Zu Soul Superfly

cobra:

sorry to join in the folks peppering you with questions, but here is mine:

i ordered a pair of mk-iv '08 druids a few years back. i loved just about everything about them. the sound, presentation, etc. i was pretty new to the high efficiency side of the hobby, but even got drawn into that. i could not, however, really get the druids set up in a way that worked in my room. i worked with a number of the folks there to try and get an ideal set up where i wanted them to live but fell flat. selling my druids was one of the few 'regrets' i had. even though i ended up with speakers that worked better in my room, i never like the sound as much.

you alluded to the souls being easier to set up. is it mostly driven by the design? i have since completely redone my room, changed the floors and walls and added treatment. just about everything sounds good in here now. are the souls that much less sensitive to placement? if so, i think i'm sold.

and, thanks for all of the impressions/thoughts/insights.

tim

Phil:

I could never really get an image that was coherent. I had problems with at a couple of different octaves in the room. I think that the height of the Druids was a big factor.

I agree that there could have been other things going on (a lot of which I addressed) and with some up line part& pieces, but I think that a lot was driven by the room.

The (pre-renovation) room: 10.5w x 22l x 9.5 h. It had very soft, old carpet on a thick pad and an uneven subfloor. The room really only allowed for the my system to be set up in front of a bay window with the speakers around 18" from the rear walls and 15" from the side walls. One long wall was built-ins (effective reducing the width to 9.5") and the other was windows with brick on the back wall. The rack was between the speakers.

I have since gutted the room: installed hardwood floors, broken up the shelving on the side wall, installed treatment, run a dedicated circuit, moved the rack to the side wall (with the amps still near the speakers. It's allowed me to put the speakers on the opposite wall and improved the sound of the system overall. I now have the speakers 3' off the back wall and almost 2' off the side walls.

I had an enormous problem getting the low end right before. I think a lot of that was driven by the flooring and the sensitivity of the Druids to the 'gap'. The vertical center seemed even higher than in other druid setups I had heard. I'm not sure if that was, in part, driven by the lack of treatments/reflections and the near equality of height and width or perhaps by a dead floor and bright ceiling.

I have to say, I'm excited.

Tim

Phil:

What did you end up finding for amps for your friend? And what do you like with your Zu's? Put my order in yesterday for a batch 2 august ship.

Tim

That makes sense.

I would definitely throw the Miniwatt amp into the affordable and very very enjoyable amp camp for the Superflys. I'm sure the Leben will be a step up, but I could easily live with this combo for a while. Very musical, engaging.

It's probably a great match for the new speakers. Perfect price point.

Mine have arrived but, in a strange twist, are sitting idle in my room waiting for an amp. Funny that. Should have some reports starting next weekend.

My gut on the price increase: I think that they are still trying to find their sweetspot in the market. I think that the buzz around the Superfly has been overwhelming and that they are building speakers as fast as they can. I would imagine that the increase in price is, in large part, designed to help them build a company that can manufacture more product when they announce a new line rather than having to stagger production cycles like they are now. My sense is that they are staying direct (in the states, at least) but want to build capacity.

I can't wait to hear these beauties.

I pulled my Miniwatt out of my second system, butchered a pair of banana terminated speaker cables and fired mine up tonight. I was over waiting for the new amp.

Adequate speaker cable, the 2.5 watt miniwatt, and very little attention to setup besides a gut placement and.... I'm blown away. I think that they have put a very very nice speaker on the market. Even with some squishy mids, a bit less power than I would like (and that the speakers probably need), I'm pretty stunned. Maybe the most engaging first listen I've ever had with a speaker. I'm excited for rounding out what I actually intend to drive them with.

I had an early failed run with the Druids driven, almost wholly, by problems with my room and mismatched amplification. This is a totally different experience. I'll keep folks posted. Right now working my way through some of my favorite albums, The XX right now.

I've talked to them a bit recently. They are having some issues displaying the prices based on location on their website so they are displaying European pricing. The $1500 for the Omen is the European price (I'm almost sure). The Omen is the $1000 US speaker that they sent an email about earlier in the week.

I know that they have been committed to making a speaker at that price point to start to get good sound/hifi out to more people. I think that the Omen is that speaker.

As a new (and very very happy) Soul Superfly owner, I think I have a new candidate for the 2nd system or for an upgrade to my home theater system.

So I have had the Leben 300XS up and running for around three days now, and it is spectacular. If anyone is looking for a good match, this is a great one. It is a great performer across the board.

I would still say that the Miniwatt is a great performer for its price point. But the Leben is spectacular.