Zu Tone/Druid Tonal Anomalies

I've never heard the Tones but apparently they have the same tonal signature as the Druids with a bit less bottom end. I had a pair of Druids for about 3 months which I then traded up to the Definitions.

Like you, when I 1st got the Druids I thought they were basically crap. No bottom end, the tonal characteristics were all over the place, I was pretty much ready to send them back. But after talking to the boys at Zu and a couple other people who hang out on various forums (including A'gon) I decided to give them a bit more time settle down.

And the transformation after a couple hundred hours was startling. After around 400 hours, I just plain thought they were a damn fine pair of speakers and would have been quite happy to live with them as my primary speakers (but I was so pleased I wanted to see if the Defnitions really were "that much better").

After breakin, the Druids had a nice tight bottom end and were very balanced across the entire tonal spectrum. Maybe a slight hump in the upper midrange but nothing that jumped out at you and persoanlly I like midranbge so I didn't mind.

And the dynamics are just stunning. Probably 1 of the things I enjoyed most about the Druids was at low volume, it still sounded like music and not just background noise. The reality is, most people can't listen to music at hi volume alot of the time so to be able to listen at low volume and still enjoy the experience is a wonderful thing.

Anyway, if you can, I would recommend hanging in there awhile longer to see how the Tones develop, if possible, give tehm a good blast for a few days to speed up the breakin process.

The Druids I owned showed no such spike. At all. They were tonally mellow and dynamically large. The Definitions I have in my room are activating some wierd room modes that I am working to deal with, but it's not a function of the speakers.

Sounds like a room issue to me. If you measure and take pictures of your room, Sean will be happy to advise you on the best ways to deal with it.

Thanks Mihilli, I was told the speakers had about 70 hours of playing time when I received them, so I do plan on spending some time to see what happens after they break in a bit more. I find it a little hard to believe that they will change that much however.

Miklorsmith, yes room interaction might have something to do with it. But as I mentioned earlier, I also did some close miked measurements. I do realize that my room is not an anechoic chamber, but the anomaly seems more than would account for that. Have you tried to measure the response of your Druids and/or Defintions? It might be that you do have an upper midrange spike that you find pleasing.

Well, the Definitions in my room currently are showing a 12 db rise in the same area you're talking about and higher. I'm measuring from the listening seat and the rise is obvious there. In fact, it's so obvious that I can hear it ringing off the glass bar and window that my listening seat are between. It is not pleasant and is something I'm working on through acoustics and will be aquiring a TacT to help as well.

With most music, the notes are not prolonged enough to pressurize that frequency. Piano and blazing guitar do light it up though. I assure you it isn't something I prize.

The Druids didn't do this, and I think they're actually rolled off around 2 db in the presence region. I'm no expert but I seriously doubt it's the speakers.

Yeah Stew, I was pretty dubious that they would change that significantly as well but change they did!

Good luck.