Anyone receive their Zu Druid VIs yet?

Regarding amps, I have tried a few with good results: Luxman mb3045 monoblocks (kt88 push-pull about 40w) Luxman Mb88u monoblocks (kt88 60w more like a McIntosh Design) and Luxman kmq7 (sort of an old dynaco design) All sounded good. 

I asked Gerrit his recommendations when I was exploring 300b stuff, he wrote:

”The 300B should work no problem on the Druid.  The ones we’ve found work well are the Melody 300B mono blocks with the Western Electric tubes and also the Audion Silver Night Anniversary/Special edition.”

i will say these speakers, in general, are very sensitive to everything upstream. DAC, pre, amps, etc are all noticeable. It’s taught me a fair amount about tuning a system. 

+1 richpinto

Of course this is all personal preference, but I agree that these speakers allow you to really expand the front-ends and continue to hear the improvements provided.  What's impressed me is that I've made rather significant upgrades over the last 2-3 years, and the speakers keep revealing the improvements without feeling like they are a weak point that is holding the whole system back.

I have several pretty significant headphone rigs to run in parallel to these speakers, using the same front-ends and sometimes the same pre-amp, and I'm impressed at how tonally and emotionally similar these speakers are in comparison to the high-end headphones sets I have.  I hear the same improvements through the speakers that I do through the high-end headphone rigs--that says something to me.

This is also a totally personal preference, but in my experience, if you can get a significantly good, dynamic, and clean 300b amp (or monos) in front of these level Zu speakers, it's truly something you'll be emotionally engaged in and have a hard time beating if you like the dynamic-yet-not-fatiguing and super emotionally engaging sound.  Add a well-matched pre-amp, and I suspect you will walk out of the majority of high-end show rooms with systems costing 3x what you have in yours, and not feel like you'd trade straight-up for them.  In many cases you won't even like the hi-fi sound coming from them that will be SUPER evident to you after you've had a properly matched Zu kit.

I'm not a Zu fanboy.  I have had Zu speakers sound like total crap, btw, so I'm merely reiterating previous points that the higher-end speakers in their line can be amazing when properly matched.

Really interesting feedback Parsons, and clearly my experience isn’t unique in terms to their sensitivity to the rest of the system. 

Ive upgraded everything else around my setup now: running a Luxman DA06 DAC, a Luxman c600 preamp, and some vintage Luxman MB88u monoblocks. (60w KT88 push-pull) I really wonder and go back and forth if a SET amplifier would be better; I listen to a lot of modern indie and rock and the while the Zus do well with little power, they really can kick out some crazy dynamics with some power. Wish I knew someone with a good 300b setup I could borrow for a day! 

I love KT-88s too, and I am not at all surprised the Luxman stuff is turning out to be awesome for you.  Since you have the itch already, I will tell you, I ran PrimaLuna integrateds (2 different models) with the Zus (loved them with the Zus), and eventually upgraded the Dialog Premium HP to KT150s from KT88s.  The KT150s are a bit better than the 88s in most regards, and worse in none.  Bigger stage, even better dynamics, a little better clarity.  The 88s are very good...my only reason to mention is that you should try some different stuff if you love the KT88 sound like I do, but want to hear where you could go with different tube topologies.  I haven't heard the Luxman stuff, but I have no doubt it's very top notch and so I don't want to push you by suggesting you're leaving a bunch on the table...that would be like telling someone with a really nice 535i that they're really missing out by not getting a 540i.  Or a 7 series.  Or an M3.  They're all great, but different.

I was where you are about 12 months ago--no friends with low-power tubes or local shops that carried anything I could demo.  I don't know about your budget, so this may not be an option for you, but I read for months and months and rolled the dice on a couple different used amps, none of which I was disappointed with in the end.  I settled on a used pair of parallel 300B monos (Audion Golden Dreams with some upgraded caps) that were highly recommended on this site by some that appear to be serious experts at powering Zu's higher-end stuff.  But the two 845 amps I bought are really close and great in their own rights.

The good news is that the used market for 300Bs seems strong, and if for some reason you didn't love it, I suspect you could get what you paid pretty quickly.  Might be an experiment worth taking if you can't find a dealer to loan you some.  845s are also interesting...I found them to be nicely between the sound of the KT150s (and KT88s) and the 300Bs.

OK, so my Druid VIs arrived--days before I expected. 

Way too soon for serious reactions, but they sound really good (perhaps great?) cold out of the box.  I have no idea how long they burned in at the factory, but they do have the tell-tale "just slightly slow" sound that brand new speakers all seem to have for me...songs you know super well sound just the slightest bit off from a timing perspective.  This usually goes away with 12-24 hours in my experience.

Tonally they still sound like awesome high-end Zus, but I might suggest that (at this second) they tilt just the slightest bit more toward the pinpoint accurate and detailed hi-fi sound.  That statement is not really a compliment coming from me--but don't read too much into it--they don't sound like hi-fi speakers that I despise.  I'm also only about 9 feet from them and I think they will ease a bit with break-in and also gain a little more front-to-back depth in a day or two.

They look frickin' amazing, btw.  My mother-in-law happened to be over when my son and I unpacked them, and actually said "gosh, those are really good looking speakers."

More to come as they break-in.