Zesto Andros Deluxe II Phonostage

REVIEW
by Rives Bird
Aug 12, 2022

I enjoy tubes and particularly like tube phonostages. I’ve owned quite a few in my day and have found they capture music remarkably well, despite the challenges of maintaining very low noise while amplifying minute signals.

Although Zesto Audio has made quite a name for itself in the high-end audio community in a relatively short period of time, the Andros Deluxe II was my first exposure to one of its products. The word Zesto is Greek for “hot.” That seems applicable for a firm making tube products, but tubes are also really cool!

I had the opportunity to speak with George and Carolyn Counnas about their audio journey. (They are the husband-and-wife team that founded Zesto.) George is the engineering side, and Carolyn is the marketing side, including creating the unique aesthetics of the Zesto products. It’s truly a team effort with a good deal of give and take. For instance, Carolyn came up with one design that located the transformers in a place that caused noise in the circuit. They had to be moved, so a curvature behind the tubes was formed to accommodate them—a curvature, as Carolyn explained, that was sculpted to look like that of a grand piano. The unit has similar, piano-like wavy lines on the front panel. There’s one thing for sure, you will not mistake a Zesto product for another brand. It has a very distinctive and elegant look.

The product’s name, Andros, is also Greek. It is an island in Greece where George’s grandmother grew up. The company began with phonostages as its front-line products, and all its phonostages have Andros as part of their monikers.

The Andros has seen multiple iterations. The Andros PS1 released in 2011 was the original. In 2014, the Andros 1.2 was released, followed, in 2016, by the Tessera. The original Deluxe phonostage was released in 2018; both the Andros II and Andros Deluxe II were released in 2020. In my conversation with George and Carolyn it was clear that, as is the case with the products of most high-end companies, each iteration involves incremental but significant improvements. The Andros Deluxe II reviewed here is priced at $8300.

Setup

The Andros Deluxe II has two gain stages, plus a step-up transformer for mc cartridges. The first gain stage is based on a 12AX7 tube and the second on a 12DW7. Although the tubes look almost identical, they do not operate identically, so you must be sure to put the right tubes in the right sockets!

As with any piece of equipment I review, I always burn it in first. For the Andros, I let the unit burn in continuously for about a week before I even put it in the system. As with most phonostages, setup was very straightforward. The options are gain (low/high), input impedance for mc, and some choices for grounding. These settings are on the back panel, so depending on your setup it may not be terribly convenient to experiment. That was the case in my setup, but once I got the right settings, the Andros Deluxe II is a “set and forget” kind of thing.

I started with low gain, as my mc cartridge has a relatively high output of 0.5mV. I also selected 400 ohms as my starting point for loading. Loading an mc cartridge, as George explained, has a parallel in the fine tuning of a mechanical suspension. A lower load impedance in the phono- stage is akin to giving the suspension more freedom of movement. A higher load impedance is similar to damping the mechanical suspension. This explains why you have to experiment with cartridge loading to find the best value for your particular cartridge, playback system, and tastes. Loading will change based on a number of what might at first appear to be unrelated factors, such as tonearm selection and tracking force. Hence, you often find cartridge manufacturers do not give a recommendation for loading their cartridges. Ultimately, I settled on 300 ohms. The loading impedance is selected via dials for the right and left channels, with 12 settings, offering 1000, 800, 700, 500, 400, 350, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, and 50 ohms, each calibrated by discrete resistors. The ground switches can lift the ground for either or both channels. Their purpose is solely to lower the noise floor, and according to George there is no right or wrong with the ground settings. I’d experimented with grounding prior to using the Zesto, so I knew it made sense. However, the Zesto was so quiet in my system that it was impossible for me to tell which ground setting was better; ultimately, I left the ground on in both channels.

Listening

I started out with Eva Cassidy’s Live at Blues Alley 45rpm reissue. This is an excellent live recording, sonically and musically. The Andros was very dynamic, and extension in both the high and low frequencies was excellent. The bass laid a fabulous foundation for the soundstage, and one of the first things I noticed was how wide that stage became as a result. The soundstage just enveloped my listening space and was as broad as I’ve ever heard in my system. This breadth came at the slight expense of less precise placement of instruments. Imagine walking into a performance, and, as you get closer, the sound of the individual instruments begins to broaden and surround you. This was the feeling I had with the Andros from the very first cut.

Eva Cassidy’s vocals were great, but since the LP is a live recording, I knew there were some limitations. On a studio recording of one of my favorite Diana Krall performances (“How Deep is the Ocean”), her voice was large again, a bit larger than life, but extraordinarily detailed and sensationally present. There was the slightest touch of sibilance, but it was not objectional. (I’ve heard this touch of sibilance on many of her recordings, including the digital renditions.) Tonally, the Andros really extracted everything that was there. The hi-hat cymbals were the best I’ve heard, with extension and a natural ring that made you feel like you were in the studio.

Through the Andros, vocals were consistently wonderful, but how about some more dynamic instrumental jazz, like Dave Brubeck’s Time Out. I listened to “Take Five” on the 45rpm reissue and again found the tonal quality of each instrument to be excellent. Perhaps there was a little extra emphasis in the lower treble, though it was never fatiguing. The Zesto phonostage always had a way of sounding natural, and the cymbals once again impressed as did the bass, with a full and articulate sound to each note. The famous drum solo in this track did not disappoint, either. The tonal quality of the drumheads was clearly pronounced, and the dynamics were superb.

With all the jazz pieces I played it became apparent that the upper midrange had particularly good detail and was also a little forward. Miles Davis’ trumpet gave you the feeling that you could tell just how he was using his embouchure. Likewise, I felt I could hear just how the reed was vibrating on Ben Webster’s saxophone. It was unquestionable to me that the Zesto had a talent for brass and wind instruments. (Perhaps this is due to George’s being a trumpet player himself. He definitely captured the realism as well as the nuance of these instruments.)

I tried a few pieces of chamber music, and this was the only area in which I was not smitten with the Andros. Jonas Starker’s Bach cello suites was one of several LPs I tried. In each case the soundstage was bigger than I wanted for a chamber ensemble. The cello was so forward in the mix I almost felt like I could crawl inside it, which is not a thing I wanted to do. When I listen to chamber music, which is not that often, I want to relax and be lulled into the music. This is not what the Andros Deluxe II is about. It is an exciting presentation that makes you want to sit up, listen to all the details it has to offer, and feel a few hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

On to some large-scale orchestral works. Classic Records’ 45rpm reissue of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade was impressive. My normal feeling on this recording is of sitting around row L. Not with the Andros. I was moved right up to row B. The result was increased dynamics, a broader soundstage, and less blending of the orchestra, as you might expect from being so close. Once again, it felt as if the music was enveloping me. As with many Living Stereo recordings, the string section is a little accentuated, and that certainly came through with the Andros. On every recording I listened to the Andros delivered what was there, both good and bad. Flaws in a recording really had no place to hide.

With this kind of engagement, dynamics, and excitement, I had to try a new challenge: 80s rock. Most of the rock mixed in that decade was highly compressed so that teenagers could play it at full volume on their $200 car stereos. (Well, at least that’s what I did.) Though I still love the music, even the well-done reissues use mastertapes with all that compression baked into them; there’s just no way around it. I played several pieces, from Rush’s Moving Pictures to Tears for Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair and The Hurting. The results were the same. While the Andros cannot solve the recorded issue of highly compressed rock or the fact that there is almost no depth to the soundstage, it did extract everything else better than I had heard before. Neil Peart’s drums finally came through with good tonal qualities and reasonable dynamics, instead of sounding as if they were being played at more or less one level.

Conclusion

The Andros Deluxe II is a dynamic, detailed, tonally extended, and super-quiet phono- stage. I found it extracted information from some grooves I didn’t know was there, but with that it is not a forgiving or relaxed component. Bad recordings are not going to be able to hide with the Andros Deluxe II, though good recordings will be reproduced with exceptional quality. Unlike many tube products, the Andros does not emphasize the midrange. I found the Andros to be mostly neutral in tone with perhaps a little emphasis on the top octaves of the midrange and lower treble, which resulted in perceptibly more detail without any sense of fatiguing brightness. I could easily listen to this phonostage for hours on end and, in fact, did so during the review period. It was a pleasure to spend time with the Andros, and I was not happy to send it back. My compliments to Carolyn and George for producing such great sound in a fine-looking piece of audio gear at an attractive price. If a phonostage in this price range is of interest, do not pass up the opportunity to audition Zesto’s Andros Deluxe II. It is highly recommended.

Specs & Pricing

Tube complement: 2x 12AX, 2x 12DW7
Inputs: 2x stereo (RCA and XLR)
Outputs: 2x line stereo (1x RCA, 1x XLR)
Gain: 45 or 50dB selectable (mm); 63 or 68dB selectable (mc)
Input impedance (mm): 47k ohms or 68k ohms
Capacitance (mm): 220pF
Input impedance: 50–1000 ohms in 12 steps, selectable
Dimensions: 17″ x 12″ x 5″
Weight: 21 lbs.
Pricing $8300