the little extra kick of bass. NHT speakers are not known for creating a lot or any bass from the speakers. They like to let the Sub do the work. If 90% of what you listen to is instrumental this pairing would have you grinning from ear to ear. (No Sub needed) But my musical selections range all over the spectrum and even with the added bass the C3’s still really want their sub. Looking forward to testing the Sprout and speakers a bit more tonight.
Before I purchased the C3’s I listened to the B&W CM5’s. I’ll be honest I’m not feeling the least bit disappointed in my choice. All priced the same I would give the edge to the CM5’s. But when you can nab the C3’s direct from NHT for $800 shipped on sale and $1,000 reg price to me its a no brainer. With the money I saved I bought a Sprout and have cash in hand to upgrade cables. Not sure why NHT’s not more popular.
Sprout owner for 3 months and really loving it so far But I need to get a pair of decent speakers. Right now I have a pair of celestion ditton 25 there’s room for improvement.
Made some research and my main options would be elac debut B6, Wharfedale 220 and dali zensor 1 or 3
Funny thing is that in sweden the debut b5 costs 400€ and the dali zensor 1 costs 250€
The wharfedales aren’t even available to buy here.
So I went to a dealer to listen to the zensor 1 & 3. both sounded good and then I tried the zensor 5 which was much better than the others. Also the zensor 5 was on sale for 500€
I’m thinking about getting the Zensor 5 which is about as much as i would spend. But now I wonder if there’s any other alternatives in that pricerange. Any suggestions?
I jumped the gun and bough me a pair of Dali Zensor 5 after some consideration. I still have some break-in time left but boy do they sound good. I listened to music all weekend non stop. I now notice that I’m new to HiFi audio and it’s wonderful to hear records in a new light. The downside is that I notice that not all recordings are made equal =)
I am wanting to get back into better quality music listening and I am planning to purchase a PS Audio Sprout that I will setup in my office. I mainly listen to Jazz (Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett…etc.), along with some classical music - mainly piano.
My question is around speakers that will pair well with the Sprout. The Sprout will be on my desk and the speakers will either be on my desk off to the sides or maybe on stands next to my desk. They will likely need to be 12"-18" from the wall and one will be in a corner of the room.
My budget is about $500 for a pair of passive speakers. I would appreciate suggestions for speakers that will work well in my setup and that will also pair well with the Sprout and its inherent bass boost. (I believe that is correct.) Also, this will mostly be near field listening.
One option I have in front of me is a used pair of Dynaudio X12s that someone has offered me but I am unsure how these would sound with the Sprout and in my setup. Any thoughts on this plus other good speaker options in my budget will be appreciated.
