Barry, friends of course. I always ask for frank opinions, so I'm happy to take those. Ked, same here.
There is always the danger that tweaking out further can lead to more and more interconnecting Möbius Loops, I'm fully aware of that. And I do ask myself many times if I'm not guilty of adding sticking plasters to cover up issues.
What doesn't help here is the very nature of social media, by definition I have to slightly exaggerate or highlight positives and negatives to enhance a point.
By no means am I in thrall to any more major changes. This includes acoustic panels, AVAA units etc, new components. My room is good out of the box, indeed many things about it that could have been a negative seem to have worked out, ie size, descending eaves, break up steels/crossmembers, vast 150 years old suspended timber floor.
Expense spent on acoustically treating the eaves and floor during construction have worked out just fine. Any thoughts on Acustica Applicata, GIK, AVAA etc are just that, thoughts. And likely to stay that way.
I see that both Steve Williams and Tang have taken their subs out, surely that's the equivalent to what I'm doing by taking my subs output into more subtle territory. My Zus in effect spec full range down to 40Hz before the subs kick in, surely if I get my subs to kick in at 35Hz, and only to augment kick drum, bass drone and deep organ tones, Im actually doing the right thing, surely.
Now I'm fully open to criticism that this may mean I've lost deep bass capability, I'm sure Barry you'll let me know when we play a few bass torture tracks. I don't think I have, and indeed feel that my upper bass and mids have never been more textured, dense and expressive. I'm happy to compromise a bit on deepest bass (if indeed I have) to achieve greater organicness and continuousness from 30-35Hz and up.
Re analysis on the supertweeters and Lead footers, maybe you're right. The jury is out on them, but initial findings are positive.
Now, as to whether Zu is a good choice full stop, and whether the £60k I've spent on cables, supports, balanced power, grounding, plus some misfires on components spends, could have gone on "better" speakers, yes one can make a strong argument on that.
I'm sure Ked would have patted me on the back had I bought AG Duos Mezzos, and you would have done the same had I bought Maggies or Magicos LOL.
I'm gonna stop here, otherwise I'll sound too defensive and protective of my thought process. I actually do feel I've achieved a commendable result in the high end, but if it's only to my taste, so be it. However I'm open minded enough, and sufficiently chilled, to see that there are different routes to have gone down, esp re spkrs and the budget I could have had.
And for all those who hate the Zu sound ie Ked, or just don't quite get them ie Barry, my journey will just make no sense.