Are Zu Druids really good HE speakers?

Nakolawala, I just returned from CES where I spent more time in the Zu room than anywhere else at the show. The Zu Druid was one of may favorite speakers at the show. IMHO, at its selling price, it has no competition. Of the four criteria you mention, it will do the first three in spades. As far as great bass impact goes, you may find it a bit lacking on its own. The bass is articulate and has good impact to about 50 Hz (though will measure flat to 40 Hz when properly set up), but I found the addition of one of Zus subs really rounded out the overall performance. With the sub added, well, it just doesn't get much better than that. Based on my experience, you can buy this speaker with confidence. Drive this speaker with a high quality SET and you'll be in musical heaven.

I heard the Druids at the VTV Show a few months ago and it should be made absolutely clear that the demo rooms were far too small(8'x10'?) and needed quite a bit of acoustic treatment to tame the negative influences. Some vendors got it right, some could not. It seemed to require and equal dose of time, effort, and luck. All of those can be in short supply at trade shows.

In that regard, I found it nealy impossible to form any credible opinion about the Druids except to say they demonstrated some promising potential. The glare and hardness I heard could have easily been a result of the bare cinderblock walls, windows 1 foot behind the speakers, etc. Most likely was.

One thing that impressed me about the physical nature of the Druids was how incredible shallow the cabinet seems to be. My guess is that they are only 6-8" deep, yet produce impressive bass for a cabinet with so little volume.

But, no high efficency single-driver speaker is ever going to do kick drums, timpanis, etc justice. Part of the reason for the single-driver's perceived "speed" and transient attack is it's low-excursion cone. Bass requires high-excursion, cabinet volume, and/or surface area. The deepest and most powerful bass out of a single-driver speaker I've heard is from the Hammer Dynamics Super-12's that I own. They use a custom Emminence 12" driver and have a 70 litre volume. My 6 foot tall Cain & Cain I-Bens using 6.5" Fostex 168EZ Sigma single drivers don't come close to the Hammer's punch. (But, I've got dual subs to help out)

So, in my opinion, you have to trade sub-60Hz bass for great midrange and highs(w/ the help of a supertweeter). Subwoofer is the only way, which really makes "single-driver" speakers three-ways. Where they surpass normal 3-Ways is the lack of a crossover, it's influence is unmistakable and intolerble (for those like me) once you've gotten use to it's absence.

Also, the coherence of having the entire "critical range" eminate from a single point source is intoxicating. But, like everything else in audio, it comes at a price. As a former drummer, I still sometimes lament the loss of palpable kickdrum "thump" or sheer lightening fast transient attack of true compression horn speakers.

Then, I throw on some Nat King King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, cello, oboe, piano, etc. and all is forgotten.

One very important point about Zu, no matter what the detractors say, Sean and Adam are great guys. Music lovers first and foremost, gadgetheads second. I spent the better part of one full day at the VTV shows just hanging out with them, spinning discs, talking music, audio, life, etc. The second day I probably was in their room for a couple more hours.

Give them a call, I got a strong sense that they are very honest to deal with and extremely accomodating. If the speakers clearly aren't right for your needs, I got a sense they would say so. Then again, their 60 day return policy speaks for itself.

Druids are competitive with a wide range of speakers in a very broad price range above and below their $2800 list. If you value very high tonal fidelity, holistic sonic representation, focus, intimacy, domestically-usable frequency range, phase coherence and state-of-the-art octave-to-octave uniformity of transient behavior, then you cannot help but become enamored of the Druid. It is incisively direct, non-fatiguing, natural and very flexible in placement.

The Druid takes break-in and some re-orienting of your sense of fidelity to fully understand and appreciate what it's doing for you. The absence of a crossover, combined with high sensitivity and tonal accuracy, has dramatic consequences to your perception of reproduced sound. The Druid can be sensational on a number of relatively inexpensive but tonally-sophisticated amplifiers, yet it is revealing enough to fully exploit high-end amplification 5X - 10X their cost.

Hotel rooms don't do them justice, by and large, nor much of anything by any other company either. But even there Zu has been able to deliver compelling aural evidence of the Druid's musical beauty. They are 12 ohm speakers, able to make many solid state amps sound better than they have any right to, and are tube-friendly as well. There's no place like home for evaluating them, and very few people return them.

Phil

I have been reading about this speaker and am very curious about them--I have been in serious experimentation mode for the past 6 months with my stereo. That said, I don't change speakers lightly and would demo these before I ever sold my VR4JR's. I like my JR's. I listen to mostly Jazz, and rock (the likes of the Stones, Police, REM, Wilco, Peter Gabriel) -- and lots of internet radio. One of my most cherished works of all times is Bill Evans, Live at the Village Vanguard.

I don't listen at high volumes. In fact, low level listening has to be superb for me. Am I a candidate for the Druids?

System:

Modwright PRE
Pass Labs X250.5
Cary 306 SACD (just received and is breaking in)

See rest of my system for details

Nakolawala,

The Zu Druids do have a very full-bodied sound with great dynamics. To my ears they have a subtle characteristic sonic signature that I couldn't promise you'd find non-fatiguing, but evidently many owners have. In my admittedly limited experience they are somewhat weak in the bass region, but for a fairly small, very high efficiency system they do surprisingly well. It's just that if you want "great bass impact", I think you'll need a sub.

Pardales,

The Druids are a very interesting design. I like the basic concept a great deal - namely, that of using an augmented fullrange driver. I do something similar in a speaker of my own design (though mine isn't in the same league as the Zus in terms of efficiency).

The Zus have been highly recommended to me by industry members who have no vested interest, and obviously have a very enthusiastic following here and elsewhere. I've heard Druids and Definitions at several shows now, and agree that they do some things very well. Perhaps I just happen to prefer a different set of strengths and compromises (all speakers have 'em), but I'd have to recommend that a prospective buyer audition them with familiar program material before committing. Fortunately, Zu makes this relatively easy to do.

Finally, the tonal balance will probably not be its best with a high damping factor solid state amp like your Pass Labs; they prefer SET or OTL tube amps.

Duke