Compare: Salk Sound, Silverline, Tyler, Zu

I have to wonder why so few people seem to "get" that a crossover is a source of problems in speaker design. Every legitimate speaker manufacturer would stop using crossovers in their speakers if they had a better way to provide full bandwidth. It is the lack of a driver that will adequately provide 20hz to 20khz reproduction that causes designers to divide the signal and distribute pieces of it to specialized drivers called woofers, tweeters, etc. A substantial component of the speaker design challenge lies in the task of compensating for the damage done by your crossover and the minimalization of its impact. Zu has created "in house" a driver which very ably provides performance from 40 hz to 12 khz. This is closer to the theoretical ideal than anyone has ever come before and it represents a turning point, a breakthrough, in speaker design.
Simple physics are behind this. "No crossover" is the best crossover. Speakers which incorporate a crossover network have an inherent handicap.

Macrojack, I think Zu's are almost too transparent sounding for some people and are use to crossover correction cause most rooms sound horrible, but the zu's in the correct acoustic environment just like any speaker in a good environment acoustically would prove some superiority if you can A-B them against something. I have found the only way to prove this to anyone in design is to directly hear it yourself, and be able to A-B test against something that is in question. Like I found with an upgraded Crossover in my friends pair of speakers they sound excellent in his room and far better than the stock crossovers, and we really believed that there is really nothing worth changing or getting better.. .Okay we were wrong cause when you head to head the Zu's in that room everything becomes apparently clear that even the 700.00 worth of crossover is not gonna compete with Zero crossover, its tuff to prove to anyone however.

Geez, fellas. I'm "in the club" and I agree with you about the Zu sonic, i.e. I prefer it to all others I've heard.

BUT, we all have different ears. There's no way that everyone will prefer Zu speakers, even on long-term auditions. I do not think they are perfect, but their compromises are more palatable to me than other speakers I've heard.

Undertow,
I keep hearing people talk about comparisons between Zu and other speakers. You seem to agree with me that there really is no comparison.
The best efforts at hiding the splices in the audio signal all fall short of not cutting it up in the first place. It's really, really that simple. No magic, no gimmick, no nonsense.

Microjack, Undertow: IMHO while it may be frustrating in certain situations it is basically healthy that serious audiophiles are not easily convinced by purely theoretical arguments as to why something will not work or is superior to all else. We have all seen it before, industry ads have always thrown such claims at us. So it i not unreasonable that people should wait for A/B comparisons, at least reports of such comparisons. And I say this as someone who loves theoretical thinking and discussions myself.

Do you have preamp, amp, sources, speakers, all from different manufacturers? Would you easily be swayed by an ad offering an all-in-one design where manufacturer has matched everything eliminating any "interface" problems encountered in component audio?

Zu does seem interesting but like everyone else, it will have to prove itself in true A/B comparisons. I appreciate Phil's comments re Zu vs Silverline. I hope others will be able to post comparisons with Tyler, Salk, Linkowitz, etc., as well. People own these speakers and Zu offers in-home trial, so there is reason to hope.

i did read somewhere that Zu is working on newer models. Nothing surprising about that, but I'd be curious to see what comes out. In mu humble and distant opinion, the jump from Druid (2800) to Definition (9000?) is too big, they need a model in between, maybe just one or two subwoofers instead of four?

Another thing is, just because somebody designs a good driver doesn't make they experts and arbiters of everything else. Inventors and enterpreneurs often make and pay for this mistake. People have wives, social life, furniture, decor tastes, and there is no reason why Zu should not have accommodated those in cabinet finishes. I can understand speaker design, but it is offputting to see abrupt changes without technical need and where designer really has no special expertise anyway. Frankly, it is nothing short of breathtakingly stupid marketing to offer "racing stripes" but not common wood veneers.

BTW, how are those cabinets and colors? Zu's website never gives any decent and clear shots, just a vague mist of words. Hello Zu, if I wanted English poetry, I can get much better for much less, and unless you are planning to ship those lakes and mountains and clouds and fog with your speakers, how about just clear detailed and revealing shots of the cabinets? :)