Zu Omen Dirty Weekend Setup tips

I'm not sure gear "matters" but it's always cool to see what others are using.  It sounds like your enjoying yourself and isn't that what all of this is about?

I just took possession of a refurbished Dual 1219 and wow has that transformed the Dirty Weekends.  Well it hasn't transformed them as much as it's allowed them to show me what they're all about.  I'm finally in love.

I guess I didn't realize how much my AT LP120 was holding them back.  I haven't enjoying listening to records this much since getting back into it seven years ago.  The grin hasn't left my face since unboxing the turntable yesterday.

Since you listed your gear, here's mine:

Anthem MRX 520
Dual 1219 with Ortofon OM10
Schiit Mani
Sony SCD-CE595
Cables are Blue Jean and a hodgepodge of Acoustic Research & Monster Cable from decades ago. 

Oh and of course the Zu Omen Dirty Weekend in Rustic Hickory

Deep bass isn't really the DWs strongest attribute.  I think they start to roll off somewhere around 40Hz?  I don't have my own measurements in front of me but that's what I recall.

You do have some ability to control bass response by changing how the bottom finger ports interact with your floors.  Plus Zu has a template for using cardboard as gap fillers to further tune those frequencies.  I haven't tried that yet but it's on my agenda.

I took possession of a mine in late January and immediately noticed that they didn't go as low as my previous Acoustic Energy Aegis speakers.  At first I was disappointed but the Zu guys were great about offering advice.

My room is paneled and placement ended up being a real challenge.  Eventually I ended up finding a place where I can live with them until I get around to acoustically treating the room.

If you really like like bass in your music, you might find yourself wanting to add subs to your setup.  I'm pondering that myself.  Right now it really depends on the recording.  Hard rock /metal feels thinner than I'm used to.  But vocal-centric stuff and singer/songwriter tunes sound so good that I'm not sure there's a one size fits all approach.

I might have to have multiple setups with and without subs engaged to find what I want... there's lots to consider and that's a lot of the fun.

Enjoy your DWs, they are simple gorgeous to behold... excellent craftsmanship on the materials.  You have 60 days to live with them, use it before making up your mind.

Sounds like you're going into it with the right attitude.  I'm like you, I want avoid obvious mistakes but that's such a subjective thing.  One person's mistake is another's epiphany.  

Once I got over my initial concerns about low end extension, I started noticing the detail in the mid and upper mid range that I hadn't had with my AEs.  To me, that's a better foundation to build off than what I had before.

I'd demoed B&W 685s2; Paradigm Monitor 9v7; and Golden Ear Aon 3 against my Acoustic Energy Aegis 3 and while all were better performing to some degree, none of them impressed me enough to consider them worthwhile upgrades for the cost.

I don't think the DWs are a revelation or anything but I like them compared to all those speakers above and, to my tastes, their aesthetic is worlds better.

Thanks whoopycat, that's great information.  I'll play with my Anthem's tone controls and maybe even set up some custom ARC curves.

I've looked at the Loki more than once, so that's also an interesting idea.  I'd honestly rather not add a sub so you've given me some food for thought.