Zu Dirty Weekend 6 went on sale today

Awesome. Yeah, I’m curious to how well my Denon PMA800NE will play with it.

I’ll know soon enough!

Also, cheers!

@bourbonkernel

Congrats on having the first "regular person" review on the internet on the new DW6s. You also have had the Omen IIs, which is the speaker I have spent lots of time listening to at a friends house (he runs a tube setup).

I ordered DW6s with the Superfly upgrade (hickory) and I pick them up next Friday. I’m hoping to get Omen II sound, if not even better, than my friend’s Omen MK II speakers w/ the cap upgrade.

One of the things that surprised me about Zu speakers is their ability to put ample amount of sound off-axis. I could stand 180 degrees off to the side of my friend’s Omen IIs and feel like I’m not losing any fidelity at all. I know they’re considered directional, but jeeze...that’s just awesome. The only thing directional I’ve noticed is the tweeter. I feel like there’s a "silky" effect that they have when you are seated directly facing it, but once you stand up you lose that effect (being about 6-8 feet away). It’s a really minor change (still sounds great) but I’m curious on your thoughts of that. I’m wondering if I need to slightly add some angle to the DW6s because I’d like to have that same "sparkle" effect both seated and standing positions. Then again, my room setup is where these DW6s are going is a much longer room than my friends setup (I’ll be sitting further back) so maybe no tilt is needed.

My room is about 22’ wide, and about 50’ deep. I’m hoping the DW6s will perform well in my corners with a slight toe-in.

Right now they will be replacing Polk RTi6 bookies that are mounted higher in the corners. I think I’m in for a real treat.

Even the Omen MK2 throws out clean, solid, musical bass. Listening to my friend’s setup, I would never even consider getting a sub!

Zu is basically marketing the DW6s as being the best Omen or Dirty Weekend speaker ever at this point. The bass and midrange is said to be better (more resolved and articulate).

To others, the Zu House sound is a "live" sound. The speakers literally disappear and the music is appearing to sound as if were being played live in your living room. It’s punchy, articulate, and IMO the speakers are able to project sound out in a way where every void just sounds great.

Lots of people say you they’re best for Jazz and classical, but honestly I enjoyed playing rock and metal records. To my ears at least, the Omens/DWs make everything sound good.

My opinion on Zu speakers is that they are not a 100% accurate speaker, nor really care to be. But IMO, they are JUST "live" enough to be musically awesome, but still allow for analytical listening if you are comparing vinyl pressings or whatever.

I’ll be powering them using my Denon PMA800NE w/ Cambridge Solo Pre-amp.

Would you say that the DW6 is the better speaker vs the Omen II, or just different?

zu considers them superior I would think being that bad believe that the omen cab design is scrapped  

@bourbonkernel

Did a rough mockup of a Zu speaker and I’m trying to figure out how the front left placement is going to work out. This picture is showing the speaker about 1’ from the left wall, and about a 5" from the front wall. But something seems wrong about the record cabinet being that close to it. Will that matter? Curious on your thoughts on how the Zu would perform in that scenario.

I’m thinking if I should pull the record cabinet about 6-8’ leftward (basically "toward" the camera so that nothing is around the speaker at all. That will require me to get a 35’ RCA cable (I hide all my AV equipment behind the TV).

Just trying to do some pre-setup so I can get started to listening to them right away this Friday!

https://ibb.co/V3Rmm9g

https://ibb.co/Mn5VrLV

Oh boom! Thanks for that. I didn't know they had that locking nut on the bottom. Yep, I'm definitely going to play around with angle to try to get them to sound as best they can from a seated and standing position.

Yea, I hear you on break in times. One question I was going to ask you if you notice them opening up more after 200 hours. I would think 200 hours is really minimal and I would expect them to smoothen up some more!

I basically moved the mock-ups more away from the corner (and more to the right edge of the window). I think they are probably going to sound better there. I also ordered a longer RCA cable so that I can move the turntables further away from the speakers. 

I think I've prepared enough at this point, just need to get them! I'll take pictures of my ogden trip and will update.

Wow! So 200 (zu break in) + 100 hours of your own. Def keep keeping us updated of the improved performance. Zu does claim that 2-4 weeks it will continue to improve!

Sadly, you have to use an external host to post pictures. There’s tons of free one if you just search for it. Then just drop a link for us!

Zu was kind enough via an email to state the differences between Zu Omen Mk II vs DW6.

"The overall sound with the Superfly edition compared to your friends Omen Mk.II will be similar.  You will have a bit more extension and fuller bottom end with the DW6"

Sounds like the DW6 is the perfect Omen speaker. 

Heading out tomorrow at 7AM. Keep the fire burning in here!

Just made it home. Almost ran over Sean at ZU while I was backing up to the door. 
 

killer group of guys. I had a blast. 

Got them pretty well setup in my room. More towards the wall is better IMO. But not in corners. They really don’t mind at all being close to a the wall. They also like separation, like most speakers. 
 

had a big road trip today with 10 hours of driving. I don’t want to speak too soon  but build quality is 10/10. They actually had some extra rustic Veneer to use. I may have the only rustic DW6s. Haha  

everything has met expectations.  The Denon voicing is coming through and is making these sound very warm and tube-like. 
 

the only thing that’s been underwhelming is the bass. But I don’t want to speak too soon.  Going to run them hard tomorrow  

@snapsc Zus are fantastic at imaging and sounding bigger than they are.

@bourbonkernel

Played some more with them today.

The Zu house sound is all there. The dynamic sound is there. That live attack is there. There ability to be spatial is there. I went through everything and they handle all music pretty well.

There’s something that just isn’t connected down low very well. The bass is marginally better than my Polk RTi6’s bookshelves that are mounted in the corner. Yes, the polks are cheating because they have the walls that help them "beat" but for some reason the Zu’s low end isn’t extending to the ground as much as I would like.

Maybe it’s false expectations, but I was expecting to have to dial BACK the bass on my PMA800NE amp. What I’m wanting to do is to dial UP the bass. So something isn’t quite right. I’m not a believer in EQ because it always seems to color the sound in ways I don’t like.

Depending on the cartridge, my volume knob is 35-40%, listening at 92db peaks. So listening fairly loud.

I moved them out into the room several feet and bass response didn’t improve. I have them backed up to front wall (a few inches away) and they seem to like that. Of coarse placing them in the corners improves bass, but the imaging gets affected. So about 2’ from the side walls is about what they like with some slight toe-in. They like to be wide apart rather than narrow.

I brought out my little Class D amp just to take the Denon out of the equation. Didn’t improve bass response, so it’s not the Denon being weird.

I’m definitely happy with them, but the low end and connectiveness feels underwhelming. It’s strange feeling like I need a sub, when many of the reviews I’ve been reading counter that.

My listening area is about 18’ wide and about 25’ deep. So nothing out of the ordinary there.

You can click here to see where I’m at right now:

I’ve been A/Bing my Polks (you can see them on the photo) and definitelly the Zus are more fun to listen to. Comparing Zus and Polk RTi6s is pretty silly, but it’s amazing how much the Zus all of sudden make it feel like I have a tube sound (the sound is far warmer and organic) where the Polks sound flat. Everything about the Polks now sound flat, the imaging, the depth, the highs, etc.

The Zus are definitely "live" speakers. They "attack" very well. Definitely no issue with harshness at all. They are NOT "background sound" speakers. You wouldn't want to play them at higher volumes and be able to hold conversations with people, lol 

We have our speakers in the same place! Mine is about 8" from the back wall and about 26"-28" from the side wall. They seem to be very happy there!

Yep, the more I listen to them the more I am really really loving them. As far as I’m concerned, those polks can come down. :)

I think you’re right about the break in. I feel like they’re already kicking off more low end the more I play them.

Zu was really cool. They took me through the facility. Like I mentioned I almost ran over Sean as I was backing in, lol. We chatted for awhile. Really awesome small-family place. Everyone that worked there loved what they were doing. So friendly and awesome to talk with. They had me inspect my speakers before and boxed them in-front of me. I saw their break-in room. They don’t break in completed speakers, they break in drivers only. So once those are broken in they assemble and package. This is possibly why as a complete assembled unit they could use a few hundred hours to really settle in.

They also surprised me and had some left over rustic hickory as I mentioned. They don’t build the cabs onsite as some other facility locally does that. To my understanding they finish and assemble.

Here’s a couple pics of the finish. It’s flawless and possibly the best finishing work Zu has ever done.

https://ibb.co/tBvfqnY

https://ibb.co/Jc427v5

Been listening all day. Threw on Synchronicity and man...I feel like the bass is starting to extend deeper.

So yea, I think break-in really is a thing....and this is only the first day!

@simna It’s like $299 or whatever for the hickory. It used to come standard but now Zu is charging for it. Perhaps there some more sanding involved in the finish between coats vs the black.

@bourbonkernel Yea, the damn record collection keeps growing. I’ll need to build another shelf soon. I’ve already had to store many records in other rooms (not pictured).

Yeah, my space is a tough space for low frequencies. As mentioned, I was cheating with my polks by having them up in the corners (as pictured). This created kind of a "boombox" bass sound that wasn’t necessarily bad. Now that "boombox" sound is away and I’m left with perceptively "different" bass. Cleaner, more refined bass, but perceptually I suppose I was expecting a bit more.

Yea, I may have to do the sub thing. I built a sub for my home theater room...could probably build another. They are honestly the most easiest and forgiving speaker to build.

Either way, this is a keeper purchase! Really happy with them. So much more depth and "analogue-ish" sound that comes out of them. 

It’s now making me wonder if my PMA-800NE is the best solid state amp to use. Denon makes a PMA 1700/1800 model that has MOSFET stuff in it that probably will sound better. But that's for the future. 

Awesome.

Also to note I’ve been listening flat EQ the whole time. Kind of a purist.

I jus added about 35% bass on Denon’s 2-band system

my gawd. I mean…I might leave it and forgo a sub. Now to go through all my test records and listen again  I prefer not using EQ but these really come alive in my environment with just a little. I’ll find an optimal setting.

Denon has a muscular sound signature. Perhaps the higher end stuff is really neutral. Love my Cambridge solos. Have two of them.

@simna 

It's the famous flat speaker (think of most modern speakers) vs a "live" speaker (klipsch, zu, etc).

To me, a flat speaker blends everything together, as if it's all on the same playing field. Level. Flat. And many think, boring. I would agree.

A "live" speaker sounds more layered. A drum cymbal leaves that "flat" space and sounds dynamic. Anything that deserves an "attack" gets an attack.

That's what they mean by "live". Live isn't perfect or accurate. Just like every single live show I've been too...nothing is perfect as it's not intending to replicate the studio.

Instruments are more spatial in nature and are very forward facing. It's a more aggressive speaker type.

That's my non-audiophile explanation. 

Thanks @lak for the info regarding bass response improving.

For now I just EQ'd it a slight bit and am listening very happily. I'll check the EQ setting again (will neutral it) in a month or two.

@bourbonkernel

Free upgrade for you. Tilt your speakers a little bit...I set 3/8" coasters under the front of mine. You want to focus more on the 10" driver (ignore the tweeter). I sit back about 12-15’, and with that 3/8" lift the driver now hits my neck. I could go further, but even that little bit produced a sizable difference! If you sit closer, you may consider going more. I used a laser pointer to verify.

The Zus seem to love that. No impact to anything else. Give it a shot! Doing this also gets the tweeter firing where you can actually hear it better. As I suspected, I believe the tweeter has a pretty narrow cone. If you can get the 10" driver pointed at least to neck level, it puts that tweeter more in line to where you can really hear that sparkle better. It also makes it sound even better standing up.

Day 3 and I’m loving them. Just that little touch of bass EQ really made them CONNECTED to my space! Still waiting on more furniture to arrive, so I’ll be tinkering with them for awhile. Thankfully, I verified that no perceptual color is being added to the mid range or anything--I checked with 15 test records.

Usually EQ colors stuff and I hate it, but these all it did was connect the speakers to the floor and didn’t change anything else. Whew! That usually doesn’t happen in my experience...

@bourbonkernel, new gear day for you soon! The CXA61 should sound pretty neutral. Really interesting though that it doesn’t have a pre-amp built in though as I considered that a pretty standard feature for an integrated. I don’t use built-in pre-amps so it wouldn’t be a big deal for me (I use my Cambridge solos), but just making sure you’re aware of that!

At this point since I finally have sensitive speakers, I would probably order multiple amps in the future and audition them and pick the best one when it’s time to upgrade! My PMA-800NE is a non-mosfet amp (was only a $700 amp). The PMA-1800NE has mosfet components, so that would be interesting to audition. I’d probably pick a Cambridge and a NAD and find a seller with a fantastic return policy.

@jamesecox Keep us updated on what you think as time goes on. You have a similar size room to me, but mine is a little bigger (plus vaulted ceilings) and I had add a little EQ "oompf" to them to get a feeling that they are connected to the ground. They don't seem to be too punishing on subpar pressings which is nice. vinyl scratches/imperfections are a bit more frontward compared to my cheapies, but not overly so. Compared to my cheapy polks, the Zus kinda "unstitch" music and allow each component/instrument to expand as it wishes were my Polks had a "mesh" sound that kinda made everything sound good, but boring without depth. I wouldn't say the Zus make bad records worse, but they let you know that the recording has more easily detectable faults. Pretty cool! For superb recordings I feel like I'm experiencing music completely differently and hearing things I never heard before.

@wolf_garcia Zu is very good about buy and try. They make it pretty accessible and have no problem if people don’t really like what they hear! You had the DWMk2’s probably which was a pretty good speaker for the price. The DWMK1’s were lackluster according to a couple reviews I’ve read (mainly because they had cost reduced parts). An upgraded DW MK2 and MK6 is basically an Omen II MK2 which is tried and true Zu speaker. The MK6 just takes it further with a redesigned cabinet that is supposedly superior to the finger ports of the past where you had to play a lot with the height of the speaker. There’s probably a good chunk of people that don’t spend enough time playing with the finger port heights and placement that send them back. The finger port height is critical for getting that full/lower sound. But it’s inferior IMO because it comes at the cost of not being able to tilt the speaker. Let’s be honest, while the Zu speakers look sexy as hell, a full range driver being placed that’s centered a little bit below 3’ is pretty low for 90% of listening heights (I have very low MCM couch/chairs) and they really deserve some level tilt-back to really get them at their full potential. Doing that with older Zus would be a no-no cuz of those damn finger ports.

Keep in mind that Zu’s break in times are of the drivers only. They don’t break in the speaker as a whole. Zu posted a blog post awhile ago basically stating that 1-4 weeks of additional break-in time are necessary for pretty much all speakers.

Agreed with @lak. Zu is basically stating they care and agree about environment concerns by building stuff that lasts that won’t end up in landfills and don’t need to fit themselves into any schema in order to promote this idea.

Doesn’t seem against climate change to me. It just means that they don’t feel it necessary to "brand" it as a market play or to get involved into the political nature that it does typically evolve into. 

If you want very safe and non-direct marketing there are plenty of other speaker companies out there. The nice thing about Zu is the direct connection the customer has to the employees and the CEO. You'll notice this sending them an email and also showing up to their business. That can also mean direct communication without a PR team spinning anything. Sean has no problem being super transparent to how he thinks and feels. 

Sean was absolutely nice to me and was really enjoyable to talk to. He seemed like someone that didn't just want to say hi and get back to work, but to actually inquire to know more about you.

I dig it. Not sure of any other major "company" (of probably 8-10 people) or larger gives the same experience like that.

BTW, LOVING my DW6s. I actually considered lowering the bass some last night, so I think they are still working themselves in.