advertisement


Factory upgrading my Innuos Zen to Zenith

Fourlegs said:
I was unsure of how much advantage there would be by upgrading a Mk3 Zen to a Mk3 Zenith because after all, the mother board is exactly the same and the only circuit change is the power supply which gets a big upgrade and has more discrete voltage rails. Of course the Zenith also gets a SSD as opposed to the HDD in the Zen but I’m not sure how much difference that makes (But I took the opportunity to get a bigger 4TB SSD fitted when the upgrade was done compared to the original 1TB HDD).

In the end I was able to compare a Zen 3 and Zenith 3 side by side and all I can say is that I think it is a very worthwhile upgrade. Later I added a PhoenixUSB and that took the Zenith mk3 quite a bit along the way towards Statement territory.

I don’t know where you live but if you are close enough you are more than welcome to bring your Zen Mk3 and compare to my Zenith Mk3.
Click to expand...
I think it may be down to the level of ancillary equipment as to whether the apparent difference makes the expenditure justifiable. Personally, I could not detect a worthwhile improvement using any DAC priced under £3k when using similarly priced ancillaries. However, I would accept that when using a Chord Dave and a very high level of ancillary equipment like yourself, differences will become more apparent and therefore justify the outlay.
 
Whizzy said:
I think it may be down to the level of ancillary equipment as to whether the apparent difference makes the expenditure justifiable. Personally, I could not detect a worthwhile improvement using any DAC priced under £3k when using similarly priced ancillaries. However, I would accept that when using a Chord Dave and a very high level of ancillary equipment like yourself, differences will become more apparent and therefore justify the outlay.
Click to expand...
I was using a Chord Qutest when I compared the Innuos Zen and Zenith mk3. For me the difference was clear and worth it but you right to say that the decision will not be the same for everyone.
 
Whizzy said:
I think it may be down to the level of ancillary equipment as to whether the apparent difference makes the expenditure justifiable. Personally, I could not detect a worthwhile improvement using any DAC priced under £3k when using similarly priced ancillaries. However, I would accept that when using a Chord Dave and a very high level of ancillary equipment like yourself, differences will become more apparent and therefore justify the outlay.
Click to expand...
The Ancillary equipment is important in this regard, no more critical than my 62 year old ears, which are not what what they used to be. I recently compared the much lauded Gustard R26 DAC, with the onboard DAC on my Primare pre60. I was surprised at how little difference I could hear between both. The Primare devise dac wise, is pretty much a plug and play with no
filters, (a godsend to my techno phobia). I found it impossible to update the firmware on the Gustard and contacting Gustard led to me being further confused. It then developed what sounded like a mains hum from the transformer which ultimately led to it being returned.

Regarding the Zenith and Zen, an A/B comparison is not an option for me prior to purchase and it could well be the case that the Zenith's superior performance may not be realised, in a similar fashion as the comparison between DACs.
 
leroyd said:
The Ancillary equipment is important in this regard, no more critical than my 62 year old ears, which are not what what they used to be. I recently compared the much lauded Gustard R26 DAC, with the onboard DAC on my Primare pre60. I was surprised at how little difference I could hear between both. The Primare devise dac wise, is pretty much a plug and play with no
filters, (a godsend to my techno phobia). I found it impossible to update the firmware on the Gustard and contacting Gustard led to me being further confused. It then developed what sounded like a mains hum from the transformer which ultimately led to it being returned.

Regarding the Zenith and Zen, an A/B comparison is not an option for me prior to purchase and it could well be the case that the Zenith's superior performance may not be realised, in a similar fashion as the comparison between DACs.
Click to expand...
My ears are a little older than yours but Specsavers (hearing dept) tell me they still work well. However, having used numerous DACs over the last couple of years I personally found the difference between them generally very overstated.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
Interesting video, at least the parts I could understand! Just waiting for them to get back to me to fix my Zenith Mk3.
Click to expand...
Watched it and found it interesting though some of it went over my head. They are putting some serious investment into their product and I have nothing but praise for my the Zen mk3. At the end of the day the customer is going to have to pick up the tab for this increase in investment. This is where I find myself regarding the factory upgrade from Zen to Zenith and whether it can be justified. This thread has given me much to think about so I will sleep on it tonight and decide tomorrow what I am going to do.
 
I think Innuos are a great company with excellent products. I love my Zen Mini, sometimes wonder how anything could sound better. I’ll probably upgrade speakers & Dac first.

My dealer uses one to demonstrate pretty high end gear.
 
leroyd said:
Do you mind me asking what is the problem with the Zenith?
Click to expand...
I was unable to clear the memory of the music from the previous owner, so I followed the instructions from Innuos to perform a factory reset. Now it will not recognise either of my backup drives, whereas it would before the reset.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
I was unable to clear the memory of the music from the previous owner, so I followed the instructions from Innuos to perform a factory reset. Now it will not recognise either of my backup drives, whereas it would before the reset.
Click to expand...
Annoying for sure and hope it gets sorted for you.
 
Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread and having given careful consideration to all comments,I have decided not to go ahead for now. The possibility that my ancillary equipment might not allow the Zenith's sonic performance shine through and that ultimately I am very happy with my system over the past 3 years, means I am going to leave well enough for now.

Wonder what the addition of the Phoenix USB reclocker to the Zen sound like? END OF THREAD!!!
 
The view has been expressed that the Mini is a veritable bargain but the Zen is the sweet spot in the range. The move from Zen to Zenith brings improvements but not really £2,000 worth unless you’ve money to burn. I say that asavery happy Zenith owner. A 2nd hand Phoenix would take you most of the way to a Zenith butwould also stand you in good stead for any other upgrades whether with Innuos or others.
 
...thus my dilemma. I know that 680D is nicely put, and reclocks every digital input, so I wonder if PhoenixUSB would really make things better
 
Woodface said:
I always thought USB was the preferred connection method for Innuos? I’ve never done a comparison with co-axial though.
Click to expand...
My post was a little tongue in cheek but personally I feel USB is a far from a perfect format which could be why there are so many USB re-lockers around. Until fairly recently I believe all Innuos were USB output only, although I think the mini now has a built in DAC. I have owned several Innuos including the Mk 2 and Mk3 Zenith but sold them as I found my Musical Fidelity Encore via its toslink or SPDIF outputs sounded better and still has all the benefits of the Zenith once I upgraded the hard drive SSD.

However, as I said this is a personal view and I suspect many are more than happy with USB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top