Efficient speaker: Zu, Tekton, Volti, Klipsch, Fleetwood?


We’re moving and I’m looking for a high-efficiency, high impedance speaker that can fill a very large “great room” with smooth, open, detailed sound, both for serious listening and casual background music. I currently have Devore Super 9s, but those will be going in a separate dedicated listening room. I thought about getting another pair of Devores (maybe the O/93) for the great room because I love this brand, but I’m interested in other possibilities The new speakers will be on either side of a 6-foot TV console, so they’ll need to sound good fairly close to the wall behind them. And they will need to have a reasonably good WAF. They will be played mainly at low-moderate sound levels and our tastes include rock, classical, world music and “spa” type relaxation stuff.

Anyone who is familiar with any of the following candidates, please feel free to sound off. As you can see, price ranges are all over the place:

Zu Soul Supreme

Tekton Lore

Volti Razz

Klipsch Forte IV

Fleetwood Deville

Others?

128x128ladok

trentmemphis I agree that the Tektons are very plain looking. Cornwalls won't be necessary because we won't be listening at loud levels (mostly background levels), and the WAF isn't too great with those, either, due to the wide, squat appearance. But thanks for the input.

Zu Soul Supreme can fill your space, despite its size, but Soul 6 will do an even better job, yet it's even more compact. Soul 6, due to using the newer coax driver and the stiff & relatively lightweight cabinet better limiting energy dissipation in the structure, has explosive projection, more spread than Soul Supreme, and it goes deeper once you have the Griewe Gap correctly set for your room. You can get it in 12 colors. WAF tends to be very high.

Equally useful in your room, though with a larger visual presence, is the Omen Def Supreme. It has most of the non-subwoofer benefits of the Definition 4, at much less expense. The dual FRD arrangement further improves horizontal dispersion while limiting floor and ceiling effects. It's a great speaker for dual-purpose cinema / hifi systems.

This assumes you want to stay well under $10,000. Druid 6 equally applies, and in Zu's iconic form factor. Definition 6 is coming. But in the central range of affordability, the Souls and ODS will do a great job for your space and objectives. They are all amp-friendly and room-adaptive, having Griewe internals.

Phil

I just completed a search like yours. I listened to Fyne and Tannoys and didn't like them (others do so make your own judgments), both had bass that semmed too polite. I liked Klipsch, Audio Note and DeVore 96, probably would have been happy with any of them. Better still, I thought, was Volti which is a kind of Klipsch made with better materials. I bought a pair of Charney companions and I don't think I'd have liked any of the others so much as these. I had originally heard them at the Capital Audio Fest three or four years ago and it struck me how real it sounded and how it communicated the emotional aspects of the music. Detail, imaging, palpability and feeling are what I wanted and after spending a fair amount of time auditioning speakers, it turns out I was right the first time.

Thanks for the advice fosolitude. I am leaning towards Volti and Fleetwood Deville. I used to have the Devore 96, it made music seem more physical and present than anything I've ever had but was too large for my room, so I went to the Super 9s, which are perfect. I will check out Charney, that is new to me.

Thanks for the advice, 213cobra. I am still considering the Soul Supreme, the WAF is high and I've always wanted to try Zu. I'm a little hesitant, though, because out of all the speakers on my list, these seem to have the most "personality" and folks either love them or hate them. I usually enjoy Steve Guttenberg's YouTube reviews, but his description of the Soul 6 made me think he either had them set up wrong or they weren't broken in. I guess by the Griewe Gap, you're referring to the space between the bottom of the speaker and the floor. That seems like it would be a real pain in the ass to have to adjust.