Has anyone gone from Tannoy to Zu Audio?

Hi , I have the original Zu Omens. I run a Thorens TT, Schiit Yiggy DAC to a Rogue RP1 pre. Morrow cables, Richard Gray power filter. I have a fairly large room, although untreated, it has heavy shag rug, large cloth sectional and large cloth drapes. I alternate between a 12 WPC Had Inspire and a modded Akitika SS amp. I’ve addressed BRIGHTNESS from the beginning. I’ve tried and avoided silver cables and between that and speaker position I’ve tamed brightness. I’ve done considerable tube rolling and have found a significant change based on this approach. My biggest battle was obtaining enough bass from the Omens with 12 watts. I run all premium nos tubes in the Rogue and the Had, but prefer KT-120’s for providing enough bottom end. In my tube selection I have about a dozen power tube variants and 6-7 rectifier tubes, and about the same for driver tubes. A couple things I’ll comment on is how sweet the sound is with nos GEC KT-66 and GEC KT 88 tubes. Also the SED winged C’s are fantastic too. I’ve played with 4” thick Timber Nation footers spiked under the Omens and it killed the sound. When I contacted Zu , Sean responded personally and suggested I play around with the gap between speaker and footer. I eventually removed the footers. I have a Schiit Loki and it was great , but I just wanted to enjoy tube rolling. Hence I’ve avoided room treatment and EQ entirely, which is more stubborn than smart. Id also add that sitting in the sweet spot is headphone sublime. As far as the NEW OMENS and the new design I can’t help. But in closing my original Omens are not that difficult to deal with. Also I have Klipsch and JBL in the closet and never rotate them in.  Happy Listening, Mike. 

I’m in the same boat kinda. I have a pair of Tannoy xt8f’s (let me know if anyone wants them). I have a mystere pa21 amp fed by a rotel 1572 and the Tannoy’a just don’t do it for me and am looking at Zu speakers as well. The union supreme is what I’m looking at. Not being able to hear the Zu speakers is driving me nuts as I also ordered the Tannoy’s sight unheard and don’t want to make the same mistake twice. It seems the new DW 6 and union speakers with the rear port are big step forward in ease of setup and filling out/mellowing the Zu sound while still giving you the dynamics and live music sound they are known for. Steve Guttenburg has a review of the soul 6 which was a pain to setup and took weeks and a different room placement and had to call in help to get them working. The DW 6 he just plopped on the floor where his klipsch normally sit and they worked right of the box. It seems that new rear port really makes them much more user friendly. 

You have to think about the Zu speaker line as an elevator lifting you to escalating resolution and pick your stop -- which floor do you want to get off at? Any Dirty Weekend is Zu's lowest-resolution loudspeaker and least neutral. DWs have the Zu snappiness, dynamic shove and good tone, but they are intentionally ameliorative of upstream system compromises and source material. DWs were intended for entry-level systems and second or vacation home systems where someone might grab a 1970s Marantz receiver off eBay to power them, or some budget electronics today to put together a ~$2500 system with sources. DWs were not meant for obsessive hifi nuts.

Step up to Union 6 and Union 6 Supreme and you have to start seriously considering system synergy. Unions aren't bright or harsh if mated well with associated equipment, but their transparency and musicality depends on solid input from upstream gear. Move up to Soul 6 and you have a true high-end speaker in a relatively affordable, compact form that will absolutely not smooth over flaws in upstream gear. But feed them properly and they will reward you with clean, expressive, explosive, tone-dense, beautiful sound that you can listen to all day long. Steve Guttenberg simply didn't take the time to understand the Soul 6 and completely flubbed his review. Look for Sam Rosen's Positive Feedback review, and and John Darko's commentary for a more educated and realistic assessment. Guess what -- all this applies to Druid 6 even more so and Definition 6 will mesmerize you (I have the first pair) if you have upstream gear commensurate to them.

The new Griewe-out-the-back scheme in Unions and Definition 6 certainly simplifies setup and bass optimization compared to the bottom-exited Griewe models. You just have to figure out how much musical objectivity you want to optimize your system for. You can be lazy about that with Dirty Weekends. You can be casual about that with Union 6. You have to start thinking systemically with Union 6 Supreme. Soul 6 and above, lazy and casual system thinking won't cut it.

Phil

I had a pair of Turnberry SE for 12 years. I always curious about Zu so I bought a pair used Zu Durid MK5 Rev. A. I had both for almost 3 months, sold Turnberry kept the Zu, almost a year passed, never regretted. I tried them both with SS amp, 845 SET, 300B Set, and new Marantz Model 30 the results were consistent. Zu is more musical and more soulful, hope this helps.

Griffin 

BTW, just recently I visited Upscale Audio’s music demo room, and listened both Arden and Cheviot, just to make sure if the newer Tannoy sound different, and yes, they both a tinny bit of better than my SE, the Tannoy shout midrange was improved with both new Tannoy, the general sound signature is the same, the Arden had too much bass for the mid sized room even I listen to R&B music. 

Is Zu perfect? Of course NOT, the bass is where Tannoy kicks Zu’s butt for deepest  bass and Zu lacks bass impact in the chest of Tannoy.