2. speakers
  3. 1299724595

Zu Omens Vs Dali Vs Vandersteen Vs Sonus Faber


This post is FYI for those wondering about the quality of the Zu Omens (Don't worry, Be Happy and get them!):

At my personal recommendation, two friends here in Tucson bought Zu Omens, and one replaced her floor standing Dalis with the Omens and another replaced his Vandersteens with the Omens. He recommended them to two other friends here in Tucson who replaced their speakers with the Zu Omens. Once of the pairs replaced were Sonus Fabers.

I imagine that the Soul Superfly's are better of course.

BTW, I have Zu Druids. I am hesitant to replace them because I like them so much that I have painted them piano black and put granite bases on them. They bested (for my preferences of course for immediate rich sound) some Dynaudio, Dali, and Spendor floorstanders. However, I have not heard the Zu Omens and Druids in the same room. However, at another person's home the Omens sounded wonderful. Similar magical sound as the Druids with perhaps a little more bass and they are certainly less imposing in size (but not in quality) in the listening space. Hmmm, maybe I can get a pair of Omens and paint them piano black...
plangco
mapman's avatar
mapman
23,055 posts
 
Sebrof,

That could be.

FWIW, I looked at the specs for the new Omens. Zu indicates bandwidth in their specs but nothing regarding flatness of response that I could see.

I would expect getting flat response would be a challenge with most conventional full range drivers.

Plus specs can be overrated. Its what you hear and like that really matters.

Some people may care though, so it is worth taking note of these things.

There seems to be little risk with the Zu's however. I think they offer an audition period during which the speakers can be returned if not liked, right?
naggots
115 posts
 
The stereophile frequency graph in question was for Druid mk2....... Using an different tweeter and FRD to the MK4 that won all the awards. Druid needs a 10mm gap at the base to load the cabinet. Standard testing calls for the speaker to be suspended in the test chamber.

Omen and Druid Mk4/08 share the same tweeter and FRD with a different phase Plug. The difference being that Griewe loading in Omen is achieved using a foam pyramid as with Superfly and Essence not a gap.

The Zu FRDs are sourced from Eminence.......The largest pro speaker manufacturer..... Most live music you hear use Marshall and Fender stacks filled with paper cone Eminence drivers. These speakers are specifically design to be abused...... Home audio speakers are not.
morganc
255 posts
 
Eniac: I love electronica and live in San Francisco where we arguably get the best in the world, but of course we could debate that:). I am more particular to Claude von Stroke and Justin Martin (Dirtybird label) and if you are nearby, please drop in and I will show you what these paper cones are capable of. I'm driving them with a Pass XA30.5 and that combo easily surpasses all other speakers I've had from Monitor Audio, Onix, Dali. The Zu Essence I had in the past do not even compare either. I do have the Omen Defs, but I am sure they are similar to the Omens. They also amazing with jazz, vocalists, and of course electronica. Out of the box they were much better than the Essence and after break in even better. I also have several tube amps and am loving them too, though the bass, dynamics, and transparency with the Pass is especially apparent with electronica. With jazz, my 845 amp sounds as close to a live show as I could imagine. Hope this helps. I'm not one for measurements, graphs, etc....just pure musicality:).
rockn
26 posts
 
I second Morganc, although I have the Superflys, they pretty much have the same driver. Very dynamic & clean! Been listening to a lot of electronica lately myself through my Sqeezebox Touch, nothing short of amazing. These will dish & bang with the best.
morganc
255 posts
 
charlesdad: I 100% agree with your description: the paper cones on the Omens are very dynamic with an exceptionally natural tone.
More to discover