Modding the Zu Omen MKII

If you have new compression drivers, they may need 10-50 hours of break in aswell, depending og how loud you play..

@zuangbro - You really have me intrigued with your Radian 475be upgrade. I'm thinking of making the same leap with my Omen DWs. I recently replaced the Clarity caps with Duelund tinned copper caps (I know, I know, it was one of those what-the-heck shelter-in-place moments) and the Omens took on a whole new presence and holography. So that got me thinking, and googling, and here I am...

Would you do anything different with the resistor values you mentioned? Any regrets with the 475be? Any other mod updates?

Just bought Zu Dirty Weekends. Out of the box they sounded boxy. Could hear what I thought were internal resonances and the need for more damping. I caulked the wood joints with green glue, Applied a few coats of acoust-X paint, a layer of 1/2 inch foam and 2 dowel braces between tweeter and full range. Much better, even my wife who really does not care noticed. Much cleaner sounding. I am shocked Zu lets these out of the factory without addressing these issues.

Hello, I saw this post and recently purchased the Zu Omen DW’s with Jupiter cap upgrade and I’m very interested in the 475-be tweeter replacement for the stock ones in the DW speakers.  I’ve been reading the post and are these the parts I’d need to replace the stock tweeters?
1.  475-be tweeters 
2.  Lpad using Mills wirewound resitstors [I have no idea what these are]
3.  P-Audio PC-20 Adaptor - 1" Small Format Bolt On to 1" Screw-in Horn [How many will I need] 

I have never done a DIY before, but I’m trying to reinvent myself by telling my foolish self that I could do it! I’d appreciate any help with the parts I need to replace the stock tweeters with the Radian 475-be tweeters. Could I fit the ZU 2" HFL-1 TWEETER LENS in the DW’s and are these lens compatible with 475-be tweeters? Sorry for all these questions.

@kevinjkim, Congrats on picking up the Omen DW’s with the Jupiter cap upgrade! I’ve enjoyed mine (with the Clarity caps) for a couple years and decided to upgrade to the Radian 475 beryllium tweeter over the summer (along with variety of other mods). A list of the mods I performed:

• Upgraded to Radian 475 beryllium tweeter
• New high-pass filter network with Duelund tinned copper caps and Path Audio resistors
• Upgraded to Zu’s 103ND full-range driver
• Changed all screws and mounting hardware to t-nuts
• Applied sound-deadening material to interior
• Epoxied dowels laterally and between the full-range driver and tweeter
• Added 2-inch thick butcher block platforms hard-mounted with stainless steel set screws

I tried to document the process as much as I could here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pktaalffodhoxnf/AABfkg37-ALobyUkX6HhbQWWa?dl=0

And I put together a list of parts I used here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lGO5Ovrh5U3NazCCaO3-H_cO2Lhy7sGjlG8bLZan-gw/edit?usp=sharing

If this is your first DIY project, putting together the L-pad (or high-pass filter network) might be the hardest part since that requires soldering. Refer to the parts list for the values of the resistors I used (credit goes to @zuangbro for the values). I verified the resistor values from page 12 of Zu’s upgrade manual for the Druid IV (note that the schematic uses a 16-ohm Radian tweeter, whereas I used an 8-ohm version):

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51dd8a95e4b0ff2f7c9874ae/t/51fc5f88e4b05ae014fc4eb4/1375494024810/UK-Druid-4-13.pdf

Being that the Radian 475 is a much heavier tweeter than the stock Eminence ASD:1001 (6.4 lbs vs 2 lbs) I would highly recommend upgrading the mounting hardware for the tweeter lens. I believe Zu doesn’t recommend removing the tweeter lens at all because the stock wood screws will strip the threads in the MDF cabinet, which is what happened to one of the screws on mine. Upgrading the mounting hardware to t-nuts, lock nuts, and new button head stainless steel screws will make the tweeter lens/cabinet interface rock solid.

The 2-inch tweeter lens won’t work on the Omens. With a lot of work it might, but then you’d have to use the much heavier Radian 850, which is a 16 pound tweeter. I used the P.Audio PC35 flange adapter to pair the Radian 475 to the Omen’s stock tweeter lens and it works seamlessly.

Overall I had a blast modding the Dirty Weekends, definitely one of the highlights to an otherwise difficult year. It was a great summertime shelter-in-place project, and as we go into winter with more lockdowns likely, I hope more DW owners will get the modding itch.

Btw, on *that other* audio marketplace website, there’s someone selling a pair of Radian 475 berylliums. Make a deal and save some bucks! Good luck!