Zu Soul Superfly

QUOTE "06-19-10: Hifin
Anybody pair Zu's up with Naim? I have the Superfly on the way and have both a Supernait and Nait 1 at home to drive them."

Hi Hifin,

I had Druids and then Essence with Naim amps (552/250.2, CDS3/XPS2) before moving onto Rega Isis CD, Rega Osiris with the Zu Essence.

A friend has Druids with CDX2/555PS, 252/250.2, which is very good.

I have heard the Zu Essence with the Naim Uniti and to me it was superior in all aspects of music than with £25K of Naim Electronics with the Naim Ovators.

I suspect that you will thorougly enjoy the ZU Souls with the the Naim amps.
Out of curiosity, what source are you using?

Best regards

James - Manchester UK

HiFin,

I've heard Defs, Presence, Essence and Druids. Avonessence also had Druids and Essence with Naim.

FWIW. I think you're in for a treat. Naim gear works incredibly well with Zu and those who think the world begins and ends with tubes would do well to not dismiss solid state as not having the same synergy. The interesting thing is that the lesser speakers work better IMHO and they can work even better when you take the myriad of power supplies out of the equation.

The best single dem I have ever had was Druids on the end of a bare cdx2, 202 and 200. I can tell you that I was utterly rooted to the spot for around ten minutes listening to a genre of music that leaves me utterly cold (modern blues) and I was not alone. Must have been eight of us in there stood or sat and we all felt the same, which rather gives the lie to some concerns expressed on here about dispersion and the sweet spot.

Presence pulled off the same trick but Essence only really delivered when a cds3 was added, and the latter is not to my taste at all.

My biggest regret of recent years is that I didn't simply sell my hi-cap, xps2 and napsc to part fund getting some Druids. A recent near three week dem of Essence at home taught me a lot about acoustics and the flaws in both my system and the speaker. I believe theres little better at the price and I was heading for a purchase until Zu delivered the Superfly. If it is any way the true successor to the Druid as Phil asserts then I am at the end of my particular journey for some years to come.

My suspicion is that the Superfly will drag levels of performance out of the Supernait that will leave fellow owners a little bewildered. Being a cautious type by nature I still want a home dem but boy have I come close to cracking this weekend :)

Please report back on how you get on.

Mike

Thanks guys,
As of now I am running a Modwright modified Oppo BDP83 into the Supernait. This summers plan is to add a music server into the SN DAC and eventually buy the Naim DAC. I am also getting a turntable this year. hopefully the Rega P7.
When my Superflys get here, I'll report back what I hear with both the Supernait and the little Nait 1.

I just brought home one of my father's extra amplifiers to experiment. Its a class D job, a Panasonic XR-25 digital receiver. I've got it's volume maxed out and am using my tube preamp into the tape input.

What I'm hearing is interesting but definitely inferior so far to my First Watt F1.

The midrange is thin and kind of lifeless. Its detailed but very flat and lacking in texture, but sound staging is great, resolution top to bottom is really nice and my speakers seem like they may be benefiting from the additional power.

Bass isn't any more impactful, in fact its probably less so, but space and air seems like it might have improved.

This was a cheapie experiment and not intended for a second to replace my First Watt, but it does have me curious/eager to try other amplification.

is there an amp i can find here in the $500-$800 range that can power my Soul's? i agree that my cambridge 540 and HK 3490 are lacking in the lower midrange/bass arena.