The value on the cap is visible in the photo, hand written at 1.039 uF. Notice that left and right have the exact same value, pretty nifty.
Kit will upgrade one pair of any version Druid to Mk4 / 08 status. All Druid loudspeakers sold before January 2008 are candidates for this upgrade.
All Druid loudspeakers shipped beginning January 1 are the new Druid mark-four '08 versions. And as there seems to be some interest as to what the changes are, here's the edited copy that will accompany the Druid Mk4 / 08 website page when it goes live in about thirty days:
Druid Mk4 / 08 builds on the mark-four platform, significantly raising its ability to recreate recorded or engineered acoustic space; yeah, all the previous generations that have came before did a good job at imaging, but the mark-four ‘08 takes it to a whole new level or realism. In addition, we also found a few ways to improve overall resolution, bass extension, and lower noise. In musical terms; better articulation, and improved depth of space and texture, more instrument color, and presence, if on the recording, that is as good as it gets.
The original Druid loudspeaker was launched in 2001 and has since received world-wide critical acclaim, as well making boatloads of users very happy. Druid has received great press from audio magazine from all over the world; Hong Kong, UK, USA, Germany, Hungry, New Zealand, China, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, Of note are a few of the following awards:
Audiotechnique
loudspeaker of the Decade, 6moons.com
Lunar Eclipse Award! Positive Feedback Online
Writers’ Choice Award,HiFi Would
Five Stars, Audiophiliac / c|net
Loudspeaker of the Year.
Mk4 / 08 super-tweeter changes:
Complete remanufacture of driver with the removal of all shims, gaskets and screws.
Ferro-fluid is removed from gap.
Polyurethane bonding and the removal of all voids and shims on tweeter top-plate waveguide / voicecoil frame.
Complete bonding of composite phenolic dome diaphragm suspension to driver top-plate.
Repositioned / enhanced voicecoil / gap alignment.
Dynamic alignment process of voicecoil and gap to ensure correct tone and shove (pre PU set).
Reflow voicecoil lead-in pots with high quality lead-free silver bearing solder (RoHS).
0.5% or better matching for quality of tone and efficiency.
160 hours minimum factory burn-in post network termination.
Mk4 / 08 super-tweeter high pass network changes:Simple two component (Cs + Rs) network.
Kimber Kap 1.0 uF now featured in place of Solen based network.
New top performing Mills resistor with revised values.
Reduction of termination joints by two-thirds.
Direct connection of capacitor, resistor, FastOn via cold-forged and sealed termination.
FastOn terminals are now terminated using the solderless Amp crimping process.
Dramatic reduction of solder joints. In fact, the voicecoil lead-in pots are all that remain.
0.1% matching.
Mk4 / 08 full-range driver changes:Improvement in cone and cone binders.
Improved assembly tolerance.
0.5% or better matched pairs.
160 hours minimum factory burn-in, as we’ve been doing, but this time we kit and batch them to burn-in with the matched super-tweeter assembly. Also using some new music James selected for good, well rounded, musical appreciation.
Zu is not a company that changes for change sake, so why all the changes? Blame the Zu / DL-103. Applying lessons learned with the phono pickup, like removing all possible voids and removing or controlling resonance on plates, we’ve created a dramatically improved tweeter. All the above listed tweeter changes reduce plate resonance by more than 30dB and spread the Q by an octave; together changes also yield very tight batch tolerances—80% of the batch measuring within 2%.
Not a lot of changes to the full-range drivers, the majority of the improvements can be attributed to refined processes, batching, testing, matching, and QC to ensure identical sound between channels. These changes were not possible when we were doing small runs. Now that we are batching 100 units at a time or greater we are able to hit these pretty fantastic tolerances. We have also improved the binders used in the paper cone and no have about as consistent a product as can be had.
Kit includes:One pair Zu260FRD/G2 2008 0.5% matched 10.3” drivers.
One pair Zu/APT30/G3 2008 0.5% matched super-tweeter drivers.
One pair Zu Druid Mk4 / 08 0.1% matched super-tweeter high-pass network.
(factory assembled and terminated to super-tweeter driver)
One, #1 square drive screwdriver.
Two, square drive screws incase of loss or screw-head scaring.
One role of masking tape.
One instructional DVD.
One Druid Mk4 / 08 Guidebook with notice of Mk4 / 08 purchase.
Tools needed by person doing work: None.
Job difficultly: Easy.
Only basic hand tool experience needed. Requires both hands. If you do not have any experience working on loudspeakers we recommend asking a buddy to help you, you might find a third hand helpful.
Time to complete work: (provided you watch the instructional video...)
2 hours or so for the less than handy or complete novice.
1 hour or less for those having some experience with this kind of work.
Price of the Druid Mk4 / 08 upgrade kit:$600 plus shipping ($800 upfront, with a $200 refund with return of original drivers, old drivers must be packaged using the same container to ensure old drivers make it back in good recyclable condition.)
Shipping weight is 25 pounds (11.4 kg) and measures 12-1/2” cubed (32 cm3)
Warranty & Service:
One year extension to original date of purchase 5-year warranty.
Free service and tech support info@zuaudio.com or 800-516-8925.
Free factory installation if you prefer, or if you run into a jam....
Zu, manufactured in Ogden, Utah—USA
