What amp are you using with your Zu Essences?

Having owned every Zu speaker (except Superfly), most on multiple occasions, I'd opine that virtually any amp will work ok.

That being said there are better matches than others. My recommendation after thousands of hours would be to stay away from Class D amps with every Zu speaker. In general they seem to suck the warmth and polish out of Definition, Essence, Druid, Tone,Presence, and my newly arrived Omen Defs.

Most other topologies work quite well and sound terrific; pay particular attention to the speaker's impedance. For example, OTL amps are not ideal with the Omen Defs (6 ohm) whereas Class A solid state is magnificent. The best amp with the Omen Defs so far, to my ears, is the Pass XA30.5.

Alternatively, Presence and Druid with their 16 and 12 ohm impedances, work extremely well with OTL.

Class D amps can be wonderful with the proper speaker but to my liking, Zu is not high on that list.

However, at the end of the day, if you like what you hear go for it. Afterall, your money.

Dealer disclaimer

FirstWatt J2, M2 and F5 are terrific as are my 25wpc EL84 class A push/pull monos. My 8wpc Yamamoto A-09S or Woo Model 5 work very well too (both 300B) but I personally prefer the 25-watt transistor amps for their better low-level resolution, grippiness in the bass and lower noise.

I had the Essence and they were paired with a Melody I2A3. I bought it based on Zu's recommendations and found it to be a nice pairing, and there was never a question of not enough power.

Audiofeil's comment about OTLs and ZUs is incorrect. There don't seem to be any OTLs that will not drive the 6 ohm ZUs quite well.

02-11-11: Atmasphere wrote:
Audiofeil's comment about OTLs and ZUs is incorrect. There don't seem to be any OTLs that will not drive the 6 ohm ZUs quite well.

No good deed goes unpunished.