The Two Biggest Falsehoods About Zu Audio Omen Dirty Weekend Speakers

Shug451

Shug451

Sansui Low-Powered Amp Guy
“Omen is not fussy with placement or with electronics, matching up nicely with most any amplifier or receiver modern or vintage.” -- Zu Audio website

I picked up a set of used Zu Audio Omen DW II with the Clarity Cap upgrade about 8 months ago. I specifically bought them because of the above statement. I have a somewhat difficult room and I like to swap amplifiers in and out, so I thought these would be perfect. Not so fast.

FALSEHOOD NO. 1: "Omen is not fussy with placement"
I have to say these speakers were among the more difficult speakers I've owned to place "correctly" in my room. I spent a lot of time tweaking distances from walls and my listening position. Not only that, I had to spend additional time tweaking the gap on the bottom in order to get the right bass. Kind of a PITA.

FALSEHOOD NO. 2: "Omen is not fussy with electronics"
I have found the Zu Omens to be the most source dependent speakers I've ever owned -- by far. Mixing up preamps, amps, and CD/turntables produces wildly different results. With some amps they sound awful (NuForce STA200), with other amps they sound okay (vintage solid state Sansui, Pioneer, Luxman), and with other combos they sound pretty damn good (Dynaco ST70, Scott LK48 tube amp). Unexpectedly, they sound best with my McIntosh MC2125 and C30 preamp on the 16 ohm tap. They also seem to sound better playing vinyl than CDs. Interesting, eh? (When I say "awful" or "okay" I mean harsh/strident, with listener fatigue. As I move up the chain, the less fatiguing they sound.) I have tried the 25 ohm resistors with several of the solid state amps, but only get minimally better results.

I have a feeling this is why a lot of listeners either love or hate these speakers. I have found that placement and source really do make a huge difference--moreso than other speakers I've owned. They are also forward sounding (vocals or lead instruments really pop), which is something you either like or don't.

Although I'm disappointed that the Zus don't "match up nicely" with more of my equipment, I enjoy these speakers well enough with my McIntosh system to keep them. They image wonderfully, offer good detail, and look great. I find they play jazz, acoustic music, and blues the best. They can rock (I do need to add bass via EQ), but my other speakers certainly go deeper and generally sound better with that genre.

I'm sure others will say I'm a dimwitted ignoramus, but this is what I've found over the last 8 months. Thanks for reading and let me know if anyone shares a similar opinion -- or not.
 
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I spent some time listening to them at capital audio fest and was intrigued until they played a piano solo. I walked away and did not bother to check out the amplification they were that disappointing.
Regards,
Jim
 
Hmmm. I'm a recent recipient (3 weeks ago) of the Omen DW II's. I love them. I did find them a teeny bit brighter when driven by my McIntosh MC-60's on the 16 ohm taps but they sound very, very good on the 8 ohm taps. I bought the optional spikes since they are sitting on a carpeted floor and need that extra height as mentioned by ZU in their recommendations. I had no issues achieving very good bass response with little fuss. Tight, taut and extended bass with superior attack and transients. Waaay better than my Usher BE-718 DMD's which are also a very good speaker albeit stand mounters. Vocals are reproduced very naturally which is probably predominantly due to NO crossover in the extremely important mid-range and upper bass. While I am a big vinyl proponent (over 7K LP's in my collection), I found CD's sound extremely good through the Zu's in my system. I'm using a Hegel DAC which is a nice piece of kit and helps. Speaker placement can be fussy with any speakers, depending on the all important listening room. I initially placed them where the Ushers had been and then fiddled a bit to fine tune. Any good speaker requires proper set-up and even movements of a few MM can make a big difference when dialing them in. The comment about being fussy with associated equipment should be a compliment to these speakers, not a detriment. That indicates to me how revealing they can be. The full range driver is well built and designed IMHO. Oh, I opted for the Jupiter Copper cap upgrade which has perhaps influenced some of my results. Again, I am very, very happy with my purchase. I did not expect them to sound as well as they do. I had good expectations but these speakers have excelled in so many areas. I'd be curious how much the OP's room is influencing what he is hearing. I have lots of diffuse furnishings in both of my listening rooms which help with sound quality. An overly bright sound is often the result of wood floors with no rugs, too many reflective surfaces (little on the walls to deflect/absorb) and so on. I also expect I'll fiddle a bit more before I settle on final placement of the speakers but am pretty happy right now.
 
It took about 30 seconds for my son to say "Just by this, fantastic" when I auditioned my DWs for him, though this was admittedly in what I consider a very speaker friendly room. (Amp was an Adcom 535, pre was the pre-outs of a NAD C 350, dac a Schitt Modius with an old Philips DVD player used as a transport. Nothing exotic. )
 
I tried a variety of amps with the Omens but the resolution and holographics of a 2a3 SET won me over. The Omens are indeed finicky and need a back tilt so the tweeters are aimed at one's ears. You need some distance between the floor and their bottom finger ports otherwise the bass can sound muffled. They sound best pulled out into the room.

P6030043.jpeg
 
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Poultrygeist said:
I enjoyed my Zu Omens until I built these simple OBs which trounced them in every way. Sold and delivered the Omens to an out of town friend who loves them. Fortunately he never heard the OBs.

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May I inquire as to what you have in your OBs and what you have driving them?
botrytis said:
Zu's are either love or hate - there is no middle ground with them.
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Maybe because ZU fans are a bit like the obnoxious Yankees fan I once worked with? He annoyed everyone who could not block him out.
 
I've heard the Zu Omens quite a few times- in fact, in the years where RMAF was in the Marriott Tech Center in Denver, we were usually set up right next door to them.

They are "entertaining" speakers on some music- but regardless of what amplification I heard them on (and they did vary a lot by what they were driven with- tube amps seemed to "smooth out" the midrange a bit), they just didn't do the "this is right" thing for me. Just some coloration and irregular frequency response in the midrange and lower treble, that I just couldn't get past, on classical music and things with lots of piano in them.

Not saying they are bad speakers- just that you DO really need to make sure that you are willing to do what it takes, to find a front end (preamp, amp, etc) that agrees with them, and that you definitely need to have some leeway in placement- as they may wind up sounding best somewhere that may seem a bit odd, in the room...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
botrytis said:
Like Magnepan speakers - people either like them or not.
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Seems that way. But I guess one of the points of my post is that I enjoy the speakers with at least one or two combinations and really dislike them with most everything else. Optimal pairings are what we're all after, of course. My issue with Zu is not so much the speakers, but the company's marketing claim, which made me believe these speakers WOULD "match up nicely" with anything (and also be easy to place in my room). I was hoping I wouldn't have to keep swapping speakers in and out of my listening room. But I've found them to be far more source and room dependent than my other speakers. Call me a sucker, I guess.
 
Guido57 said:
May I inquire as to what you have in your OBs and what you have driving them?

Wild Burro Audio Labs Betsy over Eminence Alpha 15a woofers. The Betsys powered by a 3.5 watt SET amp run full range while the Alpha's powered by an old AVR in stereo mode are low passed with an 80hz filter from Parts Express. I later used a Yung 100 watt plate amp on the woofers which removed the need for the filter. A preamp is used to simultaneously feed the signal to both amps. I might add that OB speakers are much less room dependent than box speakers.
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Same experience as the OP. Picked up a set of the OG Omens, MK1 B to be exact. Seller was powering them with a Mac, can’t remember the model but not tubes. Speakers were just plopped down on carpet in the room for a demo. Sounded great, nice bass and top end.
I tried AB amps D amps, nothing would work for me. Little to no bass and the top end could rip your head off at times. Messed with placement, air gap for the bottom ports... Nada
Sold them off. New owner loves them.
 
I posted the below in the other Zu thread. Will add I oddly feel like I have too much bass with these, though perhaps it’s too much of a type of base I’m unaccustomed to. Anyhow, planning to work on that as I poke around with them…

Mine arrived yesterday - got the Jupiter cap upgrade. I’m surprised how good they sound just out of the box with zero attention to setup. I can’t say I’m blown away or under a spell, maybe I’ll get there, but I’m certainly pleased.

Played a bunch of Jazz, from recent-ish Kevin Gray remasters/cuts to ESP blasters. And a lot of Brit folk and the likes, John Martyn, Nic Jones, Bert, etc. Rocked them with louder tropicalia and Japanese noise-ish stuff. So I covered a lot! They def shine far better with the jazz and mellower stuff. Well recorded “rock” leaning stuff didn’t fair as well, but the sort of janky recoded stuff sounded great. Oddly enough, a lot of the Jamaican music I played sounded killer. They image far better across the board than I anticipated. Everything sounds a little crowded and the low end is bloated but, again, these aren’t even setup or dialed in to any reasonable degree. Played them with a Scott 222c, going to foolaround with other amps. I think they’re keepers! Won’t be replacing any of my Klipsch heritage ormy Omegas but they’ll be loved.
 
nerdorama said:
Some things are so far from your preferences you don't need much time. Like is short. I have heard them several times at RMAF.
Just have fun and don't worry what others think.
John
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Oh I don’t worry about what others think, and don’t even own a pair of these myself but have spent considerable time with them set up properly in a treated room to know that many of the detractors having heard them in passing, often aren’t making credible judgements.
 
GordonW said:
I've heard the Zu Omens quite a few times- in fact, in the years where RMAF was in the Marriott Tech Center in Denver, we were usually set up right next door to them.

They are "entertaining" speakers on some music- but regardless of what amplification I heard them on (and they did vary a lot by what they were driven with- tube amps seemed to "smooth out" the midrange a bit), they just didn't do the "this is right" thing for me. Just some coloration and irregular frequency response in the midrange and lower treble, that I just couldn't get past, on classical music and things with lots of piano in them.

Not saying they are bad speakers- just that you DO really need to make sure that you are willing to do what it takes, to find a front end (preamp, amp, etc) that agrees with them, and that you definitely need to have some leeway in placement- as they may wind up sounding best somewhere that may seem a bit odd, in the room...

Regards,
Gordon.
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As Gordon notes, you really do have to take a lot of time to make sure placement is correct and yes, it may fly in the face of what one thinks is proper. While initially very pleased with my new Omen DW mkII's, I continued to tweak with placement. I decided to toe them in a bit more so that the tweeter and coaxial driver of both speakers aimed directly at my head. Ooops! Now definitely too bright! I moved them back outwards about an inch (outer side of cabinets rotated slightly till they were 1 inch further away from me). The nice, smooth sound popped back in. The toe-in intersection of the two speakers now occurs slightly behind me. I am using these in my bedroom system so I sit on a bench (storage ottoman) at the foot of the bed which means I am pretty much doing nearfield listening. The speakers are 6.5ft apart from each other and my seating position is 5.5ft away from each speaker. Not ideal. I would normally expect best results to coincide with being further away from the speakers, at least 6.5ft. So, toe-in is very critical in my set-up to get good results. I'd move the bed (turn sideways) in order to push the ottoman/seat further away from the Omen's but that will never fly! So yes, if you don't play around with placement, these speakers can disappoint. Perhaps I'll try them at some point in my larger downstairs den system which is larger (about 14 by 22ft) but I gotta tell you, even at 53lbs each, these speakers are pretty difficult to pick up and move. When they arrived I thought I'd be able to slide them (in their boxes) up the carpeted stairway to the second floor but that just didn't work. I ended up pushing them (boxed) end over end up the stairs. They seem heavier than their 53lbs! Not too anxious to move them downstairs anytime soon. I'm using Spica TC-50's downstairs bolted to their specific Sound Anchor stands. I've had those over 30 years!
 
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I am so far very pleased with the SQ of my DW’s
I drive them with the Luxman L550 AX integrated amp (20 wpc, class A operation)
Nice tight well defined bass that is pretty damn satisfying, Mids are clear and clean. I went with the stock cap for the HF driver which I may upgrade at some point but for now,
I like them and she likes them too.
Also much smaller than my previous big ass JBL S3100.
 
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