Anyone listen to Zu Audio's Definition Mk3?

Yes, I have to agree with the above. I've never owned zu's that didn't evolve slowly over months. The good news is that the Def 4s sound pretty decent out of the box (unlike my previous Defs), but they will go from good to great to awesome over the course of time. Play them at louder volumes when you are away if you can. I put on raucous music while I was at work and this has sped up the break in. And while you don't have to crank them as loud as previous Defs, they still benefit tremendously by sustained, louder than normal volumes. I don't think chamber music at polite volumes will ever cut it.

These have been on my list as audition speakers when replacement time comes. But one of the things I’m taking away from the above posts is that a primary virtue of these speakers is that they play loud. Since I live in a condo and never try to listen at live levels, would it be advisable for me to remove these from my list?

No, they do well at normal listening levels as well. I too am in a condo, though Im itching for a single family home with a purpose built room, and most of my listening takes place at sane levels.

A few people have commented in this thread how the definitions come to life at lower volumes... do a little skimming, especially through 213cobras posts.

Phaelon - no offense, but I do not understand your statement that "one of the things I’m taking away from the above posts is that a primary virtue of these speakers is that they play loud." They have tremendous tone and dynamics and presence. They play big, but they do not play loud unless you crank up the volume. Yes, they are capable of loud volumes, but I never listen at loud volumes; and at night and weekend mornings I listen at low volumes. Yet, they still have the same tone, and they still have presence without being played loud. They do have a long break-in period, and they do take months to evolve. I have a 300b SET, and it is simply sweet.

Hi Gsm18439, I can understand Phaelon`s point to a degree. There are people on this thread, you,phil(213cobra) and others with perspective and opinions I respect. If you all say the DEF IV is exceptional I`ll accept that. However on 3 seperate occasions(most reccent was RMAF 2011) when going to the Zu room the sound level was stupid loud and they always seem to be playing rock or electronica(at least on my attempted visits) which made it even worse.It`s as though they`re trying to prove 'yeah we can handle loud'. It was a major turn off on each visit. I`d like to hear them at reasonable levels playing acoustical jazz or anything other than rock and pop music.
Their design and crossoverless approach gets my curiosity, I love simpicity in audio components.
Regards,