Anyone listen to Zu Audio's Definition Mk3?

>>Despite the compromises you`ve noted with phil`s room do you enjoy the music when listening there?<<

If someone comes to my house and can't enjoy the music here, it's their defect, not mine. Seriously; no one has ever not enjoyed listening to music in my house regardless which house, which gear, or what the power grid was doing that day. Keith will answer for himself. Ask Danny Kaey, reviewer for Positive Feedback. Ask Sean Casey, founder of Zu or his front guy, Gerritt. Ask anyone who has been to a Zu party at my house. Ask Gary Alpern, importer of Audion, Human Audio and several other lines. Ask the many people who bring CDs and LPs to my house because they want to hear it here. You've all had the same experience!

When we banter here about room differences we are not referring to impediments to the enjoyment of music! Keith an I are nearly 25 years apart. Our disagreements on politics and economics are much wider than over anything audio. He tunes his system against some of my preferences and his room is difficult even corrected. But none of this has anything to do with whether I enjoy music at his residence, especially when he has something that's new to me. For cryin' out loud -- we have both put ourselves in the same realm by building systems around the same speaker -- Zu. That makes us far more similar than different in what we're seeking, in the grand scheme of hifi alternatives. We both use tube amps as a preference. He sidelined my first amp recommendation (SET) for my third one: Quad push-pull.

This whole hifi discussion goes off track radically when people begin to wonder whether music is enjoyable on two systems and rooms that have more in common than in difference. We are discussing relatively arcane deltas that emphasize and exaggerate differences beyond which most people even in our community would consider actionable. There are no emergencies in hifi, other than your system not working at all.

I remember how much I despised the sound of Cerwin Vega and JBL in the '70s. Awful aural assault & battery but when the stylus dropped on The Band or Gregg Allman or David Bromberg or Neville Marriner & the Academy at St. Martin in the Fields in a friend's apartment playing through those awful speakers, enjoyment of the music was never in doubt.

Give me a square -- even cubic -- room and I'll still find a way to mitigate its problems non-exotically, and however much I can or can't normalize the acoustics, I'll still find familiar bliss in the music I play in that space.

Really, if anyone *ever* visits my home and doesn't enjoy the music I'm playing (or they asked for) because I have a bass rise, some acoustic bounce and only a 14' x 21' space with a coffee table and a flat screen.....well.....they aren't getting the Pappy Van Winkle's 23 either, and they will be welcome to depart disappointed.

Phil

Phil,
My suspicion was that keithr 'does' enjoy listening to your system.This is really the whole point of assembling a system in the first place;'enjoyment' and the 'emotional' involvement it is capable of. I`d love to hear your system and music selections one day.I believe room treatment applied judiciously can be very useful given certain conditions.Like anything audio however it can be a hit or miss proposition.This is an area of audio where the obsessive concern can 'potentially' run amuck if one is`nt careful.
Regards,

Of course I enjoy listening at Phil's place. That's not the real question at all. I'm going over there soon for a vinyl evening in fact...something that I decide year after year to not pursue in my own system, yet still enjoy.

Funny, the thing I most dislike in Phil's Zu Definition-based system is the 845B tube, as is well documented on these pages/forums.

But there is always potential for better sound and I feel the improvement in his room if he decides to pursue it would be much larger than expected.

I think the easiest way for folks to begin is to buy a pair of GIK tri-traps for cheap and stick them in the corners. They are removable when company arrives. If they do nothing for you, return them.

One last thing- people with dedicated rooms and lavish treatment have the potential to go overboard and try and remove every frequency anomoly and Rives in particular has taken some flack on boards and ended up with some unhappy folks. (I did a L1 existing room, so mine was incremental by nature).

But that doesn't mean the basic concepts of reducing slap echo and early reflections isn't a worthy cause.

Also, just like anything in this hobby--people become very picky and have high demands from acoustic companies. These audiophiles are just as bad as the "cables changed my life" crowd that put new cables on a cooker once a week and spend 10k on a system worth of copper.

Room treatment, just like speaker placement, can be changed and variable to tailor to likes/needs. Start easy and see what you like.

Keithr,
The question I asked you about enjoying music in phil`s room is relevant. Either you do or you don`t enjoy listening there. If you do then in spite of the acoustical flaws you mentioned previously, the music communication is intact thus allowing an emotional connection.

Yes the room could be further improved(I`m certain) but the fact that his room satifies on an engaging level is significant.I`d imagine you`ve been in 'some' treated rooms that were`nt enjoyable as well as those that were very well done.Should`nt the music be inviting and draw people in ?
Regards,