Zu
- Thread starter BHamm
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BHamm
The pendulum swings.
Was that from your head or mine
I mostly anticipated this type of response. I think I was searching for reenforcement to take the plunge, but now not so sure!
Oh, did I mention I would have to sell my JBL 4430s.
Thanks everyone for thoughts and experiences:thmbsp:
BHamm
There are VERY few speakers I'd toss those over for.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
Speakers that need a certain type of music to work well ..
I hope they sell them somewhere in NL, so I can audition them and form an opinion (Also ead some strange things about Gallo acoustics stuff as well, those are also in the 'same' list.).
Neither the Zu or the Gallo's require "that certain type of music to work well". They require careful system matching. Zu speakers have evolved over time and their latest creation, the Soul Superfly, is outstanding by any measure. Give them a listen and see for yourself.
BHamm
The pendulum swings.
So, is that a good or bad thing?
BHamm
The pendulum swings.
I am a hard core atheist but I have to say selling JBL 4430s to buy Zu speakers would be sacrilege. 1/4DON'T Do IT.
Bless you barredowl
, I may have figured a way to try the Zu's without parting with the JBL's. I think some of the negative comments on the Zu are based on the Druids, and rightly so, but as Art K. said, they have evolved. I'll let you know how they turn out!
voltcontrol
Fizheuer Zieheuer
Not a believer on that. But that is not the discussion here.
That's the only sensible thing to do, hope i'll find an NL dealer soon.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
Not a believer on that. But that is not the discussion here.
That's the only sensible thing to do, hope i'll find an NL dealer soon.
Not a believer. Is putting together a system by approaching it as a system a religion that requires that you believe in it? Odd.
How do you "believe" you put speakers into an existing system?
It's all easier if you approach it as a system to begin with, however if you haven't you will have to pay attention to a number of factors to make sure you don't have a mismatch.
Ofcourse listening to Zu speakers and If you can listening to them in your own system is the best way to know if you like them. It would be interesting to listen to some of their older speakers vs their latest.
It kind of is, if they are one of those speakers that do, indeed, require careful matching with the rest of the system. I was contemplating a pair of Gallo acoustics speakers just yesterday and just reading the responses to them, I can tell that some people just decided to throw them into a system without trying to play to their strengths or match them to a room. Heck, last night I spent two hours trying to find a good amplification match for my B&W Dm2s, and went through every solid state amplification option I have before landing on something remotely good. They sound fantastic on tubes, but trying to find synergy between them and a solid state amp was not fun.
It doesn't surprise me that the Zu speakers fall in this category (or the Gallos, which I was just contemplating yesterday after seeing a pair on CL)...a lot of unconventional speakers require careful attention to system matching. For vintage, just go play anything with an EMIT on solid state with a bright sound to it. Ouch.
barredowl
Before and after Science
If the frequency response curve is anything like the Druids you are literally better off with speakers from a mini system from a big box store. 30 db swings is ridiculous JBL studio monitors are are +- 3 db over the same frequency range. Sorry but I call snake oil on Zu:
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/zucable_druid/
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/zucable_druid/
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Soul Superfly? I thought that was a joke. And from Utah no less.
Note that for the above mentioned speaker Zu claims 101db AND 30hz bass with a cabinet of less than 3 cubic feet; that doesn't sound Kosher. However they don't claim a response window, maybe that 30hz is 300 db down?
I prefer the Bose method of simply not supplying specs to this.
barredowl
Before and after Science
Physics don't lie Art K., 30 db anomalies means that there are differences in loudness 100 TIMES as loud at various points in the frequency spectrum for the Druids. That's an abomination that shows they didn't care about their customers when they released the Druid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
Have you ever heard no nonsense pro monitors equalized properly to a room?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
Have you ever heard no nonsense pro monitors equalized properly to a room?
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I haven't seen a response plot or anything on this one but one place they may be cheating a bit is on their impedance. If they're using the same driver as the other Zus (that 10" semi full range one) then they could be massaging numbers a bit. They list it as a 16Ω speaker but the impedance dips down to just above 8Ω. When they're specifying sensitivity if they use the voltage required for 1W at 16Ω (4V) and they're actually just a hair above 8 then they're showing an extra 3dB that they're not really getting. It's just a manipulation of numbers. They don't specify how they came up with that number (actual full range average output, single point output, calculated on a Taco Bell napkin using T/S parameters) so they're being sufficienty enigmatic.
I don't know if that's the case but it's a possibility.
Tube Radio
Super Member
Yes system matching is definitely a must for using some speakers and good to do in general when using any speaker. I prefe building my own speakers which I can then adjust to the amp I am gonna use with them.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
I'm going to guess that this means no, you haven't heard them. With that I'll leave this thread to more learned folks than I.
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