Zu Druid IV - the real deal?

Warren...

I understand what you are saying, bad example...I will try and be more direct

As the poster said...

"Being free of crossovers can take some getting used to, as can the phase linearity of the full-range driver design, but the behavior of these design attributes is startlingly reinforcing of your illusion of musical reality from recorded performances"

If they give the illusion of musical reality (which I take to be a audible sonic copy of the recorded material), why would I have to get use to them (refering to the sound, being crossover less and full range design?)

Would a recording of a trumpet not sound like a recorded trumpet right away, even if I was not use to the sound of the speaker?

The quote sounds like a contradiction to me, at first he states you have to get use to the sound, then states, in the same sentence, that they give the illusion of musical reality. I don't understand why there is a disclaimer before offering praise for the sound.

So really my question is...what would I have to get use to about this speaker?

Phil...

Submitted a post and then read yours.

I'm not sure I understand. But that does make sense after all, we are trying to convey sound with words.

I am just trying to make sense of all the rabble...all products come with the lovers and the haters.

At present I am not ready for new speakers. I know the money back thing and all. But from what I am lead to believe, if a pair showed up at my door there is a good chance they would never leave.

So I will for now, read the discourse, and at a later date who knows.

Thanks for trying to clarify.

Dave

Phil, lives (presently) with both so he'll give you the best answer based on first hand experiences. I believe macrojack owned the Druids, as well, before moving up to the Defs? Also, if you read all the press, plus the threads in the archives concerning the Zus, going from the get-go for the Definition 1.5s would be a prudent and judicious expenditure of $6k. Not hard for an audiophool to rationalize judicious and prudence regarding $6k worth of speaker upgrade, I suppose..lol..

Dave,

Yes, the Definitions are well worth the additional cost over Druids. In every way, the Definition is the more accurate capable speaker -- except one. The Druid can be used relatively near field and does have a special intimacy of presentation on close listening of modest scale music. Otherwise, Definitions are wider-band, tonally more neutral, considerably more revealing of fine detail and micro-dynamics, and they scale up for large performances. That said, you need a larger room than for Druids, and usually 11 linear feet of distance from speaker baffle to ear, or more, for the Definition's sound to fully integrate.

I've said in the past that Druids give you the essential Zu qualities and 70% of Definition sound at 30% of the price. But that remaining 30% is well worth paying for if you can afford Defs.

As for your desire for more clarity on the matter of why you might have to get accustomed to a Zu speaker, I'll say it a little differently: Speakers as a whole just haven't been very good to date. The transducers in general are where a disproportionate number of the problems occur in the hifi chain, because their job is difficult. We've come to believe in the progress of cumulative technical development, and many have learned to discern improvements to products derived from a mistaken path. We all know that hifi at best is still a miserable approximation of sonic reality, but it gives us enough cues to be convinced, mind filling in the rest. The holism of a Zu speaker's behavior and sonic presentation is more like a real instrument's sound, but the absence of distortions and compressions we've become accustomed to accepting as part of hifi *can* make them sound momentarily disorienting when you're comparing them to another conventional speaker. If everyone got the speakers and immediately compared their sound on a trusted recording to the sound of a live instrument, it's far less likely this momentary disorientation would occur.

Phil