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Zu Omens Vs Dali Vs Vandersteen Vs Sonus Faber


This post is FYI for those wondering about the quality of the Zu Omens (Don't worry, Be Happy and get them!):

At my personal recommendation, two friends here in Tucson bought Zu Omens, and one replaced her floor standing Dalis with the Omens and another replaced his Vandersteens with the Omens. He recommended them to two other friends here in Tucson who replaced their speakers with the Zu Omens. Once of the pairs replaced were Sonus Fabers.

I imagine that the Soul Superfly's are better of course.

BTW, I have Zu Druids. I am hesitant to replace them because I like them so much that I have painted them piano black and put granite bases on them. They bested (for my preferences of course for immediate rich sound) some Dynaudio, Dali, and Spendor floorstanders. However, I have not heard the Zu Omens and Druids in the same room. However, at another person's home the Omens sounded wonderful. Similar magical sound as the Druids with perhaps a little more bass and they are certainly less imposing in size (but not in quality) in the listening space. Hmmm, maybe I can get a pair of Omens and paint them piano black...
plangco

Showing 3 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,638 posts
 
OK, so you like how they sound which is great but I would really like to hear more about the quality? What can be said about that compared to the others?
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,638 posts
 
I've read some unconfirmed frequency response measurements on some Zu speakers in blogs (not always the most reliable source for these things and can't remember which Zus exactly, Druids perhaps, but not the newer models) that were not favorable at all from a flatness perspective. The full range drivers used were indicated as the culprit.

I do not know if this is the case or not, but such info is out there, so it would be helpful if someone could address it.

Maybe even if so that frequency response issues do not practically matter to the owners, though I think what I've seen would matter to me if I heard it. The benefits of teh full range driver approach in terms of coherency, soundstage and imaging, plus the high efficiency and synergy with tube amps could far outweigh any other issues.

After all, no speaker is perfect, especially those in the less expensive Zu's price range typically anyway.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,638 posts
 
Sebrof,

That could be.

FWIW, I looked at the specs for the new Omens. Zu indicates bandwidth in their specs but nothing regarding flatness of response that I could see.

I would expect getting flat response would be a challenge with most conventional full range drivers.

Plus specs can be overrated. Its what you hear and like that really matters.

Some people may care though, so it is worth taking note of these things.

There seems to be little risk with the Zu's however. I think they offer an audition period during which the speakers can be returned if not liked, right?
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