Totem Forest, Zu Soul, or Superfly

Hi Hifiharv,
Well, you might have stepped on a few toes, those were good suggestions. For what is worth, I am using the same HiVi woofers from your Forest in a mtm that I have built. I am keenly aware of their capabilities. I am sorry to say that it is you that are missing out on the performance they are capable of. If you really don't like them, no problem thats understandable and I'm sure that you have a great amplifier and can certainly understand wanting to switch speakers if you love your amp. As stated above, with 15 watts, you haven't heard your Forest yet. It might be wise to try to audition the Zu's since you are buying new or possibly just borrow a good amplifier that you know and trust that has some reasonable power to see just how crappy your Forest really sound. Just a suggestion and good listening, Tim

Having read through the threads myself when I was considering my first Zu purchase, I noted that many who said that the Zu sound made them run from the room had listened in convention / show conditions. As I understand, the Zu speakers have rarely auditioned well at industry shows.

The Zu house sound is fast, alive, coherent, musical. If you say where you live, it may be possible to find a Zu owner near you who would be willing to have you come by for an audition.

Personally, I think you will be delighted with a pair of Soul Superfly, and $1400 is a terrific price.

Sorry guys, but I have no intention of changing amplifiers. At the risk of stepping on some toes, I hate to say it, but, I am growing tired of uninformed people telling me that the 15 watt amps can't possibly drive the Totems. Something I guess you read somewhere, or deduced on your own according to their sensitivity specs. I wish you all could be here to experience the system blow your socks off. I am talking about real, in the room, live musical presence. Gee, should I have stayed with the 300 watt solid state monoblocs? No, they sounded like shit! And, That was even before I had the Totems. That was with the "hard to drive" Magnepan Mg 111A's. I was hoping someone out there might have some real, tangible experience to enlighten me on the sound of the Zu products. It scares me when it is said that the sound of their speakers make some people run as fast as they can from the room. What does that mean? Is it too hard? too bright? too grey? Veiled? lacking in tonal color? very fast and dynamic, but unmusical? Sorry, but I am a mature audiophile and it goes beyond cheap thrills for me. I want a product that nurtures my musical quest for years to come. So, if i am so happy, why would I want to change to another speaker? Well, I am an audiophile. I guess I can't help myself, I don't know any better!

FWIW - I agree w/Nbug. If you like the sound of the Forests, consider an amp change. I recently went from a JoLida 502B to Consonance Cyber800SE monoblocks (nominal change from 60WPC to 78WPC). It made a huge difference. The Forests benefit from power.

The Forest is a very musical speaker when coupled with the right amplification. They need a lot of power and you have been hearing only a fraction of what the speakers are capable of delivering.If you sort of like the Forests, I would upgrade the amplifier instead of switching speakers. If you choose wisely, you will really love the Forest.

I'm not really clear on how much difference there would be between the Souls and Omen. I ordered the Omens.Looks like the same main driver and tweeter.
60-day money back if you're not satisfied and they pay return shipping, but that may be only on the Omen.

I have the Forests in a medium sized room driven by PASS X-250, They chew up all of the 40 Class A watts pretty easily in that room. I would imagine they are a tough load for your tube amp unless you are generally a low level nearfield listener. I have been considering the Zu's for a new/future family room setup, but there's a lot of conflicting love/hate stuff if you search through forums. They seem to resell well, so if you bought used and decided you were in the hate camp, then you may not risk much. From all accounts they will be very different from the Totems, not lacking in volume but maybe in bass, you might end up getting a bigger amp instead....?

B-stock Superflys are available from ZU for $1400, this was a day or two ago. Quite the deal, only a limited number of pairs available if you are interested.

Have never heard a Totem, but at 87 db sensitivity, it's not very efficient at all and is likely a poor match for a 15 watt amplifier, monoblocks or otherwise.

I think the Soul (I have the Superfly) is quite special and would sing with 15 watts.