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Which is better, Zed Audio or Tru Technology?

4K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  rockinridgeline 
#1 ·
SQ, versatility/flexibility, price, all around?
Thanks, in advance.
-Jeff
 
#2 ·
Which is better, Ford or Chevy?

It all depends on your ears and what you expect from your amps. The Leviathan is a current bang for the buck favorite. It's also a very efficient amp, so it's a lot easier on your electrical system. I'll be buying one, but Tru also makes some excellent amps.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Hi Everybody,

I don't know if this thread is an old one or not but I would like to provide my opinion about this from two main reasons:

1. I am a Leviathan owner and I had discussions about this amp with Stephen Mantz before and after buying it.

I provided a whole review at the forum I usually write at (in Hebrew... that is ????????? - ????? \ ???????? - ????? ???) but now I wish to give a review about it here as well.

2. A very good friend of mine in Israel is a distributer of HAT (hybrid audio) and AA and also TRU products and I got to know all of the product line very well.

But I would not like to compare between the two as I am not referring here to a blind test, in order to do so, one would have to take the billet six in front of the leviathan, adjust phases and gains and put in the car people that do not know what they are listening to, more than this, on a car that would not have a suitable electric system the leviathan would have a very big advantage due to it's energy consumption technology which I will soon explain about.

And the other reason why I would not do that is that at the end sound is very personal and one can only choose for him self at the end of the day.

TRU amps - kick ass, no doubt about it, but I decided to purchase a ZED Leviathan due to many other reasons that are not related to sound only.

------ review --------

Why did I buy the Leviathan?

I believe that during the following years to come we will start to see either less and less of big, fuel wasting cars and more and more of micro cars with tiny electrical systems - the audio systems we are using today would oppose a very big problem - not with the Leviathan.

The Leviathan is saving energy in two different ways:

a. It is class D amplifier.
b. The power supplier (PSU) has two sets of voltage rails... one of them is used for full wattage and the other is used for low watt and current consumption.

The thing is that this is either or amplifier - it can work as a 33*6 WATT amp when the current draw is low or low for at least 4 seconds.
Or it can work as a 150*6 WATT amplifier when required.

This is the real deal behind the energy consumption of this amp - technology ;)

The other reason I baught it was it's size! - If I am heading my self to a future of small cars then size is a really big issue, did you think how you would ever fit a TRU billet six in to a Toyota Yaris??? oops there it is...

Don't forget the sub, it's amp if required, sound processor and who knows what else - nothing would be left from the bagage...

------- my talk about class D and SQ with Stephen ----

Well I come from a field of electronic which I can not speak about but I know some thing about peaking time in tearms of millie seconds...

The Leviathan/Kronos are using a peaking time of 25 nano seconds for the class D switching rate - there is no way in HELL a human ear could spot that!

And the disturtion level is (THD) very very low - so there should not be any affect on sound quality just because this is a class D amp.

And it has high grade quality build and parts invested in to it and it is also a very efficient and strong amplifier.

My instincts told me - this should be interesting.

So I baught it.

At this point I wish to thank Stephen and Joyce for the worm treatment I received along the way.

------------ reviews ----- before and after

My car audio system is as follows:

HU - would be carpc, for now clarion source, simple head unit
Processor - Audison bit one
Frontal - Leviathan running HAT L1+L4 at kickpanel + AA havoc 7 in doors
Sub - Aura Sound NS10 5series on Sundown SAE-1000D monoblock

Car - Toyota corolla 2007 (told you, we drive small and efficient cars in IL)

Before I had a kicker KX600.4 and a SONY XM 2025

The sony is actually an old school and it is rather good - but... you will find out soon.

Well the sony died along the way and it is now waiting to be fixed and I used an old sherwood amp but still the "but" remains the same...

I got the Leviathan and at the very minute I hooked it up and turned it on I noticed that the sound is way way way more clear and sharp than it was with the kicker and sony.

After I set the gains I noticed that the high notes are extreemly distorted and not detailed but I coulnd not put my finger on why that is - still, even so, the sound system was so bright and vivid that it was uncomparable to the before.

My AA havocs sounded as if I just through two layers of sound dedening on my doors (it is a leased car from my work place and I will soon return it so no car pc for now and no sound deadning) and I just realized, I did not even start to use them...

This is just by turning the amp on and tuning it.

------ system tuning --------

Since my twitters were amplified in separate of the mids and woofers I had to turn the phase for the mids and twitters to connect them and focus them.

now as all of my frontal is on one amps - phases should be all the same and I should only play with the crossover slopes (which this is were the big WOW is at...)

I turned the phases correctly and suddenly all the missing detail in the high notes, most of it, came back and there was no disturtion.

But still - the lower voice of the singers was suddenly missing and human voice was very squeeky - the reason was that now my AA havocs are not being smeared any more by that kicker amp and they are clear and focused.

I then changed the cross point between the havocs and L4s from 150Hz to 300Hz and the squeeky voices are no more...

---- stage hight -----

I had an issue running on the kicker and sony that forced me to set the cross point between the L4 and the L1 to 9KHz in order to raise the hight of the sound stage up, if I set it to 7K it would lower the hight and 5.5 was something not to speak about.

Then when I swapped to the ZED this phenomenon no longer existed, no matter if the cross point was 9K or 7K or 5.5K the sound stage hight hardly moved if at all.

This has something to do with either the fact that the ZED really gets all the current it is required for or simply it is realy much stronger and stable and efficient.

And I really prefer much more that the cross point is at 5.5K now as it gives the soundstage much more depth and instrument detail, plus the continueity of sound is felt much better, echos and stuff like that.

------ to sum up -----------

The sound is human and natural when I am listening to vocals.
When listening to electronic - it is a total blast.

I do get excited and I do not feel or could not possibly tell that this is a class D amplifier.

When I gave pepole in IL to listen to my car system - some of them were very surprised, at that point the sound system was not even tuned... only gains... ;)


It is a hell of a bargain for it's price, it can defenetly put up a serious fight to high grade amps may be even high end amps and with correct tuning it could also win many high grade amps but this is for another fight.

As for a product by it self - SQ? high grade, efficient? - I think one of the best grades ever to be given to an audio amplifier, cost? no argue, size? I know 2 channel amps which are bigger than that... Weight - not too shabby

If you thinking of buying this one - it's probably a good idea :laugh:

Eddie
 
#5 ·
I have used Tru amps and in my experience they are very analytical sounding amps. This is good if you don't want to color the sound at all. They are also severely under rated for their power. Finally they, especially the new ones, are super expensive. If cost is a concern then consider the Zed amps.

I have not heard the Zeds, but Mantz is a well respected amp builder and I am sure these will be great amps.
 
#6 ·
Sorry, but I would prefer to let someone else be the first production run amplifier beta testers because I have been burned in the past by running first generation "better" technology. New technology brings back BAD memories from the Rockford Fosgate Punch HD series and the 4.6x that I purchased in 1998...

ETA: From 2001 to 2008, I did NOT purchase Rockford Fosgate gear.
 
#9 ·
I am sure the Tru amps are nice, as there seem to be plenty of satisfied owners,
so that is all I can say on that. I don't recal seeing any reviews on Tru in recent
years, but there may be.

But having seen the prior Zed review on the Gladius amp and the more recent reviews on
the Leviathan, which is clearly one of the best FULL range Class D amps available, combined
with the incredible value the offer (1.5kw plus at $600), makes a pretty compelling argument
IMHO.

I think when you compare it to either the JL HD amp combo ($1,500 plus), or even their 900.5,
(900 watts) it is no contest on the 'bang for the buck' scale.

I am ordering a second one tomorrow for my second car to beat the price increase next month.

Rick
 
#10 ·
I own Tru S45's. They are simple, straightforward amps. Well built. High quality components. I am very satisfied.

OTOH, the new Zed amps are interesting. On my weekend car, I am considering the 6 channel. Think I'll wait a couple months and see what the long term road test results are.

I don't think you would go wrong with either.
 
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