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
Tim, if you used the Druids on that floor without an intermediary 'platform', there is no way the gap would be right. IMO, Zu should not have included carpet spikes with those speakers, instead recommending a plate to be spiked to the floor, with hard-floor spikes fixing the gap to that plate. That's what I did and it made all the difference.

Good to see you still fighting the fight, Phil. I'm still loving the Def. 2s and the Superflys sound killer!
Miklorsmith:

I agree. I originally had the druids spiked to the carpet, but then put it on wood boards which sat on the carpet. made a big difference. In the future, I may swap the wood for stone.

One benefit of the wood was that I coulde slide the speakers about easily. Druids are very directional, and tiny differences to toe in and position made a huge difference to soundstage/imaging.

My room is large and impossible to fully charge. I liked the druid directionality because it enabled me to bypass some of the problems I had in the large room.
>>When did you get a chance to hear the Soul?<<

A friend of mine here in L.A. bought what turned out to be the first pair, s/n 0001/0002. They were a custom order configuration and finish. He took delivery about a month ago and I've listened to them expensively. He came to me asking for a recommendation for assembling his first quality audio system, replacing 15 years old HT components. He wanted to get as close as possible to the sound of my Druids system for a specific budget. I knew Soul was coming so I had him order a pair while Zu was still working out manufacturing details, plus I found him a great deal on amplification. Our request for upgrades similar to the "off-menu" upticks that were available for other Zu speakers became the basis for the Superfly Edition.

Phil
Tim,

Occasionally a room poses too many problems to sound right with a given speaker, until you address the room. It sounds like you have done so.

The Druid floor-to-plinth gap was crucial to get right, to get correct balance out of the speaker below 100Hz. Effectively, the partial Griewe implementation in that cabinet delegated to the floor gap functionality that a full Griewe model handles within the speaker cabinet. Druid's sound balance was *very* sensitive to the gap setting. Differences as small as 1/16" could be heard. It was nearly impossible to fully optimize them on thick carpet on a thick pad.

If you liked the essential character of the Zu FRD in Druid, other problems not withstanding, I think you can be optimistic about Soul Superfly working well in your revised room.

Phil
Thanks for keeping this thread alive, guys.

I am very excited to receive my pair and get it situated at home.

Does anyone know if shipping began today as anticipated?