# Zuki Eleets (smaller one)



## alius123 (Jun 22, 2006)

Curiosity got the best of me and I had to hear this amp. I am very happy I did. I will try to give a good explaination on it's powerhandling by comparing it to my previous setup and my friend's. That was my first real worry about the amp, which I am sure it is for alot of others. 

I have the Usher 8945P mids and Peerless HDS tweets. I ran the smaller Eleet amp in 4 channel mode. I previously had my speakers powered by the MB Quart QAA4250 in the four channel mode, which is supposedly 240 x 4 at 4ohms. The Zuki was in leagues ahead of the MB Quart in powering my system. It was able to control my woofers very effortlessly and I heard slight details here and there that I could not with the MB Quart. The MB Quart was able to power my system just fine, but my lower and upper drums had alot more dimension and authority with the zuki. A very clean and detailed amp! Got very very loud. I have an eclipse 8443 deck. With the MB Quart I had the gain at +6.5 with the volume somewhere around 75-76. The zuki I had the gain at zero and the volume at around 72. 

The tonality of this amp is just very nuetral and sweet in my opinion. Very awesome compliment to my speakers. Now I will explain my friend's system and how it did on his. 

He has the Focal Utopia Be 6W4311B from speakercity and the 
scanspeak 6600 tweeters with the MB Quart QAA (2 channel; 2 x 500 @ 4ohms) to his mids and the Helix A4 to his tweeters. 

The zuki did a awesome job on slower non technical songs. We both found it comparable to the Helix in sound quality and powerhandling capability. Neither amp was able to effectivle control his woofers in four channel mode on complicated songs. On Staind his woofers would start to pop. The amp was still amazing none the less. I believe if he put the 604 dollar eleet or bridged either it would work. It got loud on his system, but again was not able to power it at the levels he wanted on more complicated songs. His MB Quart was able to very easily and seemed to compiment his system well for the powerhandling. 

My assuption to this is that it worked great for me because I have paper cones which usually tend to do better with not too much power, where as my friend's mids I have found to be power hungy. Bottom line, They are very clean, detailed amp with an amazing tonal quality I like. I found it comparable to the Helix. Hope this helps.

Patrick is a really awesome person! Very nice and took the time to answer my questions. His SQ cds are very awesome as well!!


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## AzGrower (May 30, 2005)

great review....


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

alius123,

Nice system } Mids: Usher 8945P; Tweets: HDS Peerless ;Amp: Zuki Eleet (small) ;Sub: DIYMA ;Sub Amp: Zapco AG340 

Excellent review


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## alius123 (Jun 22, 2006)

thank you.


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

I am quite surprised that the zuki amp was not able to play the 6' focal mids well. I checked the specs at speaker city and the woofer does 90 watts rms, 125 watts max and sensitivtiy 88db. It doesn't look like a difficult load at all. I think that poping noise is caused by clipping the amp. Due to trying to duplicate sound at very high levels wich the mb quart qaa2500 amp could. Sounds like the zuki amp had a bigger impact on your system because it had better overall synergy with your particular components. Wich yielded the finalized sound more towards your taste.


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## JayBee (Oct 6, 2006)

PIcs of internals or it didn't happen 




alius123 said:


> Curiosity got the best of me and I had to hear this amp. I am very happy I did. I will try to give a good explaination on it's powerhandling by comparing it to my previous setup and my friend's. That was my first real worry about the amp, which I am sure it is for alot of others.
> 
> I have the Usher 8945P mids and Peerless HDS tweets. I ran the smaller Eleet amp in 4 channel mode. I previously had my speakers powered by the MB Quart QAA4250 in the four channel mode, which is supposedly 240 x 4 at 4ohms. The Zuki was in leagues ahead of the MB Quart in powering my system. It was able to control my woofers very effortlessly and I heard slight details here and there that I could not with the MB Quart. The MB Quart was able to power my system just fine, but my lower and upper drums had alot more dimension and authority with the zuki. A very clean and detailed amp! Got very very loud. I have an eclipse 8443 deck. With the MB Quart I had the gain at +6.5 with the volume somewhere around 75-76. The zuki I had the gain at zero and the volume at around 72.
> 
> ...


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Nice review. I could see where the Zuki amp might have a hard time keeping up with a 500X2 MB Quart amp though. However, when the volume was kept on the middle to lower side in your friend's car... How did the zuki amp do then?

Zach


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## Daniel_IX (Sep 9, 2006)

The Zuki amp is a phenomenal value, it easily out performs amps in it price bracket. When we did our test we did a direct swap from my Helix A4 and MB Quart QAA 2500, to the Zuki amp powering everything (sub was not connected for both tests). The amp gets very loud on my focal 4311s with excellent midbass control and sq for 90% of recordings. Its midrange is neutral, but still full of emotion. It was wonderful on sq cds and it realty was hard to compare to the other amps. It has the kind of liquid sound that makes you forget about everything except the music. The best comparison I can make is to the helix A4, they sound very similar, with the zuki having a smooth sound and helix having a crisp sound. With regards to powering my focals specifically, it did the best job of any amp I have tried with less then 150rms. I know that the focal specs say that I can get away with less then 500rms from my QAA2500, but in my experience more power with equivalent sq is always better for those mids. I know 500rms sounds crazy, but it is required to max out the dynamic resolution of those mids. I should not have been clipping the gain was at zero and the deck was around ¾ volume, my eq was flat and my mids were crossed at 80 with 24 db slope, while it wasn’t exactly low volume I could easily talk and be heard. I am very demanding, when it comes to amps and speaker control, I listen to a lot of metal/gothic metal and expect my speakers to do it flawlessly, and in my friends car it did, which at this price point astounds me, I wish it had worked for my system, probably the big 4 channel would.


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## jj_diamond (Oct 3, 2007)

it'd be interesting to hear both of your front stages run passive off 2 channels.  

nice review.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Hi Daniel IX,

I was wondering if you could clarify this, [ two test , no sub ].

Did the first test use both of your amps ?

Did the second test use only one amp ?

I read it over and looked at your sig [ system info ], I couldn't tell if your Helix and MB Q were being used in the first test.

The review was great [ just a little confusing to me ].

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Zuki amp is a phenomenal value, it easily out performs amps in it price bracket. When we did our test we did a direct swap from my Helix A4 and MB Quart QAA 2500, to the Zuki amp powering everything (sub was not connected for both tests). The amp gets very loud on my focal 4311s with excellent midbass control and sq for 90% of recordings. Its midrange is neutral, but still full of emotion. It was wonderful on sq cds and it realty was hard to compare to the other amps. It has the kind of liquid sound that makes you forget about everything except the music. The best comparison I can make is to the helix A4, they sound very similar, with the zuki having a smooth sound and helix having a crisp sound. With regards to powering my focals specifically, it did the best job of any amp I have tried with less then 150rms. I know that the focal specs say that I can get away with less then 500rms from my QAA2500, but in my experience more power with equivalent sq is always better for those mids. I know 500rms sounds crazy, but it is required to max out the dynamic resolution of those mids. I should not have been clipping the gain was at zero and the deck was around ¾ volume, my eq was flat and my mids were crossed at 80 with 24 db slope, while it wasn’t exactly low volume I could easily talk and be heard. I am very demanding, when it comes to amps and speaker control, I listen to a lot of metal/gothic metal and expect my speakers to do it flawlessly, and in my friends car it did, which at this price point astounds me, I wish it had worked for my system, probably the big 4 channel would.
__________________
Eclipse 8053 - BLA – Helix A4 – MB Quart Qaa2500 – Scan Speak 6600 – Focal 4311 – JL 12w6v2


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

By the Way , those Helix amps are sweet  

Love the speakers , Focal and Scan Speak !!

a very worthy comparison I feel, Too !

dbphelps had this to say about Brax 
Now Brax, they are engineering marvels, along the lines of high-end BMW and Mercedes cars, in that they are engineered and built the way they are because they can be, and are worth every penny of thier extravagent price-tags...

Their enormous power and unsurpassable high end sound quality create an unforgettable experience for your ears. 

• Driver with class A technology 

• Outputstage with 24 MosFet transistors 

• Adjustable damping factor from > 50 - 1500 

• RMI (realmixed input) for forming an optimised mono-summation signal from the left and right channels 

• NFI (noisefree input) for distortion-free listening 

• Intelligent active crossover 

• Bass Boost Control 0-9 dB, adjustable center frequencies 30-120 Hz 

• Mono/Bridged/ Stereo switch 

• 8.0 volt input for connection to any signal source 

• ADC - Anti Distortion Choke to eliminate distortions 

• Intelligent temperature and power controlled switching power supply 

• Separate speaker protection circuit with current limitation for speaker short-circuiting, cable contact with car chassis, low impedance and wrong connection 

• CPS - Color Protection System 

• SMD - Surface Mounting Devices for constant assembling quality 

• Double-sided, extra strong (2x 110u) and copper plated pc-board for best power and signal transmission and protection against vibrations 

• 24-karat gold-plated solid connectors suitable for 25 m²/ gauge 4 cables 

• Temperature-optimised heatsink for highest efficiency 

• 1% accurate components for perfect audiophile sound quality and maximum power 

• Smoked-grey plexi cover with both side printing


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## Daniel_IX (Sep 9, 2006)

Test #1- Helix A4 to tweeters, MB Quart Qaa 2500 (bypass mode) to mids
sound- dynamic, open, loud, neutral (8/10)
detail- crisp, no rounding off, slight static texture to fine details(qaa 2500)
(9/10)

Test #2- Zuki Eleet to tweeters and mids
sound- dynamic, liquid, 3d, neutral (10/10)
detail- smooth, deep, no rounding off, a little valed on very complex songs
(9/10)
comment- my mids moved alot which led to them xmaxing at a lower volume then I like

Past test- Helix A4 to tweeters and mid
sound- dynamic, open, slightly cold at times 7/10
detail- very crisp, revealing, valed on very complex songs (9.5/10)- (hard to be sure its been a while since I tested)

comment- same problem the zukki has xmaxing on some songs


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Daniel_IX said:


> Test #1- Helix A4 to tweeters, MB Quart Qaa 2500 (bypass mode) to mids
> sound- dynamic, open, loud, neutral (8/10)
> detail- crisp, no rounding off, slight static texture to fine details(qaa 2500)
> (9/10)
> ...


thanks daniel  

Maybe it's time to look for some speakers with more excursion, if they keep reaching their limits ?


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

Daniel_IX said:


> The Zuki amp is a phenomenal value, it easily out performs amps in it price bracket(_*may be best bang for the buck?[/*U]_). Its midrange is neutral, but still full of emotion(_*ability to convey essense?*_). It was wonderful on sq cds and it realty was hard to compare to the other amps(_*realism,palpable?*_). It has the kind of liquid sound that makes you forget about everything except the music(*very coherent,three dimensional-full bodied sound?*).




X2


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## haibane (Sep 29, 2005)

Guys, possibly thinking about buying two of the zuki 4 channels, Which model should I look at and would both of them be enough two power a sub pair of midbass pair of midrange and pair of tweeters. Not sure exactly which speakers I am going with just yet maybe get some dynaudio midranges I have a pair of ID midbass in now and the hybrid audio lat tweeters in too


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

haibane said:


> Guys, possibly thinking about buying two of the zuki 4 channels, Which model should I look at and would both of them be enough two power a sub pair of midbass pair of midrange and pair of tweeters. Not sure exactly which speakers I am going with just yet maybe get some dynaudio midranges I have a pair of ID midbass in now and the hybrid audio lat tweeters in too


You best bet would be to contact Patrick(owner) for your particular application.


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## haibane (Sep 29, 2005)

drake78 said:


> You best bet would be to contact Patrick(owner) for your particular application.


yeah I figured.


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## AzGrower (May 30, 2005)

haibane said:


> yeah I figured.


He is a super cool cat to deal with....


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## haibane (Sep 29, 2005)

AzGrower said:


> He is a super cool cat to deal with....


So I hear. Waiting to get an email back. no hurry.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

haibane said:


> Guys, possibly thinking about buying two of the zuki 4 channels, Which model should I look at and would both of them be enough two power a sub pair of midbass pair of midrange and pair of tweeters. Not sure exactly which speakers I am going with just yet maybe get some dynaudio midranges I have a pair of ID midbass in now and the hybrid audio lat tweeters in too


Probably one of the large 4 channels and one of the small 4 channels. 

2-midbass
2-midrange
2-tweeter
1-subwoofer


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

Matching amps FTW.... small 4 channel and a 5 channel...


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## haibane (Sep 29, 2005)

a$$hole said:


> Probably one of the large 4 channels and one of the small 4 channels.
> 
> 2-midbass
> 2-midrange
> ...


Guessing you would probably slap the small one on the midrange and tweeter?


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## alius123 (Jun 22, 2006)

Patrick is definately an awesome cat haha. Never met someone so cool to deal with.  

Hailbane,
What sub are you looking at getting? I would think the sub is going to determine more if you will have to use a bigger four or the smaller or even the five. I would think the smaller would be fine for any of the speakers you mentioned. Always nice to save alittle cash if you can  

I bridged the 3rd and 4th channel to my DIYMA sub to see how it would do. Hard to explain, the biggest difference between the eleet and my zapco powering it was the eleet seemed to make the sub alot smoother. The zapco had seemed to give more power but was more thumpy, which isn't neccessarily better. You could say the eleet let it blend more? I didnt do that big of a comparison though. I kept both gains at zero, so it might have gotten more 'thumpy' if I had upped the gain on the eleet. umm..now Im curious haha. I will play around with it more tomorrow night.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

alius123,

Your sub has one big ass, which tells me it can take some powa! 

You definately heard right, it is the "sound""quality" that zuki has figured out how to bring back.


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## jj_diamond (Oct 3, 2007)

alias,
just to clarify, your Usher's didn't bottom out but your buddies Focal's did. correct? the Ushers have a bit more excursion. i'm assuming both of you tested using active?


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

I found another reveiw on CA.com http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4192596


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## alius123 (Jun 22, 2006)

yea, only my friend's focal's bottomed and we both went active.
I found the amp to stay pretty cool as well. With about two hours constant playing it was only slightly warm.


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## jj_diamond (Oct 3, 2007)

cool.


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## DonovanM (Nov 1, 2006)

It's too bad you guys don't live on this side of the mountains, I'd love to have a listen to a Zuki... visiting anytime soon?


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## alius123 (Jun 22, 2006)

wow, someone else actually lives in same state haha  Any good audio shops in the Seattle area?? None here on the east side...especially in Pullman


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## DonovanM (Nov 1, 2006)

alius123 said:


> wow, someone else actually lives in same state haha  Any good audio shops in the Seattle area?? None here on the east side...especially in Pullman


Yeah, I know. And beyond living in the same state, I actually got my AA from WSU, and left last year 

Dunno about audio shops around here. I'm actually paying attention for one to get a nice alarm installed in a few months or so.


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