Finally stepping into the hobby after 30 years of watching from the sidelines

well, day 1 at RMAF is in the books.  Although I'm probably going back tonight to hang with the Zu crew and listen to some more vinyl.  I have to admit, I was both impressed and disappointed in my first day.  I listened to $200,000+ systems that were terrible (in my opinion) and some $6,000 systems that absolutely blew me away.  The biggest lesson I learned was that price does NOT equal quality in the audio world.  I also listened to some PHENOMINAL flagship systems.     

So far my 3 favorite rooms were:

#3 VAC with Harbeth 40.2s The speakers completely disappeared in this room.  I found myself staring at the wall above the amp because that's where the guitar and vocals were coming from.  You could literally hear where every instrument in the band was.  If I had the funds/listening room set up, I would be extremely drawn to this set up.  

#2 Vincent Audio Sp-T700s paired with Ryan R620s.  This was honestly every bit as good as the VAC room, except on a smaller scale.  The speakers disappeared completely, were dynamic and warm.  Again, with the right living situation, I would definitely be a potential customer here.  

#1 Zu Audio.  I went into the show expecting/hoping for good things from Zu and I was blown away.  They were paired with Peachtree audio, so not my ideal tube set up, but they still sounded phenominal.  The soul supremes were in a very large room and they still sounded dynamic, had zero listening fatigue, were extremely warm...basically all of the things I'm looking for in my price range.  They definitely perform way above their price range and everyone that was in their room (which was a lot) couldn't believe how good they were for the price.  I'd say that Zu is a company that people need to take note of.    

Honorable Mention was Natural Sound Speakers and the Pass Labs rooms.  They were so far out of my price range, I couldn't justify putting them in my top 3, but WOW!  There was also an importer from Colorado that had the best set up I heard, but I can't remember the companies as i didn't take the literature.  Hands down the best system at the show.  But again, I'd have to win the lottery to even consider a system like that.

I'll try to do another write up tomorrow night.  

Harbeth and Zu, how did they do bass and highs ?

@inna The Harbeths were unique.  I don't know if it was their ported design, but it almost was like they were breathing bass on you.  I felt like they had a bit more range down low.  The highs were seamless thanks to the 3 way design, but to me lacked a little bit of realism.  The Soul Supremes had a much tighter bass that went lower than expected, but you can see where adding a sub would complete the presentation.  My wife and I go to see a lot of live music...blues, jazz, symphony and concerts.  To me, the Zus delivered a much more life like and live sound.  The tweeter definitely delivered a more realistic symbol strike and electric guitar sound.  

Don't get me wrong, the Harbeths were amazing, but not at 3 times the price of the Zus.  They also had more than $50,000 of gear driving them where the Soul Supremes had a $1,000 Peachtree 125(new unreleased model).  This is an apples to oranges comparison and I'm obviously injecting my opinion here.  Their rooms are about 20ft apart, so I'll try to give you a little bit better description tonight.  

If I were going to sum up each speaker with one word:
Harbeth: Soundstage
Zu: Realism 

That's awesome that the 200K system sounded terrible to you, that's what I've been saying for years.  I once went to a high end salon and was listening to over $100K of gear and thought for this kind of dough, it should sound so much better.  Then I went home to my modest single ended $2K system and felt it was at least 95% as good as the ultra expensive system, and I have had that experience many times.

I have never actually heard the Zu's but am not surprised.  I have never heard or read a bad thing about them.  They also have a very high impedence which makes them mate very well with low powered tube amps.

The Harberth's are British and my favorite speakers are British.  ProAc, Spendor, Rogers, Harbeth, Epos, Celestion, KEF, etc.are all British and they are all consistently excellent and disappear.  If you like the warmth of British speakers, there are many other used British speakers that might be a viable choice for you; however, they excel in the monitor sized speakers, IMO.   

The Harbeths were driven by VAC electronics. Electronics and cables contribute greatly to the soundstage presentation.
Still, I am surprised that Zu speakers with inexpensive electronics gave you a more of a  life-like sound. I wonder how they would sound with, say, VAC or Audion integrateds.