Zu Soul Superfly


I just ordered a pair of the new Zu speakers on a whim. I was going to wait for information, but the fact that they threw in the free superfly upgrades to the first 30 people got me.

From a similar thread it sounds like some of you guys have heard the speaker despite information only being released today. I'm wondering what you can share about it?

Also, I am really hoping it works with a Firstwatt F1 amplifier. Can anyone comment as to that? I know the Druid's and Essences worked OK.
gopher
Naggots,

If you have Druid 4-08 with Mundorf silver oil in the network, you're quite close to Soul Superfly, and of course stereo Mini-Methods will outperform Superfly on bass - albeit at expense of space and complication.

The FRD in Soul has wider horizontal dispersion and more vivid, punchier dynamic behavior than what you get from Druid 4-08. It's a refinement of the Zu FRD, so essential character isn't changed. But it's clearly an evolution that makes the FRD better, and not in any way worse. The tone density is similar between the two, but the newer FRD is burstier and sounds faster on transient attack. The motor is stronger, the cone a little lighter than older versions, and the phase plug is not only cylindrical but the detail on the face of the cylinder is essential to its role. The last trace of darkness in the Druid's sound -- much removed by the 4-08 upgrade -- is now gone. In many rooms, given the trouble most rooms pose in the deep bass region, Soul's 30Hz lower flat limit will be both easier to manage and more truthful than the deeper subs, but if you have that sorted, OK. But sans subs, bass from the Soul is in all ways better than what's possible from the Druid form factor.

I plan on replacing my Druids with Superfly Soul, though I don't use subwoofers. The price is right and the improvement is of sufficient increment to be worthwhile to me, for the system I use Druids in. But it is an evolutionary upgrade from your speakers, not a dramatic one.

Phil
Thanks, given the expense of shipping speaker to Australia it's probably not worth it.... However I may see if Zu would swap the FRD only in the future.....

I've also been thinking about remaking the Druid cabinet using some bitumen laminated noise gaurd ply we use in other applications, very dense and resonant free in comparison to mdf.
Phil,

You make a compelling case for the Soul Superfly. May I ask how many hours listening time you had with them when you formed your judgement?

Mike
I don't need much time to judge a new speaker, or anything else for that matter. But I've had several hours with Soul on 845 monoblocks, and more coming up. Nothing I heard in the so-far last hour contradicted anything I heard in the first ten minutes, and vice-versa. My experience with various Zu speakers so far suggest that a pair of Soul Superfly will continue to improve for the next 18 months, and in no way get worse as they break in.

Phil
I agree with Phil regarding break-in time for Zu speakers. The improvement over time was not subtle, and in my experience came in "jumps." Most of posts compared Superfly vs Druid; I am curious about the differences between Superfly and Definition speakers.