Zu Druids upgraded Vs Essence

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.

>I've recently gone away from floorstanding speakers. I can't deal with trying to haul them around,<

Do you move on a regular basis? Or just like picking up speakers and moving them around from time to time, just for the fun of it? Why not just place them where they sound best in the room and game over? I don't understand your disdain for big speakers on that qualification alone.

Shakey

Bonesetter,

First, I'm glad my prior posts helped you with a buying decision, and you ended up happy. Next, if you found my prior notes on Druids and Zu actionable, then know that if you love Druids you will love Presence. It is the Druid voicing and tone density with the equivalent of stereo subwoofers, without the integration problems. The treble contour on the supertweeter is just a slight bit more lively, owing to the fact that the FRD, relieved of trying for deep bass, has higher resolution and warrants a touch more heat on the tweet.

Don't think too harshly of the more mainstream aim of Essence. First, its sound lubricates its market acceptance which helps Zu invest in their product line, and second, it is a first iteration of a Zu FRD + Ribbon combination. It will be further developed. Like an excitable child, it will be pulled back into line in 2nd gen refinement. I think it's OK for their line to have a centerpoint tipped a bit to mainstream notions of high-fidelity. It will be a revelation to plenty, and those of us who were originating customers can continue to buy around that centerpoint. A Druid 4-08 owner can be patient.

Presence certainly does have as its main difference the powered sub-bass array and it also offers bass/room tuning possibilities through bi-amping and bass EQ that are absent in a Druid alone. I've heard Presence and it is better than Druid in more than bass and dynamic authority, though the real upgrade to aim and save for is Definition.

Of course there is another upgrade path: the rest of the system. Again, understand that my Druids system is my secondary system. But liking the specific qualities of Druid and finding it a worthy presenter of gear above its grade, the preamp and monoblock amps on that system are worth, retail-for-retail, about 6X the speakers. Now that will seem peculiar to some. One of the consequences of Zu speakers is that the fulcrum of fidelity for your system moves to the power amplification. That's the pivot point that determines the character and quality reach of your system once the Zu FRD is introduced. By traditional measures, you'd expect that Druids warrant no more than a good integrated amp. No. Just as some owners used to run extravagent amplification into a pair of LS3/5a because their midrange quality warranted the expense, Druid is an exception to the traditional norms for distribution of funds within a given system. It punches far above its weight.

I'm serious. If you accept the idea of a speaker being worthy of much greater expense invested upstream, in Zu's case an exceptional $15,000 source mated to a $5,000 amplifier will not sound as good as a good $3,000 source mated to $17,000 of the right amplification. Truly good amps are still scarce. Lots of "hi-fi," not so much realism. But a VPI Classic + Zu103 or similar is only $3,000 and it's a great analog source. The same amount or much less buys many great options in digital players or a DAC for PC audio. It's good amps that are hard to find. No doubt you'd have to consider just taking that kind of cash and buying Definitions plus appropriate amplification. But not every room can handle Defs, whereas Druids are fine all the way down to a closet.

There have always been speakers with specific holistic sound attributes to make these aberrant spending distributions worthwhile. Quad ESL, Dynaco A25 and A50, Large Advent; LS3/5a, Dahlquist DQ10, Apogees, Audio Physic Virgo, Sonus Faber Cremona, Reference 3a L'Integrale and Veena, Zu Druid and Definition. If you love Druids, you have lots of headroom to upgrade.

Phil

Afc,

High-efficiency speakers -- especially single driver types -- have their peculiarities and some of them are hard to live with. I've never been willing to trade away midrange tonal accuracy to get the palpable dynamic aliveness and holistic presentation of a Fostex or Lowther-based loudspeaker, though that's heaven to some music lovers. I tried Avant-gard and while they were among the best horn driver speakers I've heard, no amount of forgiveness or distraction could mask their lingering horn-ness. Music served the speaker rather than the speaker serving the music. But others raved. You have to know your acute sensitivities. I can't live with shout, even a little.

Zu opened the door to high-efficiency speakers for me, by reasonably combining high sensitivity with high power handling, excellent octave-to-octave balance with harmonic frequency extension through judicious use of a supertweeter and the holistic presentation of a single driver speaker. And over the last decade of the company's progress, they've steadily refined their full range driver and factory break-in procedure to push single-drive "shout" to the vanishing point.

I have Credenzas in my office system. That speaker really is the top 18 inches of a Druid, so lacking the cabinet height for partial Greiwe implementation, bass rolls off quickly below 50Hz.

A Zu subwoofer is a perfect match, since most other subs don't have the transient speed and definition to mate well with the Zu main driver. No floppy-surround, long-excursion cone thump boxes need apply. No, not even REL. So Credenzas + Method or MiniMethod sub(s) will go deeper than Druids alone. But it does mean placing more boxes and running more cabling around the room.

Credenza is genuinely a credenza speaker as it doesn't really sit well on stands built for modern small-driver monitors. If you had such a stand, it would take up the same footprint as a pair of Druids or Essence and the combined weight of Credenza plus any credible stand would be similar to or greater than Druids or Essence alone.

Essence is flat down to about 30Hz and the bass it produces is defined and tonally true so you're not left wanting a sub unless you crave movie scores at their most bombastic. But if you like the idea of Credenzas + subs, have at it. Just make sure the sub is quick.

Phil