Another Zu Thread

Call Sean at Zu about the Pros, I think they are a slight upcharge for the beefier drivers.

I've had Druids and both models of Definitions within 6" of the front wall and had them sound good. My Pros now are only about a foot from the front wall and I'm very happy with them there.

I have no doubt they would sound even better further out into the room but my room doesn't allow it. The more important consideration with the Definitions is 213cobra's advice about keeping at Least 10 feet from the listener as the drivers take that distance to properly gel. If you have 12 - 15 feet, it's buttah.

I believe Zu simply markets the standards to the audiophile community do to set up issues, lots of problems in helping on intergration due to choices of about 50 processors out there to handle the crossover etc.. I mean that can't deal with all products and combos that the pros could use… End user is not just plug and play anymore and it is more complex… Not to mention more cables, more power supplies to plug in, and simply more cost and confusion to the customer.

Miklorsmith, are you saying, even if the Definitions are 8 feet apart, 15 feet from the speakers is still "buttah?"

i'm not sure about the def's but the druids really aren't affected by spikes. they are really light and even the speaker enclusure is very thin and hollow when you tap on it. which is very different from most speaker cabinet design. i think heavy multi speaker cabinets that are more affected by teh speaker movements do better with spikes. and the druids aren't your average speakers in the least. i did put them on a set of auralex gramma's and the sound became more muddy. they sound much better on my hardwood floors.

i think the best thing to do is just experiment with different methods of coupling/isolation/placement. the biggest factor in getting the proper sound out of your speakers really is room interaction and how they are placed and what they are placed on. just experiment. that's half the fun in my opinion! it's almost impossible to blindly tell someone how to setup their speakers when they have no idea what type of room you have.

it's amazing what you will learn about sound by just experiementing. i've even found little things like closing a door next to a speaker to make a difference in both perceived sound and measured frequency response.

i will say the druids are quite amazing speakers - the speed and detail in te mid range is just simply amazing. it definitely is not for everyone but it has grown on me quite a bit since i've added them to my collection. i think with the proper sub and setup they are definitely keepers.

Well, the main question was how far to keep the speakers away from the front wall. My response was merely that the more important distance was between the speakers and listener.

If one had 15 feet to spare from speakers to listener but was constrained to an 8-foot separation, I would advise to try that, then move the listening seat closer to get a wider spread. At some point, an optimized location will be found. Getting somewhat closer to the speakers will also increase distance from the rear wall which can only be a good thing.