Zu Soul Superfly

Putting basic room treatments is certainly better than the audiophile who has 10k+ in cables, vibration pods, racks, stones, rca caps, cd demag machines, power conditioning boxes, power cords, voltage machines, etc. unfortunately i know too many of these folks. and the basic laws of physics govern room acoustics, unlike the rather subjective laws around other audiophile obsessions. but we can agree to disagree.

and with current technology, the stuff can actually look good (which 10 years ago it didn't). check out Art Panels by several manufacturers, for instance. having a zillion tube traps isn't good looking---but custom bass traps are pretty invisible in any room. and a custom bass trap costs less than an interconnect these days!

and sure Avery Fischer Hall doesn't sound great---but Disney Hall and the Meyerson do sound pretty good imo.

Speaker, amp, room. keep it simple and it works. the Soul buyer isn't going to change there room, just like any other inexpensive speaker buyer. so at least get the amp right.

cheers,

KeithR

Nag, Im not sure what the upgrade will cost you, but have you considered selling your druids to fund souls? It may prove to be A larger, more cost effective upgrade.

Zanon, how big a difference was wood vs carpet? I have spikes coming from Zu, hopefully tomorrow but am wondering if I should just place it on some 13x13 mdf with the hard floor footers.

>>I have spikes coming from Zu, hopefully tomorrow but am wondering if I should just place it on some 13x13 mdf with the hard floor footers.<<

I don't recommend this. It's better to have the speaker on an MDF or other material tile on carpet via the hard floor nubs than setting them on carpet directly without spikes, but spikes planted firmly into/through the carpet will give you and audibly more planted, firmed sound. Now if the MDF tile has spikes driven into the carpet and then the Soul on nubs is on the tile, that loosely emulates the Essence' double plinth. But why complicate things when spikes in the Soul cabinet will solve the problem in the simplest way. A 13"x13" tile lying on carpet still allows movement by the speaker sitting on it.

If you do take the tile-on-carpet option, forget nasty MDF and do it with maple.

A friend of mine partial to carpet once solved this problem in an interesting and effective way. He had his carpet cut out for his speaker footprints, inlaid parquet on the exposed floor, and put his speakers on firm footing directly on wood. Sonically, better than carpet spikes or a tile-on-carpet.

Phil

Thanks for the pointers, Phil. Can't wait to try the spikes. I realize this is NOT optimal but have been enjoying the hell out of it/listening to a ton of music just the same.

I'm also glad I put some more effort into placement, particularly making my listening room more of an equilateral triangle and using a sight to aim the tweeters a couple feet behind my head position. It is making me question whether I need to change amplification or if I'd be better served just rolling tubes in my preamp.

I am still very curious about that SLA battery powered alleged clone amp, but not sheerly as an upgrade. I want something that uses less electricity or at least is more efficient than the First Watt for summer time listening. The F1 is a friggin' sauna in the corner of my den which actually puts off enough heat to raise the temperature have the AC constantly kicking on (hate background noise) when I'm listening. Also, I'd love to just leave it on 24/7.

We shall see what happens, funds are unexpectedly tight at the moment so I'd have to sell off something to rationalize it.

I have been following this thread with interest. I was already to buy some Reynaud Bliss speakers based solely on reviews and emails from Bob Neil, then I saw this thread. I had not thought about Zu Druids before because they were 4 ft high and I thought that would not work since my room is only 11 x 14 and I listen in the near field. At 3 ft tall the Soul may be a contender. Can someone tell me if they communicate well at lower volumes. I have a Leben CS300XS and I listen at average levels of about 75 - 77 dB (according to my Radio Shack meter).