Which Zu for you

Has nothing to do with restraint. My wife thinks the money should go saving for my daughters college fund. 😉

Yes, they do. I can't give enough thanks to Sean. He emailed me back and forth with advice even though it was about a used pair of speakers, and he had nothing to gain.  Zu really is one of the best companies out there. Seriously amazing product combined with customer service that treats everyone equally important. 

Thanks for all the great responses.  I suppose my issue is that I have only really heard the soul supreme and Druid v and not any of the omen def or def speakers.  I almost bought the omen def 2 but decided I should sell off my old gear first. The thing I do like about the def2 is the ability to easily add the radian tweeter in the future.  Whoopycat does the defhead also give the emotional connection that the single driver provides? I think I would like the scale the def brings but What I fell for in Newport was the intimate nature of the Druid and my music interests vary but are similar to what Zu plays at their shows.  

Thanks for the info on the vintage amps right now I am leaning toward the Almarro a205 as Sean really seems to like it and it's not too much $$. Have to say though that I did love the pass with the Druid. Much better than the peachtree and soul supreme that I heard a few years back. 

Definitely no room treatments in my set up. The speakers are in the living room just flanking the TV on the wall. I know it's not ideal but it's the only option.

Robert, If you don't mind telling me what type of music do you listen to and do you ever feel that the almarro runs out of steam?

My thinking is moving more toward either omen def mk ii so that i can get the radian tweeter later or waiting to find a really good deal on some druid v. unfortunately, neither option pops up that often. like whoopycat said I just need to figure out which presentation i like better - which is a bit hard without hearing first hand. perhaps next year zu will bring a def to the newport show, although i would hate to be out of a system for another year.

Thanks Robert. It sounds like our listening habits are very similar and I would also be listening "near field" as our stereo is on the long wall of a 25'x15' or so living room so it's good to hear that the almarro is up to the job.  I thought of the almarro 318 but quickly dismissed it when I read it gets over 500F. That's too hot with a small child. Thanks again for your input.

Kevin,
I heard both the Soul Supremes and Druid V this year at newport. While it's true that they both share the same sound I found that I liked the Druid V much more than the Souls. I can't point to anything in particular why except to say I felt much more emotionally connected to the music when listening to the Druids. I would recommend talking to Sean at Zu. The guy is so nice and honest that he was providing me with advice even though I was planning on buying some omen def mk2 used (unfortunately, that fell through as I didn't sell my speakers in time). He definitely won't steer you wrong.