Zu Druid IV - the real deal?

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 and Warren...

One other question...

Would the sonic benifits of the definitions relative to the druids warrent the additional cost?

I would not want to go through the hassle of buying the druid only to upgrade to the definition.

Thanks

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

And now back to Skuras...

How has your experience been?

Any luck finding out about a new amp?