Hifimaniac This is a post from a thread over on avsforum about the Zu Definition "Hey Guys..I had the chance to personally audition the entire Zu speaker line last October in LA during a 'demo tour' they did. It took place in a medium sized hotel conference room with no acoustical treatment. The "Zu Crue" (just made that up!) were all very cool and let the attendees play whatever we wanted. They used a Rogue Zeus amp or a Nightingale Armonia integrated and fed them with either an Apple G5 or an Opera Droplet CD player. I had high hopes for these speakers, with their amazing 101db sensitivity and especially after 6moons' Srajan Ebaen had given the Druid IV's such a rave review. Unfortunately, something was very wrong with their sound. Everything sounded really congested and muffled. This was the last thing I expected but thats the way it was. They also had a extremely narrow sweet spot. I mean if you moved your head more than 1 foot to one side or the other, the highs rolled off significantly. Although I contributed a lot of the poor sound quality to the odd shaped and untreated room, the speakers narrow sweetspot was a deal breaker for me. I would still like to give Zu's speakers a second chance and look forward to hearing them again at HE'06 to finally find out if really do sound like they did in that conference room. It'll be interesting." I thought this would have interested you. |
Not upgradeable as best I know |
Steve, I have heard the MAXX II's at CES and agree the tweeter is better than MAXX 1's and they are more coherant the the first model, but compared to the Zu's they are not 30K better! Have you heard the Definitions set up properly? I think you'd be amazed. No cross overs to force the notes into, just an amazing, coherant wall of sound with incredible dynamics, musicality and an equal array of color choices to compete with Wilson's. |
This thread is supposed to be about Wilson. Hifimaniac is providing advice from experience with Wilson and an alternative that he has discovered. On one hand you could look at him as invasive and on the other, you could consider what he says, question his motives and perhaps even make an attempt to evaluate his advice for yourself.
I own the $2800/pair Zu Druids and I can assure you that they will embarrass Watt/Puppy 7s. I don't have any idea how the W/P 8s compare.
Hifimaniac - The failings of the website do not extend to the speakers themselves. Polk has a great website. |
Has anyone heard whether owners of the watt puppy 7's will be able to have wilson upgrade them to 8's?
thanks
Mike |
you obviously had MAXX l's and not the MAXX ll's as the latter so far and away outperform your Zu's that there is just no contest.
Sorry to be off topic BUT please try not to mislead readers here |
From what I can tell from Zu's web site and from my experience in the speaker world I suspect their approach isn't one that appeals to me....but the bottom line is that I use products that sound correct to me....but Zu's specification information wasn't particular communicative in a useful fashion....glad you like them.... |
Hikejohn; The Zu Definitions are easily as dynamic and more musical than my MAXX were even in my large CA room. I have never had a speaker present so much information so effortlessly. The Definitions have no cross over and if you buy the Pro version and connect the woofers to an outboard amp they can reproduce 16Hz. They are super efficient at 101db/watt; incredibly easy to drive; have a 12 inch square foot print and best of all they only cost $9k. Very few people who have demonstrated them and allowed them to properly break in 400 hours have returned them. Do yourself a favor and demo a pair. Check out the link below and go to the second page and see the picture of Archie, who lives close by in Scottsdale, AZ who traded in his Alexandria's for the Definitions. I was a happy Wilson owner; had MAXX's for five years and Watt/PUppy 5.1's for three and I enjoy the Zu's best of all. It's your $28k; but why rush when there are other very viable options for less money.
http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/zutour/zutour.html |
The description of design price changes are accurate...as I understand them. Recently I purchased the Sophia 2s...not the 7s, since I was aware...or suspicious that there was going to be an model change in the near future. If that wasn't the case I would have gotten the 7s....but will get the 8s instead. Against many other speaker models I felt that Wilson seems to handle all the real world tradeoffs that a speaker faces with the best balance of all the ones I listened to....They, for me in my room, provide the best reproduction of 1/2-15ips recordings I made with a stereo Neumann mike. While no speaker is perfect and no speaker can replace a live performance...Wilson's designs seem to provide smooth power response with correct time information...and thus do an excellent job....the list of other speakers with that capability is very short...IMHO. Given their performance and quality of construction and ruggedness I think Wilson prices are fair...remembering this is an elite product (part of my background includes managing the design and manufacture of loudspeakers)...it costs a great deal to take the last few steps towards Nth performance...which is what I sought.... |
You say - "By the way, if you read the Stereophile review of the MAXX they talk about how good they sound in a small room about the size of mine; don't believe them."
Don't worry, I don't believe anything that Stereophile says ( : |
Hi Hifi -
Sorry, I must have missed that line. It looked a lot like you were saying "The caravelles are a better speaker because they soujnd better than the MAXXs in a small room." If what you were saying is "the caravelles have a better high-end than the MAXXs did even when they were in a large room" than that is meaningful.
Sometime in the next five years I will be looking for my reference speaker in the up-to-$15k price range, and both the Zu Definitions and the Wilson Sophias are on my list, along with a small handful of others including Audio Note and Merlin. |
Goatwuss, if you read the review I stated what you are stating! I had the MAXX in my old room 17 X 28 (in CA) and they sounded great, but the Caravelle still is a more musical sounding speaker with a better tweeter than the MAXX 1. The MAXX 2 tweeter is better, but there was no comparison on the high end; the Caravelle sounded better and the vocals more natural. The Wilson speaker is too lean sounding for my taste now after hearing a better midrange. The Caravelle is a superb speaker; however, I like big band and full, dynamic classical and it failed me on certain pieces I like even with a sub. In a smaller room, it would have been fine. I found the perfect speaker in size and dynamics for my room and it is the Zu Definitions. I have owned the MAXX for five years and the Watt/Puppy 5.1's before. For the money, the Zu's can't be beat...Anyone thinking of the Watt/Puppy 8 should demo a pair of Definitions for 60 days with no risk return policy. It is worth the shipping costs if you're going to save $21k. By the way, if you read the Stereophile review of the MAXX they talk about how good they sound in a small room about the size of mine; don't believe them. Finally, comparing Wilson's to a Ferrari is a slap to Dave Wilson who builds a very high tolerance product that will last a life time unlike Ferraris that have to be dealt with on a regular basis. |
Hifimaniac -
I read your "David vs. Goliath" review.
So pretty much you're saying that the Caravelles sound better than the MAXXs in your 13 x 18 ft room....
That's like trying to drive a Farrari on a 10 foot track, you'd be better off with a go-kart.
13 x 18 is order-of-magnitutde WAY too small for the Wilson MAXXs. They are a big speaker, and require a big room, should be 16 x 25 or so minimum for the MAXX.
small room -> small speaker will sound better, it doesn't matter which one |
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Hifimaniac and Khrys,thanks a lot for your replies. They are much helpful to me. |
Keeping on thread, the 8 will have the new titanium high range driver from the MAXX 2, an extensively redesigned proprietary crossover and an entirely new cabinet utilizing new bracing and more of Wilson's "M" and "X" materials without any lead ingots since they are now banned by the EU. It is the EU's ban on all lead that has forced Wilson to reconfigure its speaker design since it is a speaker of international significance.
I have great respect for the Zu Audio Definitions. I understand they are the choice of polygamists worldwide. |
Save your money; buy the Zu Audio Definitions instead; better bass, huge sound stage, dynamic and more musical sounding. Don't fall for all the advertising hype of the Wilson like I did. Listen with your ears, not your eyes.
http://www.zucable.com/loudspeakers/ |
