The best way for me to explain the sound of the Zu’s would be to make an analogy:
Its like a photo vs a great work of art of what the photo is of, for example, if you were to see a photograph of a scene Monet painted you could argue that the photo is a more acurate representation of the scene Monet painted, however the Monet painting would most likely move you far more. The fact the Monet’s fetch millions probably backs this up. This isn’t to say the photo isn’t nice, but it’s very specific, there is little room for interpretation. The Monet allows each person to see in there mind their own interpretation that moves them the most, it’s more vivid, it’s the essence of the scene distilled to the viewer through an imperfect medium. It’s the same reason books are better than the movies they are based on, and I feel Vinyl is better than the Digital. The Zu’s are like the Monet, not perfect, but the music is rendered in such a way that the parts that are presented to you move you. At least for me. I have both types of audio systems and luckily I have the option to look at great photos (my Thiel’s) and paintings (my Zu’s) depending on my mood. Neither is right or wrong, just deferent presentations.
And if my analogy is flawed I’m ok with that if it fits across my gist of what I’m after so please don’t read too much into it;)