i have Druids with a Mini-Method and it is the most balanced and transparent sound i have ever heard. the highs are always smooth and with subtle clear detail, the mids are tonally fluid and dymanic, the Bass is subterrainian and literally turns my walls to reverberating paper. the Method subs integrate perfectly into the 10" fullrange drivers and i have them crossed over at 40-45hz. the 40hz claims of the Druid are real.
i would without hesitatiion recommend this setup to anyone here. i am impressed enough that i will absolutely be upgrading to Definition 1.5 or MK2 which is coming out this summer. the Definition 1.5 will be on sale in the $7500 range starting next week Zu is cleaning old stock before the MK2 are released, i was planning on upgrading since March but now i dont think i can pull it together in time to buy them, the RSA Apache just bombed my wallet and i may go fully balanced soon which will require a second source and new cables.
Srajan of 6 moons has outlined why the Druids measured so poorly, they use a bottom ported enclosure which needs to be set the correct height off the floor to properly load the driver via back pressure. SoundStage! failed to set them up correctly. i can tell you with 100% confidence that if you do not tune these for your listening position they will sound like garbage, when they(and you) are properly located it is an amazing experience and it took me a solid 3 months to get them correct, i was on the verge of getting rid of them and now another 8 months later i am awestruck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Srajan Ebaen quoted from 6moons  "It became patently obvious that Zu is about real passion and out-of-the-box creativity disciplined by high-level Physics. The focus is on performance over trophy Hifi and a true appreciation for vintage research often long since forgotten because it occurred well prior to computer simulations and predictive modeling.
Should you have a hard time reconciling the above paragraph with the NRC measurement of the older Druid published by SoundStage!, Sean explained how the Canadians had forgotten two things: use the 14" square jig he had requested be placed under the Druid's floorfiring opening at the proper distance and adjust the microphone position to account for the tweeter kicking in above 12kHz. The lacking jig defeated the Griewe loading which apparently fired through a wire mesh instead. This devolved the box alignment into an open 4' pipe driven from one end to lose all output below ca. 100Hz. It made for a truly disturbing frequency response plot. If the Druid really sounded like that flawed graph, Zu would have never sold a single pair.
But unintentional mistakes do happen. So does disbelief by even trained engineers who rely on conventional models to argue that the Druid's small enclosure and its driver couldn't possibly produce 40Hz as claimed. Numerous owners know better without necessarily understanding the exact workings either. Naturally, no such ownership is required to know that the Definition's claim for 20Hz flat is not only likely but rather predictable. What wasn't predictable to me but somewhat dreaded? The quantity of said bass whose four Eminence woofers are operated below resonance just like BagEnd used to (but with zero DSP equalization in this case). Casey's gain adjustment made all the difference. Within minutes, I graduated from pronouncing the Definition bass-heavy, a little muddy and over-endowed to trading up from my Druid/Method trio to this overachieving pair."
|
http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews...inition_2.html
every backhanded comment i have read on these speakers has either been from someone who has never heard them and is relying on a flawed graph, heard them at a trade show somewhere probibly off axis, or heard them in someone elses system. i have never heard of an owner building a system to maximize their high efficiency, set them up correctly, and then ultimatley denounce them for sounding bad. read ALL of Srajan's and 6moon's reviews on the Zu products they are spot on, and he has owned ALOT of high end gear.
