Considering Zu Dirty Weekend over my current B&w 702s2

Considering DWs myself.  Astonishing little negative press and you can send them back should they argue with your gear.

Let us know!

Happy DW owner going on 4 years now.  Also have the Omen Bookshelf speakers in a second system.

These speakers just sound so alive to me.

I use the DW's with a Prima Luna tube amp and the Omen's with a Rogue Sphinx integrated.  The Zu speakers do well with tubes.  CD players & turntables in both systems.  

Rich 

I'm a Zu owner also. You won't be "leveling down" it's a different presentation is all - a live sound with smoother highs.They play well with tubes too.I took a chance with a used pair a couple of years ago and am very happy with them.

Thanks for the input, all. If anyone else has perspective to add, I'll be happy to hear it! And your thoughts combined with my desire to change things up has resulted in me listing my B&W's on Audiogon!

Another thing to consider if you’re using the DAC in the Node would be to upgrade your DAC and digital cable.  The newer R2R DACs tend to have a more natural and organic sound that may yield the improvements you’re looking for.  Here’s a nice review of the Musician Pegasus ( $1100 that I own) just to give you an idea of the sound characteristics…

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/musician-audio-pegasus-r2r-dac-review/

If you can spend a bit more the new Gustard R26 is likely a nice step up in sound (you can read the review on the same site as above).  Either way, I’d recommend springing for a used Acoustic Zen MC2 digital cable ($660 new, $275 used) that I just got and it’s an excellent cable with a great sense of naturalness while maintaining great detail and was a huge improvement over my budget cable…

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649951192-acoustic-zen-mc2-digital-coax-cable-1m/

I also don’t think the Zu option is bad either, especially if you can demo them at home, but just wanted to throw out another option for you to ponder.  Hope this helps, and best of luck!

@soix

Another thing to consider if you’re using the DAC in the Node would be to upgrade your DAC and digital cable. The newer R2R DACs tend to have a more natural and organic sound that may yield the improvements you’re looking for

This is an excellent recommendation. No doubt that going from the B and W to Zu speakers is a pretty different direction. However, I strongly suspect that the Node DAC is a weak link bottleneck hindering the current sound quality. Certainly worthy of consideration. I also agree that a high quality digital cable makes a notable difference.

Charles

Thanks Charles and Soix. I’m using a Schiit Modius dac with balanced mid-tier Analysis Plus XLRs everywhere. Not ruling out what you say and I will definitely look more into the role my DAC is playing, but thought I’d give you those details in case they give you more to go off. 

Ah.  Good to know.  Schiit DACs aren’t known to be sterile sounding nor are your interconnects or amp so I’d look elsewhere.  Given all the info I think trying new speakers makes sense, and the DWs will certainly sound very different. 

I went from Wilson Watt Puppy 8 to Zu Def Supreme and although on paper a step back, it definitely isn’t. Zu is very different but in a good way. Superbly alive and really engaging 

The Zu DW and B&W are two different sound.  The Zu are dynamic and lively vs B&W warm sound.  Zu is best match with tube amps like @rar1 stated with the Prima Luna.  The Zu D&W is a 12ohm speaker that needs little to drive them. One syatem I heard that I thought sound amazing was a Klipsch Forte with a Decware Zen Triode.  These high sensitive speaker doesnt take much for.them to sing.

thanks for all the input, everyone! My B&w speakers got damaged in shipment (when I originally bought them) and so have been very hard to sell. However, so diy room treatment (rock wool/roxul panels) along with a Pass Labs xa25 have really fixed the situation. So much more balanced, better imaging, and more pleasing highs. For what it’s worth, I installed the Pass amp before treatments and confirmed that made a very big difference, so I can highly recommend it! But room treatments are also super-cheap and huge benefit…much cheaper than a Pass amp :-) in any case, I’m happy now! Thanks again!

I’ve been wanting to try a Zu speaker for awhile, so when they came out with the DW6, my ears perked up and I recently bought a pair. I’ve owned and loved 3 pairs of more expensive Devore speakers for the last 10 years, so that’s where I’m coming from. First, be warned, the DW6 takes awhile (probably 150 hours) to get to where you can hear what they are capable of. If you are not patient and go by initial impressions, you will think you’ve been duped. Once broken in, they pretty much play like Steve Guttenberg describes in his YouTube video. I’d describe them as intense with an immediate, visceral connection to the performers and songs. My wife rarely comments on the system or makes requests, but after we listened to some classical music radio for awhile one afternoon, she said she noticed they were really starting to break in and sound good, and asked me to play some Steely Dan. I put on "Countdown to Ecstasy" streaming on Tidal (through our Naim Unity Atom) and she couldn’t stop raving about everything she was hearing. And we weren’t discussing the "highs" and the "bass" but the great lyrics, interplay of the musicians, and just digging the songs. Right now the DW6s are in our large living area so they can break in on the Naim Atom, replacing a pair of Sonus Faber Lumina 3s, which we both really like. But the Zu speakers are more full-bodied, direct and intense and I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get them back into my dedicated listening room to compare with the Devores. They are that good.

@ladok Congrats!  The key thing with speakers is finding the ones that fire all your personal musical synapses, and that’s not easily done but sounds like you (and your wife) have achieved just that. Plus, Steely Dan is my fave band ever, so u clearly married well.  Enjoy!!!

I think alot of people would like to try Zu Speakers, myself included but are skeptical in many factors.  Being high sensitive that are easy to drive, using low power tube or integrated class A would be a match. If you have equipment with 200watts, I think these are a pass.  I for one love the retro look, but cannot see spending $4-6k for the higher Soul 6 or Supreme model when there other speakers that will have better sound.  B&W speakers will have better tone and mid-range for sure.  Alotl of people.have said Zu speakers are bright, sound fatigue, and even a guiitar amp speaker.  They only way to know for sure is to own a pair.

webking185 Have you compared B&W speakers with Zu? If not, how do you know which would have "better sound," or "better tone and mid-range." Who are the "lot of people" who say Zu speakers are bright and fatiguing? I own a pair (I believe the least expensive one they make) and they sound nothing like a guitar amp speaker. Like you say, the only way to know for sure is to own a pair, and they have a try-it and return policy. As far as having a 200-watt amp, there is really no hard rule about what type of amp would mate well with a given speaker.

B&W speakers will have better tone and mid-range for sure.  Alotl of people.have said Zu speakers are bright, sound fatigue, and even a guiitar amp speaker.
 

@webking185 You obviously have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about and couldn’t be more wrong.  

Thanks @webking185 but I agree with a few of the others - I’m mostly interested in hearing from people with actual experience with these speakers (or at least brands). I’ve done plenty of reading reviews and forums to gather something along the lines of what you write, but “hearsay” opinions aren’t very helpful for this sort of situation. I think I’ll probably just order some Unions or Dirty Weekends so I can compare head to head. But thank you anyway! 

@eburb 

but “hearsay” opinions aren’t very helpful for this sort of situation. I think I’ll probably just order some Unions or Dirty Weekends so I can compare head to head. But thank you anyway! 

Agreed! 

Very good idea that I strongly encourage. Compare the Zu speakers in your own system directly against the B&W. You could be in for a pleasant and happy outcome. Nothing beats listening for yourself.

Charles

@eburb, order and give it a shot. You can belive I'm not the only one saying it. Again, I'm not saying they aren't good speakers.  The entry level DW, are entry level speakers.  Its when you move up in princing to the Soul6 that will probably have a better sound image. I've heard Zu DW, I didn't like what I was hearing, but maybe the higher up models are better.  I can for sure say B&W is superb speaker that brings warm sound, with great mid-range tones and vocals.  These speakers will match with tube or SS gear.  This forum can be biased and doesn't accept honest opinions well.

@soix  , if you say I dont know what I'm talking about thats fine. My opinion I will clearly say is B&W sound reproduction is much better than Zu.  Not 10x the price, but better.

I can for sure say B&W is superb speaker that brings warm sound, with great mid-range tones and vocals.  These speakers will match with tube or SS gear.

@webking185 Well, I’ll just say I continue to completely disagree with you and in fact have the exact opposite opinions of these speakers having heard both.  Plus, Zu speakers are very tube friendly and B&Ws are definitely NOT tube friendly to get the best out of what they can do.  Opposite world.