Anyone listen to Zu Audio's Definition Mk3?


Comparisons with the 1.5s and the others that came before? Getting the itch; again......
128x128warrenh
Severe toe-in for Def4 doesn't make sense to me and is the exact opposite of my experience with them although for those placing speakers 12' apart or more, I can see more toe-in than I use may be necessary. My Def4s are placed 9' apart, center to center, and one of the clear improvements of the Zu nano FRD even if mounted in Def2 or Druid is the broader horizontal dispersion compared to older Zu drivers. So I hear less toe-in is needed for proper sound staging than for earlier Definitions. I also cannot replicate any similar experience where different speaker positioning is needed for 16/44 digital vs. vinyl analog sources.

Spirit, the toe-in and positioning 4' out into the room, with the imaginary Crosspoint being 4' in front of you is reminiscent of the setup advised by Audio Physic for the initial version of the Virgo in the 90s. It was quite effective with that speaker and in fact the speaker wasn't well placed conventionally, if you cared about soundstage. But that speaker bears little behavioral similarity to Definition 4, so I don't have any correlating experience that suggests your setup should be optimal, nor that you should have big differences spatially between analog and digital.

Sean & I (I was volunteering to help Sean get back on the road fast) set up a pair of Def3s for a Zu customer in Los Angeles a few days ago. One thing that was handy was having two people to move speakers while the listener evaluated placements. In his room, there was very little latitude for spacing the speakers apart so he ended up about 9' on centers. We started with mild toe-in to get our bearings and then with the listener in the sweet position, Sean and I incrementally rotated toe-in around the front inside corner point until the owner's preferences for sound staging snapped in. He's not an inexperienced listener. You have a continuum of spatial options from extreme focus to expansive staging, and anything in between. No toe, and the middle of the soundstage starts to tear. Too much toe and the acoustic space collapses (though focus might remain). Since there is no way to be sure how most rock, blues and jazz recordings reference an intended sound image, this is an area highly subject to preference as well as to the variances in how individuals perceive acoustic space and spatial cues. We ended up simply dialing toe-in to his preference and it was pretty much spot on where Def4 toe-in works in four rooms I have listened to them in so far, here in LA.

Then at Sean's suggestion we dialed in some rake, deviating to a little back-lean from level. in some respects rake angle variance was more influential to image precision and tonal balance than toe-in. The adjustments have to be quite small too, by increments. It sounds tedious but the owner was seeking a trifle more vocal presence, and a slight tilt back nailed it for him, in his room.

Most people live in rooms presenting some acoustic anomalies, so I can't rule out that I might agree with your severe toe-in, Spirit, if I was there to hear it. But my experience with Def4 in a variety of rooms doesn't correspond with what you're suggesting.

Phil
Hello. I just wanted to chime in with how happy I am with the pair of Zu Essence that I purchased the week before last on Audiogon. I now understand the benefits of Full Range Driver. I really love 'imaging', and am missing any so far, but it is a fair trade for how much the musician is actually right there in the room. I realize that they are not the be all and end all for definition, but here again all the music I have played is wonderful.

Of course I found this thread as my interest in Zu is heating up.....damn, I just want to be happy:)
Phil, your thoughts on toe in are spot on, I've reverted to a less acute angle for the 4s, their axes now intersect just behind the listening position. I'm still having frustrating issues dialling in analog, and am of the firm opinion that these spkrs are so revealing that components upstream really have to be performing of their best (which my tt obviously isn't quite).
I've decided to install a wall shelf to give the best inert platform for my tt, comprising, in sequence, wall brackets, 30mm slate shelf, sorbothane hemispheres, and second 30mm slate shelf. I'm confident this will give my records the shot in the arm the Def4s demand.
Can anyone out there tell me if I should be hearing anything adjusting PEQ on back of the 4s, to my ears nothing discernable.
I'm finally cracking the conundrum of the 4s, ie so much potential, but so many ways to not get them to sound that great. I've really been struggling getting esp. my tt to sound on a par with my prev 2s, and this has been spoiling my overall enjoyment of the 4s.
I've returned to less toe in, the spkrs are now 8' apart centre to centre of drivers, axes intersecting a few feet behind me, such that I can see a little of their inner walls, 14' to listening position and rear of spkrs 4' from front wall.
But, most critically, I've tamed the bass by turning the Low Pass Filter down to 40, and Volume down to 5. This has allowed bass to bloom more naturally in my space, and removed all hints of boxiness that was obscuring transparency and drawing attention to the cabinets.
The spkrs esp. on playing vinyl are now transformed, delicacy and transparency really heightened with deep bass only evident when present in material, adding that final jump factor back into the presentation.
I really couldn't be happier, aided by the fact that I'm incorporating a Symposium Isis rack into my system, really dealing excellently with vibration control.
Glad to read of the luck you've had, Spirit. My system is consistently enjoyable, but I'm not sure its always preferable to my Def 2s before I installed the nanotech drivers.

I'm admittedly poor with setup and that is likely the issue as I believe my supporting equipment to be quite good and up to par.

Any Long Island Zu experts out there want to lend a hand in fine tuning?