Zu Druid MK IVs vs. Essences

Ears trump lab results.

However, ears might also need cleaning or some education. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King. Just because a few people like something does not necessarily make it wonderful sounding. A bass guitar woofer in an aesthetic audiophile cabinet...mmmh.

Shadone,
The solution is simple if you don`t like the sound of something ,don`t buy it. For those who like the sound and if it improves their enjoyment, measurements be dammed.I`m sure you selected your componemts based on listening(I would hope) or would you purchase only based on measurements? Perhaps what you like sounds subpar to other listeners. It always subjective, so personal prefernce and individual impressions rule the day. How do we reach our final decisions? we use our ears and the response /effect to what we"hear".
If you no of a better way to audtion audio components I`m all ears.
Best Regards,

Sebrof - You can't seriously expect these speakers to be accurate. This is a textbook example of a speaker not to buy IMO. Sounds like someones got buyers remorse.

>>You can't seriously expect these speakers to be accurate.<<

Yes, you can. Look, it's simple: Druid's design *requires* a floor immediately beneath the speaker for it to operate correctly. Changing the floor gap by millimeters alters bass response and if it is set up wrong to be too tall, the midrange can begin to be affected. Dial it in right, and Druid's tonal response smooths out. Within a practical adjustment range, the floor gap can be used to tune bass response to room characteristics or subtle specific user preferences. The speaker in use sounds nothing like the graph from Soundstage's mid-air test.

Essence, Superfly and the Omen series also have varying levels of Zu's proprietary acoustic impedance loading scheme that open the cabinet to some degree on the bottom. All have been engineered to sharply reduce the floor gap sensitivity that was elemental to Druid, with Essence specifically having a double plinth to enforce its own "floor."

Definition 1, 1.5 and 2 were sealed cabinet speakers. The upcoming Definition, Experience and Dominance models do not vent through the bottom, so floor effects are not a factor.

If you set up a Griewe loaded Zu speaker correctly, it will test and sound like the relatively neutral speaker it is.

Phil

Druid's design *requires* a floor immediately beneath the speaker for it to operate correctly.

Is that all? Those measurements suggest way more issues than that but as Charles1dad points out - it is all in the eye (ear) of the beholder - if you like it so what...