Soliloquy 6.2i vs VS vr4jr , Zu Druid & Usher 6371

Aktchi -
I know nothing about Druids that the Zu boys do not, but I know a great deal more about them than you do. The poster asked a question of me directly and I answered it to the best of my ability. I believe Mike answered your questions in his post with the exception of the one about new models.
Zu is always experimenting and trying ways to improve upon what has been accomplished so far. This includes their products and those of everyone else. The Druid I own is the Mark IV. That is because there were other Druids that preceeded it. There may very well be a Mark V someday but this post is not about comparing one Zu speaker to another.
Saki70 wanted to know about the Druid compared to other speakers he might consider purchasing.
A couple of hours ago FedEx showed up at my door with the new Zu Mini Method subwoofer. I have only just hooked it up but I found immediately that it is a lethal device. It was turned up to about Noon or One O'clock and it almost brought the house down on me. I backed it down to about Ten O'clock and was able to blend it with the Druids almost immediately. For anyone interested I will include more info later. For now I will just say that it employs two of the ten inch woofers from the Def Pro's and that they are powered and fire forward. I called Sean about it and he said that they use one in their 4000 sq. ft. warehouse and it is more than enough. Looks like the stakes just got a lot higher around here in the area of resonance control.

Miklorsmith: There are about 99 makes out there that somebody or other considers "only one I'd consider" or "best for money". People are entitled to such opinions, and to even change them. However, I find it a little odd that people forget or don't know that single driver speakers have existed for decades. No one make has dominated the market, but then it is not clear at all if Zu's will do that either.

Macrojack: I have not heard Druids, but then I am not the one who promotes them at every appropriate and inappropriate occasion; also, there are too many speakers out there for anyone to have heard them. Contrary to your posture that you were merely answering Saki70's question, you took yet another opportunity to announce how "revolutionary" Druids are, without facing the fact that single-driver speakers have existed for decades. Even the designers don't seem as enchanted with Druids as you are, for they seem to keep modifying it and also to work on newer models. Not quite the confidence of Quad 57 team, is it?

This is not to say that the Zu driver or the Druid speaker is not good. However, I would wait for the designers to settle on a design themselves, and also for a few side by side comparisons. In the meantime I urge everyone to take this kind of single-minded promotion of a single brand with a big and much-deserved grain of salt.

All,

I have owned the Druids, Druids MK2, Currently own Druids MK4 & Definions MK1.

I auditioned the big name store brands in the Druid price range prior to purchasing them (B&W, Revel, Martin Logan, Sonus Fabre, Energy, etc.) The Druids are truly an amzing speaker for their price range.

If you want more listening info, I have posted more than my share of listening impressions at audiocircle.

Everyone has their own preferences, and the Zu's might not be for everyone, but don't unfairly judge until a product until you actually hear them for yourself.

Aktchi - True words. Everyone seems to have pet picks. The thing is, they're all doing business the same way and ultimately have the same problems.

I've heard both ways and stated which I prefer. I doubt Zu will dominate the marketplace here the way they do, along with SET amps, in Asia.

Again with the single drivers - these aren't Lowthers or Fostexes. They don't have those limitations but manage to keep the strengths of other single driver speakers.

Zu has committed cheerleaders for a reason - they deserve to be heard, figuratively and literally.

Ton1313:

I do and have appreciated your feedback. But, platitudes aside, there are simply too many speakers to form opinions only after actually hearing them all for myself. For better or worse, we rely on other people's experience too, common ground provided by comparison against models we both know or have reasons to respect.

Your list is numerically impressive, but all of those are models with high distribution costs, and I wouldn't expect them to offer the same value as speakers direct or almost-direct marketed by an equally good designer.

That's why I solicited comparisons among GMA, Salk, Tyler, and Zu in another thread. Understandably, few people know more than one of these makes. However, I look forward to experience slowly accumulating in this forum.

I also believe in letting a design team finalize its design. Quad 57, Spendor BC1, the LS3/5a, Larger Advent, DCM Time Window all are examples of very different speakers whose designers arrived at a point where they felt they had done their best. If a designer continues to feel he can improve his product in a few months, then at least I am not inspired to buy it just yet. This is a subjective call, and others may well feel differently, but this is how I feel.