I don't understand how I will understand the Zus by just listening to it on one amp. What if you have got it wrong?
I've heard Zu's several times and each time I was struck by their musicality. Two times I will always remember:
I was at a listening party with an excellent system made up of Martin speakers and Eisenstein pre-amp and OTL's. This playback was so bright and fatiguing that I was driven from the listening room to the kitchen. 2 hours into the party, most of the party goers were in the kitchen drinking. The system owner then put in a pair of Zu Definitions and we were invited back in the room. The sound was now entirely musical with a huge soundstage and excellent bass. Voices that were edgy before (15 IPS tape and LP's played on a Brinkman LaGrange) were now engaging and frankly beautiful. I was about to leave the party moments before the speaker change was made, I ended up staying until 1AM.
The second time I was blown away by Zu's was at the last LA Audio show. Sean Casey from Zu was demoing the latest Zu Driud Mark VI and playing progressive rock. The system was simple: First Watt F6 amp and preamp and a vintage Luxman turntable. This simple system produced the musically I heard at the listening party but with enhanced definition and more defined space between the instruments. For $10K, the Druid VI is a contender for one of my favorite speakers. I can only imaging what the Druid VI could do with higher end amps.
Brad, I can't really comment on the tech. But a critical reason why the IV sounds so much better than the II is the change to the Radian 850.
Sean is adamant that he wants the full range driver to cover the ?2.5? octaves range of the human voice, 40-50Hz to 11kHz, w no crossover component interrupting this range.
I do know the Radian 850 is highly modded incl building into a quasi horn. Maybe this takes its range closer to 20kHz.
It may interest you to know, the newest top Zus ie recently released Druid VI, and soon to be released Definitions VI, Dominances II and Experiences I, will all still use the 850, despite much else being changed.
Full range drivers are nano tech doped Eminences w whizzer cone, 12" Eminences as subs. Sean is working hard to bring the Eminence subs close to the 101dB efficiency of the full range drivers.
Jeffrey, yes I have the Towshend supertweeters. They've contributed a small but important part to the end result I'm achieving.
A world full of sound bars is perhaps just a little scary because it says we are just watching tv. Ear buds are fine because that implies we are still listening to music. Though I am happy if we all find our own version of culture and so are in some ways fulfilled. For me however music is and always will be king.Which Tao? That Wilson and Magico dominate the high end? Or that for the 99%, listening at home intently as a hobby has reached the low point it has?
Russell....Please do not encourage him. Please tell me that the Merlot was not new world
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