CDw,
Tannoy, check. Years ago. Cabasse check. Menger, check. Bastani, check. Some of these do very well in certain respects and all are toneful speakers. Not much I haven't investigated and heard. I have a lot of "ins." I ended up completely outside my extensive audio industry network and found Zu. There's a reason. None of the above match Zu for essential fidelity. The strength of Sonus Faber is that the line represents "voiced" loudspeakers. Crossovers are mild and less intrusive than most. In the absence of good integrated performance from other systems, Sonus Faber's subtle voicing invariably sounds like real music in a domestic setting, and the speaker design anticipates the acoustics of domestic environments. The Cremona and above are among the best speakers using crossovers in terms of being able to represent music holistically. Zu is better still, for reasons already outlined.
It didn't take me 50 years to find the right speaker. I've always found the most natural and holistic-sounding speaker for music available at any given time and within what I was willing to spend and accommodate. Zu's solution is an unusually large advance, which is why it is notable and commonly not understood by people who haven't heard Zu speakers. If you think you've heard Zu because you've heard other FRDs, you're mistaken.
I have Zu Druids along with Definitions in two separate systems. There is no question that Druids, using only one FRD, present a note more holistically than do the Definitions which use two FRDs. But Definitions have greater resolution, more linear accuracy, can scale more extensively, and throw a wider usable soundstage. Nothing is perfect so there is a trade-off to each advantage. Fortunately for me, I have both, so I can listen to each according to whim. More to the point, what my double-FRD Definitions DON'T have is the even worse problem of massed crossovers. So I accept one pair of FRDs per side as this is still more direct than most systems, and when I want the special intimacy of no driver duplication, I have my Druids system. If you research my posts here, you will find that I have consistently raised this difference as distinguishing these speakers from one another.
The sub-bass array in the Definition does use 4 drivers each. As a practical consideration, a simgle 18" driver might be better, but the packaging is not domestically friendly. Given the relative lack of defining transient information below 40Hz where the sub-bass array is active, I can accept the massed drivers compromise there. Still there are only two channels, which is the correct number, given current acoustic understanding, technology and software processing. And associated signal shaping is at an absolute minimum.
Two channels can generate interferences, true. It's way true for MC too. Neither is perfect. But this defect is less tone-destroying than multichannel processing by a long shot. It really doesn't matter to me whether Bob Stuart, Jim Fosgate or anyone else disagrees with me. I've owned Bob Stuart's speakers in the past. He usually has at least one really good speaker at a price and the rest are fatiguing and unlistenable. In fact I'll go so far as to say that Bob Stuart -- a highly competent sound professional -- nevertheless knew more about tone 20 years ago than he does today, if I were to judge by his products.I like the *idea* of Bob Stuart's speakers -- especially the more recent digital and process-oriented offerings -- more than the speakers themselves. I do understand MC processing and especially am intimately familiar with software and processors. Today, none of this is up to the task of contributing to fidelity, only in elevating selective perceptual effects.
This is an interesting notion you raise, claiming that my system is designed to soften highs, transients, detail, etc. However, in terms relative to other gear, it's an uninformed and mistaken assertion. I have multiple pairs of tube amps. One pair is very wideband, flat 5Hz - 115kHz, better than many solid state and certainly MC amps. They have very fast rise time, are not obscuring of detail in the least. But they are highly capable at delivering the whole note, not just the superficial suggestion of it. My other amps are flat about 5 Hz - 35kHz, and while they are triode amps, they do not have even a trace of the slow round sound people who have limited experience with tube amps assume defines the genre. My speakers are, as you know, quite wideband as well and extremely revealing of detail along with tone. And then there's the Denon phono cartridge. You think it has dull high frequency response and truncates detail. Hmm....I suppose you've never used one. Moreover, this tells me you think that all variants of the Denon DL103 sound the same. Again, you'd be mistaken to think so. I use the DL 103D, which isn't sold these days, but I had the foresight to buy an ample reserve. In short, your comments demonstrate you've not heard Zu speakers (I asked and you haven't answered) and now I also know you have zero familiarity with the rest of my systems. Also apparently McIntosh autoformer amps are outside your direct experience as well. I suppose you can only hear so much in three years.
Uneven FRD frequency response? True in lesser FRD systems. Not true for the Zu FRD. Again, when you audition it, then you can comment from an informed perspective.
4pi>2pi causing inconsistent driver behavior? See above.
Modulation of high freqencies due to low frequncy content? Well, we disagree on whether you can judge tone, but again, see above. This ain't just any old whizzer cone FRD.
Oh...all electronics use circuitry to amplify. Yes! My single ended amps use much less of it. No, it doesn't destroy tone relative to vastly more complicated circuits. They preserve tone. However, there's always room for improvement. I'm always open to something better.
Top to bottom, everything I've outlined is present in my system configuration. Highly-refined wideband and simple circuits, wide-response, fast, articulate sources, and speakers built around a uniquely wide-range, neutral FRD that uses a minimum number of drivers to achieve their bandwidth, response, resolution and natural tone.
I recall what I "knew" when I was 3 years into hifi. Time will change your perspective. You can be sure of it.
Phil
