Zu speakers, has anyone heard them?

[softmachine]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here has heard them, I know Zu make cables and mod a denon cart as well, among other stuff. There's something about these speakers that just makes me lust after them, I dunno what it is , and I haven't even heard any yet lol.

 

[jcmjrt]

I've heard the Zu Druids. It's one of the speakers that was an epiphany to me. There were people who liked it and I could barely wait to get out of the room, I thought it was so bad. I wasn't the only one who didn't like it a lot but there were as many or more who thought it was very good. I'd say this is a speaker that is "colored" and if you like the color it's wonderful and if you don't...well...
You really should listen for yourself before making a purchase.

 

[softmachine]

of course! I'm still in college too, and jobless, but one day I would like to hear them. Buying them now is way out of the question, I have to stick with my B&W's for now.

 

[Punker X]

Heard them right about the same time as jcmjrt. There are certain speakers that take me a while to decide if like them or not. These were not one of them, took about 2 seconds to decide that they were not to my liking. The the plus side, young company, with young owners, with great attitudes, so I'm sure there will be improvements.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Heard Druids many years ago. There was an unnatural tilt in the upper mid-band that didn't set well with me.

 

[KCM]

I heard a pair two weeks ago at a local audio gathering. I think my TV sounds better. Seriously............

There were about 10 people in attendance and every one of them just walked away shaking their heads.

 

[Jeff K]

To quote John Atkinson from a Stereophile forum, "...while I have enormous respect for the guys at Zu, from having listened to some of their speakers at Shows, I believe Zu's design goals for their speakers are sufficiently different from the consensus at Stereophile that I am not sure what would be gained by arranging a review."

Now, I've seen some really ugly measurements from speakers tested by Stereophile. To me that speaks volumes. Say what will about Stereophile, but John does know how to measure audio components.

 

[dnewma04]

I'll pile on with everyone else. They are the single worst "high end" pair of speakers I have ever encountered. I have never in my life heard a more colored, incoherent, phasey, boomy (when coupled with their absolutely terrible one note subwoofers that make car audio bandpass subwoofers sound "tuneful"), shouty speaker in the price range. I went back to the room multiple times trying to "get it" and each time I did, I became more convinced of their weaknesses and was only able to come up with sensitivity as a strength (for those with low powered valve amps).

That said, like Joyce mentioned, there were a couple of people almost transfixed by the sound. They were enthralled, I was confused, I guess to each his own. Probably worth a listen regardless of what anyone says here because that minority of audiophiles who likes them, really loves them.