Bevan,
I truly hope you can get to Sydney or Melbourne and listen to these speakers. Obviously you can't go wrong either way although the type of music you listen to will help you decide between your 3 choices: Druid, Tone, or Tones with sub and then, which kind of sub. You can always demo the tones and buy a sub later. The Druids are an outstanding speaker and the Tones are just a wee bit less.
My experience with my short time with the Zu Tone has been a revelation. I purchased a pair of Tones over the Druids for a very simple reason: my favorite chair is pretty low and I wanted the flexibility of a monitor for placement. I currently have them mated to a REL Storm III and the match is blissful. To put this in perspective, I just sold my main rig and could not be more thrilled with my decision. (Cary 306-200, BAT VK300XSE, B&W 802d and another REL sub....they are probably still on Audiogon as sold if you don't believe me) Some may look at this as a BS over-reaction however I wasn't really enjoying the music. I don't know why I just wasn't. My new system consists of a Cary 303-300, Cary SLI-80 Sig F1 (used to own an SLI-80 a while back and missed the magic of a very easy to live with tube integrated).
At the end of the day, we either listen to music or analyze it....I voted against any more analysis and have chosen to get back to the music. These speakers are unbelievable in that regard and they have really taken to this setup. They pop when it's time to pop and they romance when its time to romance. These speakers will not be used as studio monitors as they will distract the engineers and have them tapping their toes rather than getting their work done. Any other 802d owners out there, I mean no offense that I sold my 802d's, the comparison is somewhat like a Corvette versus an Austin Healy 3000 (however with good reliability haha). The Healy is just closer to what driving is all about. The Zu's are cut from that same very fine cloth.
Met Sean and Adam at HE2006 and was very impressed that they genuinely seem to give a sh&%! I can purchase pretty much (within reason) what I want and I am a bit surprised that I liked the Tones.....they were too inexpensive.
Enjoy your quest and know that you are about to have some real fun when the Zu's find their way into you home. Let's say a prayer that the Zu boys stay the course, stay the same and keep the purity of their current philosophy on business.
Peace.
