Zu loudspeakers

[the sound of Tao]

Well, Sound Of Tao is deliberating his Harbeths and PAP Horns. Ked loves a fantasy Apogees one end/horns the other, living space.
Then there are the guys running multiple tts, or one tt w multiple arms and carts.
Interestingly, noone running ss AND tubes on one spkr. Or multiple dacs/servers.

I am also a ‘and’ not ‘or’ kinda audiophile as Caesar so beautifully put it.

Think it’s the music lover or the ADD in me but I find having two setups to allow for all the music I love is the best long term strategy for me.

Some speakers are like traps, they do some things so extraordinarily well that they lead you to enjoy specific types of music more often because they make that type so musically accessible... and I think that can be when the audiophile then in some ways takes over and the music lover part of me sometimes then gets left behind in a close second place. After years of bouncing between these two modes I have found greater joy when the music lover in me is driving the big music bus.

Also Marc I’m not deliberating between the horns or the harbys... I’ve already signed on to both the horns AND the harbys. My only question is where that leaves the lovely big panel elephant in the room... my tall and mesmerisingly modded and at times room fillingly marvellous Maggie 20.7s.

Either way I’m with Caesar on this one... thinking you could end all or possibly at least many of your conflicts by giving up on being a Zu OR some other speakers guy and instead just giving in and ending up as a Zu AND horns guy. For less than the cost of a seriously expensive (tho easy and tempting) amp/pre upgrade you could just get yourself some affordable but truly great horns... and I’d choose a pair of slightly modded Pap horns over any of the AGs short of the ones way way up in their model range. Just sayin... get some pap horns in for a home listen... and if they do it for you still keep your Zus AND maybe get yourself a soul satisfyin pair of very happy horns as well.

I just put the Pap horns back in after a week and a half loving my time with the Harby 40.2s and now again remembering all the marvellous things that the BMS horn flanked with its dipole 15 inch woofers can do in bringing instruments and music to life. Both just magic for the music... just different but they lead you to constantly appreciate what is extraordinary about the other.

 

[VinylSavor]

I need to play around a little w tubes. I'm v tempted to go down the Mayer/Elrog 211s road, but at £6k for a balanced quad

Where does this number come from? A quad Elrog ER211 is 3000 Euros

Thomas

 

[spiritofmusic]

Apologies Thomas. I've got my pairs and quads confused. I would like to try them, but my Nat dealer is actively reluctant to switch from my 1948 GEs, and I have no desire to electrocute myself trying to re-bias your tubes myself.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, how are you running diffetent prs of spkrs? I mean how do you accommodate them?

In different rooms? Back and front of room? Side by side? Move one pr out, move the other pr in?

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Graham, how are you running diffetent prs of spkrs? I mean how do you accommodate them?

In different rooms? Back and front of room? Side by side? Move one pr out, move the other pr in?

Whatever way you want, Marc lol.

 

[christoph]

Yep, some adventurous guys out there. More floor space covered in gear than free of gear.

Marc, your huge cathedral listening space is downright predestined to have two speaker setups on either side.
Your beloved Zus on one side and something different like Horns or Dipoles (or PAP dipole horns) on the other side

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well Christoph, my space at the rear opens half width into a 3m x 3m alcove used for lp/cd/bd storage. I would need to block this off to have a continuous wall behind any secondary spkrs.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Graham, how are you running diffetent prs of spkrs? I mean how do you accommodate them?

In different rooms? Back and front of room? Side by side? Move one pr out, move the other pr in?

At the moment both the horns and the Harbeths are sharing a room until I do some serious renovating.

I just swap them in when the mood strikes... usually they are in for a fortnight or so at a time. They are both easy enough to move.

Have been burning them in and getting to know them since late October. I’ve come to the conclusion I’ll live with both so the next step is setting one pair up in a new space...

Though if your space worked to have two pairs permanently setup I would do that rather than swapping them about.

In my last house I always had a separate dedicated listening space (panels) and also a system setup in the large open living space (box) and liked the option of either shared music or listening alone... can’t inflict that very occasional whole opera on everyone.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Marc, your huge cathedral listening space is downright predestined to have two speaker setups on either side.
Your beloved Zus on one side and something different like Horns or Dipoles (or PAP dipole horns) on the other side

Or ribbon panels PLUS horns... hmmmm too soon to go down that road lol

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, the second space idea isn't going to happen. Maybe if Ra really loved sitting down to listen like I do, and we didn't have tubes- and cbls-unfriendly feline friends, I would run horns like yr PAPs in the main 35x30x20 space. And keep the Zus where they are.

So, second spkrs in my audio room could only work as a second dedicated install on rear wall, demanding a second set of tubes and source components, maybe a Garrard 301 and SPU, and a tubed dac/server.

Or as a periodic alternative in my setup as is, moving them in while moving the Zus out.

The practicality for my back and knees doing this regularly doesn't bear examination.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Hmmmm, so short term you could try living with both horn and a different SET at one end and Zus with NATs at other with your new streaming perhaps setup at one end and your TT at the other... then stage by stage move to possibly adding an idler as well so having the potential two TT option ticked also (doesn’t sound an unattractive option)... future planning to allow for more dilemmas/purchases is the intelligent audiophile security fallback... maybe vintage recordings at one end on SET plus horns OR maybe dig at one end and analogue only at other end... either way the knees and back are all safely managed. You just have to simply rotate on axis as the mood takes.

It’d also be good to have a nice revolving but super comfy chair so you are not feeling like you are left having to go all bareback in the middle... very cool and ever ready at the spin for analogue V dig or vintage V contemporary comfy in a Jacobsen egg chair (avoiding being all bond villainish and stroking your feline at the same time) sitting somewhere in that sweet spot in the middle... (now going too far) almost a bit 90’s lux and super octopussy!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, this supervillain lair only has one drawback that I can see. The need for stacks of cash.

I'll get back to you on that. Certainly that fluffy white cat on my lap would be the ultimate room treatment to help both systems.

 

[Rob181]

Graham, how are you running diffetent prs of spkrs? I mean how do you accommodate them? In different rooms? Back and front of room? Side by side? Move one pr out, move the other pr in?

Or ribbon panels PLUS horns... hmmmm too soon to go down that road lol

What about Zu's & planners - mine are a single ribbon running full range from 420 Hz to 17 KHz after which they start to roll off naturally - single "driver" approach as per Zu.

 

[213Cobra]

I have two systems in adjacent rooms in an open-plan house. Both have Zu speakers. There's enough difference to tilt each system to a slight specialty. One system is optimized for scale, using Definition 4. The other for intimacy using Druid 6. Leave Marc alone. All he (or anyone else) really needs is Zu and the right amplification.

Phil

 

[sujay]

However, I just recently heard a coaxial based speaker call Live Act Audio. They use an 8 inch coax from Radian (yes the same brand as your tweeter in the new Zus) with convention woofers...VERY coherent and seemingly more accurate than most of what i have heard.

I was quite taken in by the presence and physicality of the Live Act speakers as well. Great dynamics and coherence.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I have two systems in adjacent rooms in an open-plan house. Both have Zu speakers. There's enough difference to tilt each system to a slight specialty. One system is optimized for scale, using Definition 4. The other for intimacy using Druid 6. Leave Marc alone. All he (or anyone else) really needs is Zu and the right amplification.

Phil

Phil, that's ok. WBF is the place for gentle audio bullying/cajoling.

We all love to spend other people's money LOL.

FWIW, the Nats are the "right" amps *for me and my room*.

If I had gone to the 18x12 room in this place rather than the 48x18 room I've chosen to use, I *might* have considered going 25W Mayer 845s.

As an interesting aside, a second system here would be either PAP Trio15 Horns1 w Audion or Mayer tubes, or restored Duettas w tube pre/tube-like SS like the Kraft amp that Caesar and Ked love, both options c.£45k.

My other point of interest with a second system would have been running it sans tweaks/ancilliaries. Maybe just one dedicated line or mains spur, but as minimal spend on supporting toys.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Yesterday I was as happy as a pig in $hit running the gamut of Faith No More to Bartok, en route via Michael Hedges and Al Di Meola, lp and cd, audiophile and grungey/in yr face.

The Zus just adapted themselves to bring thru the musical message, no distraction from that pesky audiophile checklist, w my recent found ability to now get both delicacy AND sturm und drang.

 

[christoph]

Or ribbon panels PLUS horns... hmmmm too soon to go down that road lol

One step at the time.
Once Marc hears Dipole Panels or proper Horns, the rest will follow

 

[spiritofmusic]

I do find you guys amusing. Noone would ever say to Peter A w his Magicos or Steve W w his Wilsons or Mike L w his EAs or Barry2016 w his YGs that they should consider running multiple spkrs setups or once they hear horns or ribbons they'll junk their big name/small fortune box spkrs.

But Zu owners...

The aforementioned guys will be fully aware of horns and ribbons, and yet have zero desire or reason to add them, or swap to them, totally happy their exemplary box spkrs satisfy their tastes.

 

[bonzo75]

I do find you guys amusing. Noone would ever say to Peter A w his Magicos or Steve W w his Wilsons or Mike L w his EAs or Barry2016 w his YGs that they should consider running multiple spkrs setups or once they hear horns or ribbons they'll junk their big name/small fortune box spkrs.

But Zu owners...

They don't start a thread every week musing about their own speakers.

Btw, it's Barry2013, you just made him three years younger