Zu Soul Superfly

Here is my take on where this thread is going- stupidville. It isn't even funny anymore. Zanon- listen to the speakers if you get a chance and less to the voices in your head. Spare us the cacophony.
I talked to Zu today- there won't be any more pics for awhile, till they get the first batch delivered. There won't be any early samples sent to reviewers either. So this thread seems to be it for people to comment as they receive their souls. I for one hope we can hold it to comments about real listening experience.

Zanon,

I've been here for the whole thread and, to repeat, I and others have seen nothing contradictory in Phils posts. Occasional clarifications have been required and have been generously forthcoming and a model of clarity. Your concern about being accused of taking stuff out of context is well founded. You have either obviously misunderstood Phil or quoted him absolutely out of context further deraling the thread in the process to no great gain for anyone including your good self. It really is, er, just you.

If you want to talk about sound and not gear then it does occur to me that perhaps a thread about a specific piece of gear was one you should have left alone.

Still, Phil has explained himself most ably for the rest of us and his posts on here are one of many reasons I have now placed an order.

Phil - I presume you detect a slight difference in the mid range between Soul and Druid that some night describe as a decrease in euphony but you suggest is just a reflection of their accuracy. I must say that I loved the perceived euphony of the Druid. Are you saying that I might feel it has gone or just lessened slightly? I'm just trying to clarify as I associate that euphony with the phenomenal presence possessed by the Druids; the sense of Ben Webster blowing a real horn stood in front of you. Earlier, much earlier in the thread, you suggested the Soul was the true successor to the Druid and i understood that to mean mostly in terms of the mid.

Apologies if Zanon now leaps on this! :)

Venicelake - I entirely agree. When my Soul Superfly arrive I shall spend some time settling them in and then perhaps post in detail.

In the meantime I'm a bit disappointed Zu can't muster something up pics wise even if it's just from the factory floor or something a bit arty. I can see where they're coming from but personally I am craving!!!

Gopher - we need more feedback.

Mike

I think it is entirely reasonable that this thread be for those who receive Soul and can provide report.

>> I must say that I loved the perceived euphony of the Druid. Are you saying that I might feel it has gone or just lessened slightly?<<

I'll try to separate characteristics here. Druid has known midrange response anomalies that give it a bit warmer-than-real sound, which combined with the soft top end render it sounding what some people refer to as "dark." The v4-08 upgrade substantially removed this but traces still linger. If that kind of euphony is what you like, Superfly will lose it conclusively in favor of better frequency accuracy and clarity without ever sounding cold. You can always restore some of that darkness by mating the speakers to the right 300B amplifier;>).

HOWEVER, if the euphonic character you love is more like your reference to "...Ben Webster blowing a real horn stood in front of you...," well, you're going to get that, just more! That tonal density and ability to represent the full bite and burr of a horn with the musicality of having small dynamic changes utterly transparently revealed, and the holistic sense of a horn fully represented rather than torn apart by a crossover and represented by different drivers your head has to put back together -- that's "better" than Druid, conclusively.

More frequency accuracy combined with absolutely no loss in tone. In fact, you'll gain tone along with an even quicker jump factor and bass extension that retains transient definition as low as it goes.

I can't say yet about base Soul, but you have to look at Superfly as expanding the polar graph of favorable attributes of Druid while taking some kinks out of the circle where Druid had consciously-chosen, restricting compromise.

Does that help?

Phil

I too am a little confused by the apparent 'tiff' between Phil and Zanon, but both have offered solid, legitimate insight and recounts of personal experience so both are valuable to me.

For those wanting more feedback, I've largely achieved what I want with these speakers. The control the F1 has over the FRDs is amazing and the extra detail and natural extension I'm getting on the top end compared to with my Abbys is a revelation.

As suggested previously, these speakers have a signature that is harmonically rich/tonally dense with excellent speed and dynamics.

In my current system configuration they serve up an abundance of coherent energy. They are just extremely musical with everything I throw at it and deliciously versatile as well. Having these speakers made me realize how much my prior speakers controlled my listening choices. With the Zus, everything I've got is fair game from Jay-Z to Miles Davis.

The midrange is quick with great inner detail, but its not at all sterile sounding--very human. I think this is what people refer to when they describe it as 'organic'.

The bass response has been terrific as well. I truly don't want for a sub woofer.

The entire frequency spectrum is interegrated extremely well giving a very linear sound.

I can listen to this rig for hours--it just breathes PRaT... very musically satisfying. I'm not quite getting the emotion I've experienced before but suspect that would be achieved with tubes rather than my transconductance amp. Don't get me wrong, they are emotionally communicative and engaging, but not THE most emotionally gripping experience I've had... Definitely the most I've had with SS though!

I had thought about Zu and decided against it a few times in the past. I don't know why, but I had a feeling their house sound would be very... weird. I'm honestly disappointed now that I waited so long, but the Soul Superfly really was a good place to jump on board.

I'm beyond satisfied with my purchase.