Zu Druids upgraded Vs Essence

The supertweeter on the new prototype speaker is dynamic.

Random notes from the thread:

The ribbon supertweeter in Essence is not "dead." Quite the contrary. It's very much alive and present, and Zu has done a better job of seamlessly mating a ribbon to a dynamic main driver than anyone else I've heard try in a production loudspeaker.

Presence and Essence aren't voiced the same. That is to say, Presence is certainly full range, with its powered sub-bass array (like Definition) but it does not have what we loosely here term "hi-fi" traits somehow trading away musicality. It's very much in the "Druids + Sub" realm, more highly resolved. People argue whether Presence was more Druid or more Definition. The two FRD configuration allows acoustic management not possible in the Druid/Presence architecture. For me, Presence was conclusively more a polished "Druid sound + stereo MiniMethods, than Definition Lite. Essence is voiced more as a crowd-pleaser also built in a decor-friendlier form factor and much more affordable, for good reasons. The two aren't meant to be equal.

Phil

Phil,

Thanks so much for that incredibly informative post. I'm looking at Zus for the first time, and excited about the reviews I'm reading about the Essence.

Also, if someone could point me to more info about the Soul, I'd love to see that, as well. I don't see anything on their website.

And thanks to all for a great thread.

What people here are referring to as Zu's "Soul" speaker is a prototype. It's not yet a product, not yet priced and not yet documented in product collateral as everything about it is subject to change along the way to what tech companies call "FCS" -- First Customer Ship.

Phil

cobra (Phil), thank you for your comprehensive reply on the Essence/Druid comparison and indeed some of the rest of the Zu line-up too. Also, this juncture is timely to also thank you for your past, sometimes lengthy musings on the Druids, for it was wistfully reading those years ago which first interested me in the Druid, and went a way to explaining the Zu sound and helping to understand their sheer musical nature. Now I have lived with the Druids for some years, and have now heard the Essence, your comments here, and then, were spot on. Thanks again as I am a very happy Druid long-termer.

I think you seem to be imply the Essence is a more commercially viable 'speaker for Zu as it will appeal to the more conventional audiophile, including as you say, the Magnolia customer (presumably the US equivalent of the UK's Music Matters - so called supplier of ‘High End’ components, the likes of B&W, Chord, Cyrus, Denon etc. The type of listener who values ‘detail’ and similar ‘Hi-Fi’ attributes over musicality) and here is where a good portion of Zu’s market value would seem to be being aimed at with the Essence.

It just seems lamentable that Zu seem to have made a Magnolia speaker which as you say has had its life force taken away. I love my Druids but seem to have come to an upgrade cul-de-sac as far as ‘speakers go. In the UK it is nigh on impossible to demo the Presence. But from what you have said Presence seem a high price to pay if I was not too bothered by deep bass and a more authoritative presentation. Perhaps I will just wait and watch the line up...

There's a lot here about the limitations of single driver systems- problems with high frequency response and/or lack of detail, problems with bass, particularly with smaller horn systems....I've recently gone away from floorstanding speakers. I can't deal with trying to haul them around, and there are problems driving multi-driver speakers with strange loads with SET amplifiers. Hence, I'm looking at a high efficiency design, and I'm interested in Zu, particularly the Credenza monitor. So, it lacks bass- what, exactly, is wrong pairing it with a subwoofer? When I went to monitors, I lost a ton of bass. My room is large, on the order of 24x20, with 12 foot ceilings, so I expected to lose bass. Not as much as I did; the difference was striking. Just wasn't enjoyable. So, I was forced to buy a subwoofer. Now, I don't know how I ever survived without one, even with big floorstanding speakers. What's the big problem with putting a high eff speaker that may be a little lacking in the bass department with a subwoofer? Seems that Zu has tackled some of the treble issues in Essence with the ribbon tweeter. Bass? Nice sub, you've got it all and more. Why such little consideration to that option? Just curious- I'm new to high efficiency speakers, and I want to take the plunge, but the more I read, the more confused I get. There's so little middle ground with horn drivers- people seem to either love them or despise them. Like to hear some more opinions.