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Zu Audio's Sean Casey on Speaker Design | Stereophile
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- Опубликовано: 21 июн 2017
- John Atkinson (Editor, Stereophile) discusses "unconventional" speaker design with Zu Audio's owner, founder, and chief engineer Sean Casey. Filmed at the Los Angeles Audio Show, June 2017.
Read the written blog post here: po.st/CbObMG
Watch more conversations with designers here: • Conversations with Des...
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How great it is to see someone revisiting older technologies to end up with exciting and lively products. Thumbs up! Can't wait to have a listen and may be more..
Proud ZU Omen owner here. Great to hear the ideas behind the design.
I have owned Zu Loudspeakers for about 11 years now and I am in love with their sound! I own a pair of Zu Presence, 5 Zu Cubes, and their Zu Submission. I have listened to quite a few of the "top of the line" speakers like the Bowers and Wilkins and Zu just has a much more pleasant sound. Many other speakers that I have listened to give me a head ache when they are turned up way loud. These speakers have next to no distortion when turned up loud (as long as the source doesn't have the distortion). I use them for about 25% music and 75% movies. Sean doesn't push them for home theater use, but they sound amazing! Don't knock them until you have tried them.
Casey seems just as laid back as he is passionate about what hes making. I like that alot!
I just found out about Zu and Sean a couple weeks ago and since then it's been a fun journey getting to know him. I've never heard one of his speakers in a room but his ethos speaks to me and I'm confident I can buy one his speakers blind. Hope to meet him someday.
I have had the Zu Omen Def MkII Rev.B with the Radian 850s for about 1 month now. I've got to say, it’s was a challenge figuring these things out. First of all, these took a really long time to break in. After bringing them home and setting them up, the first thing that I realized was that these are not my father's audiophile speakers. Honestly, I was disappointed. They were not accurate-accurate out of the box in the traditional audiophile sense. Songs that I've heard since my youth and on many systems sounded like covers. WTH? They are also not the best resolving set I've heard. I found them challenging as they don’t sound like what you’d come to expect from HiFi speakers. These are not like B&Ws, nor Focals, shoot, not even like the Elacs UF5s they were replacing.
After a very long break-in period, the speakers softened from initially being harsh. They also changed character a few times. What they then became are what I feel is a unique and fresh take on home audio.
The set resolves the audio spectrum in its own colored way. All the while retaining amazingly accurate vocals. Voices sound like what I remember them sounding like from Shure SM58 mics. Not the best mics, but those are what I know from experience tech-ing for live performances back in the 80's.
Guitars, harmonicas and strings are realistic, bordering on ethereal. It hearkens me back to sitting in on jam sessions in my youth. It doesn’t hurt that the DNA of the drivers come from guitar amp speakers.
In the product literature, you’ll notice the term “shove”. That’s a fairly good description of their bass response. Fast and abrupt. It also hits some pretty deep bass notes when the track calls for it. The highs? Initially, they were what you’d expect from a horn tweeter. If you can recall what a Pioneer PT-6 horn tweeter sounds like from yesteryear's, that’s them, but highly refined. They've refined further since the first few weeks. The sound stage is very wide. It will project, with the right track, elements feet beyond the speaker. It's pretty amazing. And, it really does create an in your face “wall of sound”. It can have an almost prescient presence a foot in front of your face. They also like to surprise. I've consistently experienced snares, kick drums, bass, lead guitars, and vocals suddenly elevate over the rest of the track, and reaching out and slapping me in the face. A Wow moment and something accurate speakers don’t really do.
Placement is key. I had these at 90 inches apart, because they looked good like that. After much experimentation, I found that the position created a resonant mid-range that was driving me crazy. It was irritating and annoying. I moved them forward, backward, played with the port height, to no avail. When I started moving them apart, it was.again, wow. The mid-range resonance went away at 98 inches apart. Maybe it was my room, but once I got it, they started to sing, and sing they did. I strongly suggest getting a stereo set up CD. That'll speed up the speaker placement process.
A friend of mine who owns a set of Zu Dirty Weekends told me something that made these speakers come together for me. “Forget what you think how something should sound. Just let the speakers do what they do and then ask yourself, do you like it?” That is when I started to enjoy them. What I like about these Zus most is that they resolve portions of tracks with such amazing clarity, emotion, rhythm, pace and they impart a a strong visceral impact. They literally will take me away and forget I'm in the room I'm in. Toe tapping is inherent to the experience. They're not what I was used to. They are different. They are new, refreshing, exciting and fun.
I added a PB4000 subwoofer to the room and what a difference it made. I have the same speakers. It's great to be able to add the extra bass to some of those old recordings like the doors and led Zeppelin....
Nice description
I tried a pair of Druids at home about 9 or 10 years ago and couldn't get them to work. Bass was all over the place - not helped probably, by thick pile carped. I was interested in your experience with placement. I don't think my room would allow 98 inch apart. They be well into the corners at this distance which would probably create more problems than it solved. Shame as I'd love to give these Mark VIs a try.
@@MINXC3 there are a myriad of reasons why a specific speaker won't work for a room. I hope you found one that fit the role!
I think they break in their drivers now (300 hours), may they didn't yet 2 years ago.
I enjoyed this. It all comes down to how they sound in your home (room). I got the Soul Supreme's partially based upon the Stereophile review. I love them and have enjoyed listening to music to the point that I have not fussed with micro placement trials.
I need to demo some Zu speakers soon.
Wonderful video. A lot of info I have no clue about. But I love my pair of Zu Dirty Weekend MKII. The sound is not something you expect out of the box. It'll take you by surprise at first. But let it happen, the sound is so full, and rich.
I think enjoyment is key and I like the passion and opinion of the designer and his design cues. I need to audition these. Something along the "Soul" line would be cool. From old Tannoy HPDs (effortless sound) and smaller Celestion 22s (flawed, but fun), I think the Zu's are compelling from what I am reading on-line. There is "effortless" and "fun" sound emanating from these drivers and cabinets: that alone is reason enough to give them a try. The search is on.
Two pair here, Omen Dirty Weekends, circa 2017 and a new pair of their DW6 Supremes, both are incredible and fun speakers. I have the Omens paired with a vintage Sansui 2000 receiver and the DW6 Supremes with a vintage Sansui 4000 receiver. The sound is incredible, detailed delicious highs, tube like and very airy midrange and bass that goes so incredibly low, something that only the Sansui can do with these speakers, trust me on that.
I have a set of omen mark 1s and am pretty crazy about them, i did replace the stock ersa caps with a warmer jantzen film cap just due to my room, they were a little too lively for this particular room in the top end, but tamed them a few shades due to the rooms acoustics without sacrificing their great top end detail and they sound pretty well as good as anything else ive had in this room, and they look incredible, and no their bass is not lacking, they have plenty enough unless your just a diehard vega fanatic and have to shake the foundation, they have plenty for me in this room and see no need in a sub period.
who is interviewing who?
Very enjoyable. Is it me or was there a last quarter left out - the cabinet and exhaust design, the floor gapping importance and their integration with the driver and maybe connection to horns/radiators?
Wow engaging with his market without being a marketing man refreshing
I have a low efficiency woofer (84dB) that reproduces voices exceptionally well. Very warm and inviting. And to make it blend better with my high efficiency tweeter I use an L-pad. Fantastic results for a DIY project.
Funny I have always looked at speaker design as fluid dynamics. Good to hear that from an expert.
At 13:00: interesting comment. I think the lack of damping with carbon fiber, is why I had disliked my Wharfedale EVO 4.4s, and had to send them back. They had sounded flat and lifeless with classic rock music, and great with female vocals.
I have a the Zu Audio Omen Defs, amazing and efficient. These are the speakers that others want to be, especially the more expensive speakers out there.
What are you're thoughts about the Harbeth 40.2? Are they worth the price/better options out there?
So I heard Zu at capital audio fest on some Mytek monoblocks. They were transparent and made the ass sounding mytek’s really moon and shine! Like every flaw in that evil box was coming out! It wasn’t the speakers they just do what you feed it!!!
I would like to hear some zu sound interesting would be nice to find a speaker that makes me happy
John Atkinson doesn’t seem to enjoy music…he measures specs of speakers and judges the sound of said speakers based on his measurements and gives it a “grade” for a magazine everyone treats as the Bible. I don’t love everything about Sean’s speakers, but they do what they’re designed to do. Appreciate Sean for making and selling his passion.
I am saving my money. One day. Yes, one day. I will own the Druids.
i have heard Zu speakers and they are very nice
they sound far more point source and precisely nice
Great video. I'm still rapping my head around why flat frequency response does not translate as good. My best guess is psychoacoustics. Through evolution or whatever, we do not treat all frequencies equally. That is, some frequencies are valued by our brains to be more important than other frequencies.
Ideally the recording is true to life, and a flat frequency response should do a good job then of reproducing that. But, there are other concerns primarily the interaction with the room. I still think aiming for flat makes sense so DSP can help adjust for the room.
Other weird things will be that the response being flat on axis doesn't mean it will off axis. Phase changes particularly where the crossover is. Inductance changes in the drivers at different frequencies affected by the enclosure and crossover affect the amplifier output. There are just so many variables
Says who? Harman (JBL, Infinity, Revel) folks determined that speakers with a flat frequency response are always among the most likeable speakers. However that doesn't mean a flat response at a listening position.
if i recall, mr. atkinson said stereophile wouldn't REVIEW shis guy's speakers! and that was not so long ago....
Stereophile doesn't like to publish negative reviews.
I would very much like to talk to that guy about all that I have learned about speakers from the highest audio engineers in the world!!
Interesting video! Zu makes great speakers for music lovers.
is that george lucas the man who brought you american graffiti , now brings you , 'star wars'.
What do you think of Time Windows. I know the “audiophiliac” doesn’t like them.
Thats shocking. The audiophiliac likes everything sent to him for free.
just gonna bookmark this real quick: 11:40
Fantastic! My subscription money is definitely well spent! I wish Stereophile and Zu the best luck and success! Everything they said makes sense if you understand the subject, if you have appropriate knowledge, background, training, and experience. Recently, looking at roll rates for the Dassault Rafale, I found old data for for T-38s and A-4s, leading to fluid dynamics data, and etc., so, yes, Mr. Casey is on the right path.
Mr. Atkinson loves to hear himself talk. Ask the question, shut up, and let the intrviewEE answer it. Casey showed a lot of patience ...
Fred Pantalone : I enjoyed what both people had to say.
It's a discussion, not an interview.
John is a cool cat-I wish he would talk more as he is pretty quite guy, at least at shows, as thats about the only place I see him. Been quietly watching him since he was Archibald's get it done man way back.
That’s a listening skill
John is doing a good job here, validating, paraphrasing and showing that he's understanding what Sean's saying.
Great info, great vid, but . How about a nice microphone? Not even a hi end, just upgrade it a little jeeez. You do know what kind of people watch this stuff. Right?
So true!
"They're for Music Lovers not audiophiles" ! Can an audiophile not be a music lover? The two would appear in that statement as an oxymoron.
Maybe the person who uttered those words is a music non loving, audiophile and therefore an oxymoron minus the O2? :-))
It's rare, sadly.
I only listen to recordings of keys jingling
John why you so nervous?
09:15 Now thats correct
Let the designer talk
your The interviewer. Sir.
you're
Sitting at an audio show using a shit mic in a shit room. Oy. I love how the speakers look but after seeing the response of the super tweeter there is no way I could listen to them. Very high signals over 17K hurts my ears and gives me a headache. On the other hand I have not heard your speakers, so...? Good luck.
having such a bad sound on a channel called stereophile is a really good joke
Sean is an awesome guy (and so is his crew at the Shows - indeed they are Way Fun) and Zu always has the coolest most fun and genuine rooms at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Their speakers however are no where near the best sounding at the show (in either the large room or the small room) and therefore not a good value for the money IMHO. And John Atkinson's shameless gushing in this video just turns my stomach. But... if you want your listening room to look cool - look no further.
How do you define "best sound?" If you compare most "audiophile" speakers to live music (cf. other speakers), they don't even come close, whereas the Zu Omens and Souls actually do.
I define the best sound as coming from those speakers that produce the most accurate reproduction of the recording, regardless of price. To my ears, Zu's always add coloration and distortion. For the money (and for significantly less) I think you can purchase much more accurate speakers than the Zu's. But to each his own.
I find that most "audiophile" speakers don't add much coloration and distortion, but they take away much of the fine detail and dynamic life. I can live with the Zu's treble "zing" more easily than a lack of dynamic life, and I'm sure you would prefer the opposite.
Maybe your speaker cables on your "audiophile" speakers, whatever those are, are too short. I tried mono blocks with my Revels, Vandersteens and Klipsches with speaker runs of less than 1 foot and the sound was mechanical and lifeless. But runs of slightly less than 3 meters of speaker cable actually tickled my ears(!). Kudos to Fredrik Lejonklou for the suggestion.
define accurate
Poor interviewing skills.
$2000 and up and you still need a sub ?
LOL! I have two pairs of Zu speakers, the Omen Dirty Weekends and their new DW6 with their Supreme upgrade. No, these do not need a sub, or two subs like I own. I use a vintage Sansui 4000 receiver, circa 1970 and this combo will rattle the cabinet glass in my dining room. And it is not muddy or sloppy bass, it sounds just right to my ear. And these new cabinet design in the DW6 and up model line, is even better with the bass output than the old cabinet design of the Omen DW's, and those were no slouches either. Sean really nailed it with this new design, I cannot get over how good these speakers sound.
Just make it wierd and deffent it.
Too much about reviewer and reviewing.
A lot of word saying nothing...
Some say the same thing about Feynman, Witten; interesting company. (I'm a sucker today for trollers, what can I say.)
@@ZuCable2011 hey sucker how are you doing
You wonder why he's a college drop out until you read the Zu philosophy. Word salad with name dropping (Feynman etc.).
I'll watch this later out of morbid curiosity. I agree Sean Casey is a hack though. it really bugs me that more outlets don't trash Zu audio given their performance.
BeardedAlbatross : & his speakers sound really good.
You got me. Real me in. And yes you defiantly need more South Park in your life.
Isn't 'equipment subjective? I've only been doing this longer than Seran's been alive, but I've heard, seen and tested it all the varying arguments. IMO there are 'Music Lovers' and then there are 'Equipment Chasers' pushed by numerous magazines and commentators. I hope i fall into the first category!
You must have never heard Zu.