Zu Soul Superfly

Ha,

I can assure you little will reduce my hard on right now :) Mind you, you people across the pond do seem prone to premature ejaculation. If I'd had a speaker two weeks I'd be letting it bed in and seeing how things warm up rather than thinking of changing caps :)

Thanks for all that Kemp88. It's all adding to the picture.

I'm wondeing if we can tempt some of the purchasers below your number to step out of the darknesss.

Mike

You could be waiting months for the Zu's to bed in, although this time of year is better for running speakers in, then when it is cold.

I suspect the other 8 or 9 owners are lying comostose in their listening chairs, surrounded by CD's and Albums, having forgotten to eat and drink due to their state or euphoria produced from their Zu Soul Superfly's ;)

James

Hey Bill,

Don't you think the AA PX-25 would rock the Souls? I have a hard time believing not. As everyone knows that is one ballsy amp that can respectfully drive ~90 dB/6-ohm nominal speakers.

That said, talk of amp "requirements" are next to meaningless without establishing room size & volume requirements. It is surprising that so many such discussions go on here without giving those critical parameters their due. Everyone knows that the guy who wants 95 dB needs 10x the power of the guy who is quite happy at 85 dB!

IME a beefy 2A3 amp drove the Druid quite well.

I've used a few different amps at this point with my Souls and ironically, the lowest powered one has sounded the best. My 10wpc Firstwatt F1 sounds better to my ears than my Dynaco ST-70 (Zu recommended) and than a Virtue TWO.2 I have on loan (also briefly tried a borrowed Panasonic xr25 digital which I didn't care for).

All three amps sound great, but I plugged my F1 back in for the first time in a week today and its my preference. Better bass in terms of slam, texture and tightness. Its harmonically leaner than either of the other two but its simultaneously detailed and refined with a very live "raw" feeling. I wouldn't mind a little tube magic, but I'll have to keep searching for something that doesn't give up what the F1 does right to find it.

I've got a mid sized room and am not going to sweat over wattage.

Gopher,

Thanks for your (further) feedback. I may be in the market for a toddler-friendly HE speaker in the near-mid future and at a bargain price as I've drastically reduced my audio budget (and suffered little in doing so).

As I think I mentioned to you previously my favorite amp now is my FW F3. So close to the best SET and better in important ways too (bandwidth, noise floor). I am sure it would be a good match for the Soul (which has caught my eye).

[I really, really like my Cardersound Tybones but they are just begging to be knocked over by the 1 year-old. A couple close calls already. I figure they might be better off in the bedroom. Like some others here, I refuse to have a "man-cave", insisting that our main system be in the living room as a family centerpiece.]

I had a pair of Druids 4-5 years ago that I enjoyed very much. In the shop powered by a 2A3 SET, they helped me complete 25% of an airplane.

The Soul is undoubtedly superior, reasonably priced, and obviously toddler-proof with a high driver and fat bass resistant to disturbance.

I would suggest you try a FW F3. By all accounts it is much closer to the SET sound than the F1. When I had AN/Es (which I might return to if not for the same kid-friendly issues), the F3 and a Korneff 45 were a toss-up for me. That is saying something.