Zu Audio Speakers...Not a Discussion!

Do you have a larger room to try them in?
Are you asking me? They are in a room 11'x18'. I moved them back a bit last night, that seemed to help. Right now they are 48" from the front wall and the center of the drivers are 16" from the side walls. They are defiantly brighter and less forgiving than vandersteens
So here is the way the zus sew wired; a 30 foot run from the amp under the den floor in the crawl space to a junction box on the den (then from there I had a bi-wire setup to my vandersteens) I basically took the Bi-wire 6foot run tied both ends together and plugged them in the back of the vandersteens so 2 10 guage wires for the positive and 2 for the negative..... What do you think?
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So I'm finding that sometime ( I was listening to Bruce Springsteen - The Wild the innocent) when there is a heavy drum section Bruce's voice seems to get lost in all the music, distorted maybe? I'm playing with placement of the speakers but I can't seem to get a clean reproduction. I hope you know what I mean.

I had a pair of Soul Superflys and know exactly what you're describing. It is at least somewhat room dependent -- it was an occasional annoyance in my old apartment, and a huge issue in my new house.

I was never able to solve the issue in my new room, and eventually sold the speakers.

I should note that my new room is a good bit more lively than my old one was, which definitely made things worse.
 
I hope that I can solve this problem. I really love theses speakers and i want to make them work. I might even buy a pair of quicksilver mono blocks, or i'll need to look into room acoustic panels....
 
Well I little update. I changed the speaker cables, I'm now using 12 guage wires from the amp to the speakers - not the set up I had with I was biwiring the Vandersteens and I moved the omens back a few inches. They sound really great now, as if the Mcintosh system and the omens have gelled together- maybe my ears just got used to the sound. At least I'm back enjoying to music again.
 
My Zu's took a while to settle in, but once they did they were wonderful. They just seem to love tubes . I hope they work out for you.
 
About 2 months ago bought a pair of used Union, freaked out at the sound (in a good way). About a month later bought my current Druid IV/08 and sold the Union. And snagged an EE MiniMax for the pairing. Now of course I'm thinking Druid V. Someone throw me a life vest!

ps owned ~ 10 speaker brands the last 15 yrs, all types: big, small, ESL, etc. Nothing has got to me the way Zu has. Fallen hard.
 
My Zu's took a while to settle in, but once they did they were wonderful. They just seem to love tubes . I hope they work out for you.
I'm sure they would love a tube amp, I am in the hunt for one. I'm thinking a SET amp one of those inexpensive china made one.
 
Welcome back, Scott! I've heard a couple of your rigs over the years and they were exceptional - many times the cost of your current Zu rig! Neat to hear that you've found "your sound" - grabs life vest and tosses it - now let's see a picture of the beauties in action!!!
 
Anyone using the Zu Omens also tried Tekton Lore is same room and system? Wondering your thoughts about them compared.
 
The Tekton Lores and Zu Omens both use wide band drivers based on the 10" Eminence Legend in similar sized bass reflex cabinets. It's said if you like the Zu sound you'll also like the Lores.
 
I own the Tekton Lore and Zu Audio Soul MK.II and can give you my opinion of both models.

I purchased the Lores a few years ago. Here's my review from 2011 at a different forum...

I wanted to compare the Tekton Lore with the DaberAudioMonitor 3 speakers using the Primaluna Amp.

Overall the DaberAudio Monitor 3 is a better speaker. It presents clearer detail in mid’s and high’s. And the bass is controlled and balanced. Its presentation is more forward and engaging than the Lore’s. It also plays better at lower volume due to stronger bass.

There are times I want a speaker to be laid back. I believe the Lore’s are very good for this. Its mid’s and high’s are presented somewhat equally with the bass in the background.

When I connected the Lore’s to the Primaluna amp the mid’s and high’s are clear, just not as good as the DaberAudio Monitor 3.

The bass with the Lore’s, although good, sounds a little lean. Bass isn’t strong enough at low volume to my liking or for certain types of music, such as rock. One advantage I have with the Primaluna Amp is I have a Pioneer GR-777 Equalizer connected to it. So I chose “heavy” to boost the bass. This improved the overall sound at low volume. The Lore speakers sounded better. With jazz and vocals stronger bass isn’t always preferred by me, so I can fine-tune the sound of the Equalizer or turn it off completely.

Its obvious to me the Lore’s are perfectly capable of playing decent bass. It all comes down to matching the speakers to your equipment. There is just so much tube swapping you can do to a tube amp to get the “right” sound to your taste or to match equipment. That’s why I bought the Equalizer. I wish tube manufacturers would put more emphasis installing defeat-able tone controls.

A big advantage of the Lore is its 98db efficiency. I do not have any experience with horn speakers. But I believe anybody considering the Lore’s for low powered amps would be very happy with these speakers.

Zu Audio Soul mk.II

A few months ago I purchased a used pair of Zu Audio Soul MK.II speakers for my bedroom system. Ive used them with a 3 watt 2a3 tube amp and with a 35 watt el34 amp. The speakers perform better with the el34 amp, which I believe is from the additional power. Good bass, natural highs without sounding bright. I'm very happy with them.

I prefer the Zu Audio Soul MK.II speakers over the Lore.
 
"Ive used them with a 3 watt 2a3 tube amp and with a 35 watt el34 amp. The speakers perform better with the el34 amp, which I believe is from the additional power."

I had a different experience. Tried my Zu's with an ST70, Fisher 500 and Prima Luna Prologue ( all negative feedback push pull amps ) but the flea watt SETs were a better match in terms of resolving detail at low levels which I value above all else.
 
"Ive used them with a 3 watt 2a3 tube amp and with a 35 watt el34 amp. The speakers perform better with the el34 amp, which I believe is from the additional power."

I had a different experience. Tried my Zu's with an ST70, Fisher 500 and Prima Luna Prologue ( all negative feedback push pull amps ) but the flea watt SETs were a better match in terms of resolving detail at low levels which I value above all else.

Thats interesting that your experiences were opposite of mine.

When I use my 2a3 tube amp with a pair of Epos Elan 2 speakers it sounds just right. Ive used other speakers with my 2a3 amp and have had excellent results. With the Zu Audio Soul speakers paired with the 2a3 amp it sounds somewhat out of balance with higher focus on the midrange. The music does not sound natural to my ears.

I wonder if the Soul speakers was actually presenting the amps characteristics more accurately than the Elan 2 speakers, which would require a higher level of component matching.

Currently I'm using the Primaluna Prologue Three pre-amp and Four amp with the Soul speakers. The Prologue Four has strong bass which balances out the sound when used with the Zu Audio Soul, which I like. I usually play the Soul speakers at low volume since they are in my bedroom and play music at night. I still believe the Soul speakers need more power to shine.
 
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I visited the place a few years back. I believe I listened to the Omens at the time. These speakers have a pretty nice sound to them, a little bright, pretty nice looking, only 1 drive, I believe, very very efficient (103+ db), can be played pretty loud as well. Got to meet the owner, he showed me around the place, not actually a store, more like a little factory. Really not the place to demo speakers, but we did listen to them. After a year or two, the company changed the way they sell to the public.
 
Stereophile has published a rave review of the Zu Soul Supreme.

But once again, the Zu speaker's sensitivity measurement fell well short of company claims. Earlier in this thread I noted that the Zu Essence was spec'ed at 97db but measured at 92.5dB. Well the Soul Supreme is also spec'ed at 97dB but measured even lower at 91.5dB. Starting to look like one can knock off about 5dB from whatever Zu claims.
 
Or it's because of Stereophile's measuring technique.

Sorry but they don't seem to know what they're doing there. An example I have noted several times is that Martin Colloms (who has a engineering degree from Oxford and Chaired the Audio Engineering Society and founded Monitor Audio and has written four books on loudspeaker design) was the former Stereophile lead measurements guy. He is also a guy they bring in to court cases to settle audio related disputes. John Atkinson has no degree and takes measurements in his back yard.

Colloms measured my speakers as 18hz -6dB and 94.5dB sensitive. A German magazine also got the exact same results that Colloms got. But JA measured a higher sensitive version of the speaker as around 92dB where the manufacturer claimed 97dB.

On a forum there was a heated discussion where a competing maker was arguing with the owner of my HE speakers - but after awhile conceded and apologized to the maker of my speakers and noted that JA was wrong. (in part).

The problem is there are in room (real world and thus "valid" measurements) and quasi-anechoic pointless waste of time because it's much easier to do measurements (Stereophile).

In room measurements almost always are two speakers in a room (the second speaker automatically adds 3dB by itself). Stereophile places a speaker in the middle of the room (and or outside to try to simulate an anechoic environment) and only measures one speaker thus takes away 3dB right there. My speakers are corner loaded which adds another 3dB sensitivity and a whopping 18dB of bass (9dB per speaker from corner gain). Provided the walls are solid (brick or concrete) which most homes in Europe (but not in the west) are. Floors also add gains so it could depend on the floor - I believe Zu has a downfiring quality to their bass due to the design of their speakers and so the quality of the floor may have a sizeable impact on the bass and sensitivity.

I just wouldn't take the Stereophile graph as some sort of gospel when the results by an actual proper engineer on the same speakers gets correct results showing that the manufacturer of my speaker was correct. Paul Messenger who also knows hot to measure measured my one model down version as 92.5dB sensitive 22hz-3dB (freestanding) - the maker claimed 93dB 27hz-6dB in corners - Hi-Fi Choice actually got better numbers in a less ideal position! So I don't put much stock in most of this. The dealer in HK connected the 3 watt per channel SET to ZU Audio Speakers and it could pound - that's all you really need to know.
 
My Zu's would pound with a 3 watt SET. The bottom ports may have gained some mechanical efficiency with this arrangement which they didn't need.

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The most common Zu driver is a modified 10 inch Eminence Legend and I can't recall which Legend as there are several.

Eminence rates them all in the 90's all the way to 100 dbs. FWIW driver specs are based on performance in free air.
 
Hey Everyone!

I am really keen on getting some Zu Audio Speakers. I have seen some interviews with Sean Casey (the owner, might have the last name wrong) and I liked what he had to say. It is great that they are handmade in North America and that they are made with quality materials and real wood. From all the descriptions of their sound it sounds like they are my kind of speakers.

The problem that I am having is getting my head wrapped around the amplification requirements...

I have a Marantz 1060 in the shop (30 wpc) and I have a Rega Brio (2017) (50wpc) both are solid state and seem to be way more powerful than I will need and probably more than I would want. I have a pair of Celestion DL6s and they are really efficient as well and I hardly have any range to change the volume... same with my Focal 705Vs...

Do you think I can run a pair of the Omen Dirty Weekends off my Marantz 1060 that I am refurbishing? Haha... it seems like I am cursed with efficient speakers...

I am still pretty new to this audio equipment thing.... about a year since I bought my first turntable and only a couple months since I aquired that Rega Brio,
 
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