Innuous Zenith Mk3 or Something Else?

[kennyb123]

I’ve owned both a Zenith Mk2 and Zenith Mk3.  I spent many hours of enjoying music through each of them.

I think sound quality can be a moving target.  When I decided to upgrade, my criteria considered some factors not directly related to sound quality.  In addition to owning Innuos servers, I had owned an Auralec server.  I gained some insight into things I really wanted to avoid going forward.  That list follows.
 

You had wondered about whether Innuos would soon be releasing a new Zenith.  That’s a great question.  One reason I opted not to buy another Innuos server was because they didn’t have a transparent upgrade program.  I was told by Innuos a few years ago that there would be an upgrade program for my Zenith Mk3.  I was told I was put on a list to be notified when that program is launched.  To this day I have yet to be notified.  I ended up moving to Mk3 by selling my Mk2 and then purchasing a Mk3.  

 

As you can see in my signature, I am now running an Antipodes server.  If you browse their website you will find that they’ve transparently described the upgrades that are and will be available.  That they seek to keep their customer’s investment reasonably up to date is a big deal to me.

 

I can easily recommend that you consider one of their S series servers.  Maybe start with an S40 then over time add an S60.

 

This was my list of what was important to ME when buying a server.  I hope this helps.
 

1. Sever should be capable of dynamics and transient speed - music must come to life. Low power CPUs are not good at this.
2. Two-tier architecture seems like a great way to keep noise further away from the DAC - but it must not sacrifice the ability for music to come to life.
3. Upgrades should offered to help keep a server investment reasonably up to date. The upgrades should be transparently communicated.
4. Numerous software options should be offered. HQPlayer should be one of them (for me).
5. Great pre- and post-sales support. Mark Cole
6. offers a level of service I've not had with other providers.
7. There should be a community forum with employees actually participating. I purchased my K30 knowing that Antipodes was going to be launching their own forum. Taiko really sets a very high standard in this with their participation in their thread here on WBF. 
8. Company should be more well-established. I think both Auralic and Innuos were still too early in their growth when I owned their products. Nuno the Innuos CEO was actually doing support calls himself. It seemed he was stretching himself too thin by not growing his staff (I think that changed sometime last year). 
9. The server should allow me to install my own drives. I shouldn't be locked into the drive that was installed when I purchased the server.
10. The company should't push me towards getting support from their dealers. I wanted to be able to interact directly with folks like Mark. 

 

 

[kennyb123]

3 hours ago, longinc said:

on your buying consideration “ a server should be capable of transient speed and dynamics” I’ve always associated those to be influenced in the analog domain (preamp, power amp, dac output etc) - how does a server in the digital domain affect transient speed and dynamics?

 

That's a great question.  Antipodes addresses this from their perspective here in the section about noise and bandwidth.  

 

I'm not sure I can explain the "why" any better.  It has been my experience though that the source can make or break what follows. Some will advocate for a "source first" approach - and my K30 repeatedly tells me that they are right.   The K30 delivers speed and dynamics that my Zenith Mk3 barely hinted at.  It's actually pretty remarkable that a server can make such a difference in that area.  

 

What's even more profound is how much more tonal weight and density the K30 delivers.  I had gotten out of analog a few years back.  I sold my analog front end and reinvested the proceeds in a better digital front end.  A Zenith was part of that investment.  Most areas of reduction improved over analog though the one area lagging was tonal weight and density.  Digital sounded thinner and more anemic.  Colors weren't as saturated either.  That all changed when the K30 arrived.   A friend who heard my system had this to say:  "... the Antipodes K30 appears to have brought some delicious tonal richness and weight to the party".

 

Stereophile recently reviewed the K50 here.  The reviewer concluded that "Image size and weight, color saturation, bass control, and transparency were the best my system has ever delivered. Listening was the most enjoyable and rewarding I've ever experienced at home. That is cause for celebration."  While the K30 is a level below the K50, this was my experience too.

 

I had recommended the S40 and this S60.  The K30 is actually equivalent to the S30 + S40 + S60, but all in a single box.  The S series just allows you to get there in increments.

 

[kennyb123]

11 minutes ago, Dudeman said:

Since you mentioned the S40, I took a look at the specs and the price:  I was pretty surprised to see in a $5000 unit that they've used a Switched Mode Power Supply....What?  Eliminate the fan to cut noise, but use SMPS?  And moving up the food chain to their $9K unit, it excludes the player and reclock...ugh.  Considering the competition and cost, I think Antipodes may need to rethink their offerings and builds. 

I can't speak to the prices other than to say that I feel I got more than my money's worth with my K30.  The value in their products isn't easy to see by looking at the assembled parts.  It's more about how it all comes together to meet their sound-quality objectives.  

 

The S series allows one to take incremental steps to get to the equivalent of the all-in-one K30.  S30 + S40 + S60 is pretty much a K30.  The reviews I've seen of the S series components have all been positive.  Likewise for the feedback from owners posted on their support forum.  

 

They've collected reviews on their support forum.  You should be able to see them here.

 

 

[kennyb123]

2 hours ago, Dudeman said:

think in my mind I was just a little disappointed that they didn't offer a high quality LPS option and price accordingly - - but I get they have business decisions to make and what I might want for a particular price point may not represent the market.

They used to have a web page that spoke about their history.  What really impressed me was that they offered a mea culpa.  They finally realized that their efforts to reduce noise went too far and this ended up sucking the life out of the music.  They shifted their approach to balancing bandwidth against noise reduction.  See the first three paragraphs here for a good explanation.   

 

They feel linear supplies are too slow.  As such they devised their own hybrid supply.  But, SMPS were chosen as the supplies thrown in with the S series because they help to achieve their bandwidth objectives.  Their tuning helps to minimize the noise these introduce.

 

I really think they've nailed it as my K30 is dynamic as heck but also quieter than my Zenith Mk3 ever was.  Plus tones are denser with more natural timbre.  

[kennyb123]

2 hours ago, bobfa said:

The S40 has 12VDC in....  No AC Supply.

 

The S30 and. S40 ship with a SMPS.  The S60 is a recommended upgrade path.

[kennyb123]

On 12/19/2021 at 11:48 AM, Dudeman said:

I'm glad you find the SQ pleasing and more than acceptable for your individual needs.  I'm also glad that at least you acknowledge the power supply is an SMPS, just as Antipodes and dealers plainly describe it (see below). And, in fact, Antipodes' own write up in summary shows that the sound quality of the S40 is significantly limited, while suggesting a solution for enhanced SQ will be achieved by their, HSL50, a $2,000 outboard power supply.  Thus showing its quality in relative (and objective) terms may, or may not be the right choice, depending on whether it is "beneath" a particular person's other system components, or if it may be a good match consistent with their system level.  

"The S40 can be upgraded by adding the HSL50-based S60 Power Supply, to deliver considerably better audio performance." (italics mine)

This is no knock on the S40 per se; rather, the original point of my drawing attention to the power supply and its inherent affect on sound was merely to cause those prospectively considering the S40 to take note of the fact as they weigh its merits and cost.  As the OP indeed communicated, he was interested in evaluating the choices available to him and to make comparisons.  This information I communicated would be ostensibly valuable and helpful for his purpose.  

 

Power Supply

External – SMPS – 12v 4A

https://audiolimits.com/antipodes-s40-music-server/

 

I had hoped to quote just a single sentence in the above post, but it was impossible to do that on my iPad.  I guess the inclusion of rich text was too much for their text selection logic.  Crazy.

 

I don’t think that Antipodes thinks their S40 is “severely limited” as is.  They recommend it over the previous series (CX and EX).  That they were able to exceed all their former servers while including a SMPS speaks volumes about their achievement.  A smart buyer will judge these servers by the results and by the company’s reputation and not just by the parts list.  

I believe the Grimm MU1 music server that’s in such high regards now has a built in SMPS with no upgrade path.  And it was awarded product of the year by one of the magazines.

[kennyb123]

12 hours ago, stefano_mbp said:

… it work as expected … this is from my iPad 

Your screenshot shows you selecting text within my post.  Can you try it with the post that proceeded mine?  It's the one that has the embedded rich text.