Zu Audio

[Matt34]

Anyone had a chance to listen to any of their lineup? The Omen standard has caught my eye, very efficient design using a somewhat different approach with a full range 10" and super-tweeter....no crossover involved.

http://www.zuaudio.com/store/omen/standard/Default.aspx

http://www.zuaudio.com/pdfs/OmenSpecs.pdf

 

[its phillip]

These measurements leave much to be desired:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=768621&postcount=4

Those aren't from the Omen, they're from the Essence - a speaker a level or two up (in pricing, anyway).

 

[Matt34]

These measurements leave much to be desired:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=768621&postcount=4

Those aren't from the Omen, they're from the Essence- a speaker a level or two up (in pricing, anyway).

Thanks, missed that thread in the search on these.

 

[utah_dude]

I am not an audiophile. I recently got the Omens hooked up to a Peachtree Nova. I am very happy with that combo. The Omens took a week or so to be played in. To me they sound wonderful. Great soundstage. Just listened to the Phantom of the Opera. Brilliant.

 

[digicidal]

From the (mostly glowing albeit subjective) reviews I've read on Zu's speakers I think they may be one of those speakers that is 'wrong' in many of the 'right' ways. Their graphs do (as mentioned) leave a great deal to be desired - but as someone who owns, and actually enjoys listening to a single-driver design of much lower cost and even worse FR - they're not necessarily bad sounding, even if they are bad testing.

It's similar to the love of some audiophiles regarding tube amps - measurably worse (and arguably worse from a logical/clinical standpoint) their distortion holds significant appeal for some - myself included. I definitely wouldn't consider any of the Zu models to be a truly great speaker in any 'reference' standard... simply because you are definitely NOT going to be hearing what the studio engineer heard when mixing the track you're listening to (unless your room is exactly 'off' in a way that creates a flat in-room response from very diverse driver response). However, since the actual enjoyment of sound is a personal and subjective one - I don't doubt that many people actually prefer the sound of a less accurate speaker to one that is ruler-flat throughout the playable FR of the drivers.

I believe they provide a 30-day trial period, so as long as you are up to the hassles involved in a return, you could try them out and see for yourself. Just do yourself a favor and avoid any upsells on the obvious snake-oil they're selling in the cables and accessories department. Those definitely are NOT required to hear the best performance from their speakers - zip cord or (as I prefer) extension cords will do just fine.

 

[btbluesky]

Digicidal hit the point.
ruler flat eq w/ THD 0.00001%, it's very much achievable. enjoyable? it's a completely separate question. I have a Ascend sierra-1 (recently Nrt upgraded), pretty much flat, and sound wonderful. Mate it w/ a highend SS amp, it's great.
BUT the true allure comes from my other small SET 300B setup w/ FR spks. measure horribly, and high cost to buy/maintain, but it's just magical w/ female vocal.
Frankly there are not that many FR manufacturers (meaning they actually make their own driver, not just using off the shelves) with prices like Zu. I really hope they success and turn the general audio-head to FR.