Zu Soul Superfly

Mike,

I had not heard a Druid, but was actually researching the possibility of a pair as a successor to my Abbys when these were announced. I had pretty much resolved to buy the next used pair that didn't have a 'weird' color scheme to try in home and re-sell if I didn't like them. Then the Soul with free Superfly deal came around for about the price of used druids and I couldn't hold back. Also the metronome looking enclosure is more attractive to me.

One thing I'm liking a lot about these speakers is that they are far more versatile than my Abbys. I've thrown on some reggae and hip hop for grins and it does a very good job delivering the goods.

I was up listening till almost 2am last night and was up at 8am today to rock out a little more before the family gets up and I have to start the day.

Gopher,

I don't recall which First Watt amp you have, but keep in mind that the Abby is an 8 ohm nominal impedance speaker, whereas Soul Superfly is 16 ohms. So you're -3db on power into the higher impedance at a given volume setting (though up 6db on power transfer efficiency). This combined with the somewhat incomplete break-in that sets in during shipping probably explains the extra volume rotation you're getting. The speaker will begin sounding more dynamic and subjectively a little louder for a given setting as break-in of the internal wiring and the cone/motor proceeds.

You'll also hear more detail emerge in the mid-band as the cone limbers up. Further, while the Soul doesn't have the floor gap fussiness of the Druid (which you now hear by getting real bass despite the speaker base sitting directly on carpet), installation of appropriate spikes will allow the Griewe model finger vents to properly function, and when the Griewe model is working properly, it affects sound right up through the mid-range. It's not just a bass performance feature.

Last, for now, if you really want max mid-range detail punch, borrow an 845 SET amp, or lacking that availability try any decent tube amp with 20w-60w of muscle. See how you like that compared to the First Watt. The only solid state amps I've heard give the Zu FRD the dynamic drive detailed shove of a jumpy tube amp are McIntosh autoformer output amps. You can get more jump factor and detail smack from tubes at a given budget than you can from transistors, if your ears are really hungry for smash-and-grab attention. But First Watt amps have specific sound assets and you'll hear them come through more vividly as break-in proceeds. Zu has told me in the past that the toughest break-in factor for speakers that go through factory break-in and aren't cold-weather shipped, is the internal cabling dialectric. Crank it when you can.

Phil

On another issue, came across this, this morning:

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=RedcastleProductions&folderid=4013

I just got off the phone with Gerrit at Zu and he cleared up my concerns. There is no owners manual printed yet, so it wasn't mistakenly omitted and they haven't decided on spikes yet.

BUT for now the appropriate action is to loosen the nut on the bottom of the speaker and un-thread a little of the pole to set an appropriate height. I'm going to play with that when I go home for lunch today.

Also, I'll try and snap some pictures of them in place in my listening room this evening and update my profile accordingly.

Gopher,

I had an email exchange with Sean Casey this morning, regarding what should ship with Soul:

a set of protective dust covers
a set of stainless hard surface footers (installed)
a set of stainless jam nuts (installed)
a set of long carpet spikes
guidebook

Sean wrote that everyone whose Souls shipped without the usual owner kit will get what's missing. Remainder items (FRD covers, carpet spikes, guide in your case) will be shipped this week.

Also, the oddball Zu speaker referenced by Avonessence above is a recently-built one-off pair commissioned by one of Zu's suppliers, which essentially funded finished prototyping of an idea Zu had for a Definition-scale, Griewe-cabinet speaker (no powered sub). Consider it an exploration, not a product.

Phil