The philosophy of Zu

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corndog71

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The philosophy of Zu
« on: 3 Jul 2017, 07:36 pm »
Saw this recent interview with Zu's Sean Casey.  He definitely goes against the grain with his designs.

https://youtu.be/zji2p8Rn9Ts

poseidonsvoice

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Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #1 on: 3 Jul 2017, 08:08 pm »
Saw this recent interview with Zu's Sean Casey.  He definitely goes against the grain with his designs.

https://youtu.be/zji2p8Rn9Ts

 :lol:

I saw that a few days ago.

You are being extraordinarily kind in your assessment.

Best,
Anand.

GT Audio Works

Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #2 on: 3 Jul 2017, 10:01 pm »
Sean says a lot of things I agree with, among them his statements "Im not in love with the sound of convention" and  "playback is not live"
I believe his goal is to design speakers to impart a sense of excitement and realism he feels is lacking in what he has heard elsewhere.
Regardless of what you think of his speakers, its a path I admire.
I think some "audiophiles" try to chase down this holy grail of the live event in their listening rooms.
I would assume Sean considers playback like watching a movie, you know its not real but you suspend disbelief and enjoy it without picking apart every scene. But this is no substitute for getting out and hearing real music in a live setting.
Live can sound far from the perfect realm of reproduction by a high end audio system, none the less live imparts something not captured in the playback chain.
I get to see my 18 yr old sons band play at a local venue a few times a month, while those huge bass horns and monitors on the stage are not hifi, the impact and immediacy of the raw performance is fantastic. From the rim shot of the drums to the driving deep feel in your bones of a bass guitar and the screaming over driven tones of my sons Strat coming thru his Fender tube amp, its an experience that is hard to match in a home environment. Still after a night of listening to some local talent at our local watering hole, I have no problem turning the lights down and enjoying my favorite recording from my listening chair.
Here is Matt and his band The Pool Rats opening for Eric Steckel on a Saturday night.
https://youtu.be/pKOv6QnBy40
https://youtu.be/TiXGTrr-Sz4

Greg

Wind Chaser

Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #3 on: 3 Jul 2017, 11:28 pm »
The vast majority of audiophile speakers are nothing but audiophile speakers. They are gratuitous in hyper detail, which compared to live music isn't realistic. They are severely truncated when it comes to dynamics, which again is anything but realistic; but hey, to each his own. :thumb:

Danny Richie

Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #4 on: 5 Jul 2017, 07:32 pm »
I am not sure why this is posted here.

I have measure, tested, and designed real crossovers for several of their designs.  If anyone is interested in upgrades, response correction,  or any real network design for them then let me know.

corndog71

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Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #5 on: 6 Jul 2017, 04:08 pm »
I am not sure why this is posted here.

I have measure, tested, and designed real crossovers for several of their designs.  If anyone is interested in upgrades, response correction,  or any real network design for them then let me know.

I was tempted to post this in the Cube upgrade post since there was some debate about Zu's priorities and designs.  But then I thought maybe this should be a separate topic.  After seeing that interview I just thought it would make for an interesting discussion.  If it's not appropriate I understand if you want to kill it.

Danny Richie

Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #6 on: 6 Jul 2017, 05:02 pm »
I think any insight I might share wouldn't come across real well, and any measurements or upgrades that I have designed and implemented are best kept private as they would not reflect well on their company.

JoshK

Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #7 on: 6 Jul 2017, 06:12 pm »
I for one do believe that measurements tell us a lot about sound quality, not to make a measurement debate, but here are 3rd party measurements using the NRCC and Toole's setup.   They are laughably bad.

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/zucable_druid/

poseidonsvoice

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Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #8 on: 6 Jul 2017, 06:13 pm »
I for one do believe that measurements tell us a lot about sound quality, not to make a measurement debate, but here are 3rd party measurements using the NRCC and Toole's setup.   They are laughably bad.

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/zucable_druid/

 :thumb:

+100.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/zu-essence-loudspeaker-measurements

Mind you Josh, incompetent engineering and poor measurements will never hurt Zu's bottom line. They have their own audience. Although the audience for Wilson speakers is decidedly different, the baseline of incompetent engineering remains steadfastly the same. Don't you recall? Marketing is the most important element for a loudspeaker company to remain successful today.

Best,
Anand.

« Last Edit: 6 Jul 2017, 07:33 pm by poseidonsvoice »

jtwrace

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Re: The philosophy of Zu
« Reply #9 on: 6 Jul 2017, 06:28 pm »
Marketing is the most important element for a loudspeaker company to remain successful today.

Best,
Anand.
And lots of hot air with "upgrades" which nearly all are great at.   :roll:   I'll stick with competent engineering for my equipment in my shitty room that still sounds great.   :green: