Zu Omen Dirty Weekend Setup tips


So the Zu Omen DW are available again and I plunked down my deposit.
Any tips to help make them shine? (When they finally get here, that is.)
This is my first new speaker in a few decades so I'm not sure what to expect besides different. I'm trying to broaden my firsthand experience instead of solely relying on what I can read. A journey that is long overdue. My ears may not be the best, but they are the only ones actually attached to my head.
cat_doorman
whoopycat - What refinements did you get moving up to the Druids? Not that I’m looking to upgrade right away. (It’s only been a few weeks.) I’m just curious how the rest of the line compares.

For me I think the real test will be in a few months after I’ve fully run in and acclimated to the DW. I wonder what I’ll think when I try my 20yo Dynaudios again.
Druid V has a much more quieter cabinet as well as the larger 16 ohm driver.  This gives you better tonal resolution with much better attack and more resolving bass.  With the Radian tweeter you also get much more refinement in the high treble.  Whereas Omen DW sounds warmer and fuller.

This is a story for another thread, but the downside is that IMO Druid is much pickier about the amp in order to fully open up and go from good to great.  I needed the loading resistors to get my solid state amps to drive them well, the Omens didn't really need them.  So while Druid is definitely a step up, it was not without some frustration for me in terms of setup and system matching whereas Omen DW sounded pretty great to me right out of the box.


Hi! Also looking for the same as OP, tips to make my week-old Zu Omen DW mkII shine. :)

So happy I found this thread, some really good tips here already!

I followed Whoopycats tip on toe-in, aiming just outside my shoulders. Floor gap is at 10mm/0,3", on rubber feet.

I am quite happy with the sound already, but I definitely need to do some tuning until I'm satisfied. Specifically, I feel that I need to somehow tame the treble a bit.. It's much to sharp for my ears, there's one frequency that is very raspy. 

My DW's have "CMR6-060: 1uF 630Vdc Claritycap CMR" which is a "bit better than the ones in Zu's own upgrade kit" according to the seller. I don't know if this is true..

One questions on this thread: 
-What are "ohm taps"? I see the DW's are specified at 12ohm, my amp is 8ohm. (Anthem MRX720)

My setup is in the living room, so unfortunately, not much I can do with positioning. I know it's far from optimal. But any advice on room correction, or speaker height, physical adjustments, etc, are very welcome and appreciated!! 

Some pictures and graphs here:
https://imgur.com/a/Wnkwxrv
I bought 2 sets of GAIA feet and felt like it tightened up the bass nicely. My Dirty Weekend speakers (hickory👍) have the drivers out of a set of MK lV Druids. I’ve added one REL t5i sub and it has done a nice job of compensating for a bad room. I also added a Pass XA-25 and a MicroZOTL mz2 upstream. Couldn’t be happier with the result. Sean and Garrett are very good about answering questions you might have... Don’t think you’ll send them back!
Good Luck!
I’m still on the fence about getting a sub. I’ve heard new low end detail in tracks I thought I knew well with the DW but I’ve also changed a lot of other gear recently. I briefly put my old speakers back in and could now hear the same elements but they manifest differently. It almost was too much bass because I’d grown used to the DW. I didn’t leave them set up for long but mostly because I only half ass set them up without moving the DW. I have them set farther apart than my other speakers, but I like a wide presentation. I’ve also been thinking of getting a Class A SS amp as a contrast to my current tube amp and give myself options. Pass XA25 and First Watt F7 are high on the list.
@terjea17 tube amps have different taps based on the approximate speaker impedance in order to get the proper amperage from the output transformers. Solid state amps don’t need this.
You might ask Zu about those caps to make sure they’re the proper size to crossover properly. I got the clarity cap upgrade when I ordered the speakers and haven’t had any complaints in the upper registers and I’m someone that usually finds violins screechy.