Zu Audio - What is Going On?

[fpitas]

Very pleasant indeed.
One of those sins of omission loudspeakers.
They sold zillions of them, too.

Actually, Epicure Products sold a lot of EPI 100s, too, as they were a Consumer Reports recommended loudspeaker model at one point.
The photo I posted above is one of a nice (it's all relative!) pair of EPI100V (the cheap, vinyl-clad morph of the 100) that I keep in the collection as an homage to Win Burhoe and his long legacy of good quality, easy to drive, high value loudspeakers.
(FWIW)

Yes, you saw them everywhere. SEAS has revived the A25 (sort of) and offers an A26 kit.

 

[Freeway]

Stereophile interview with Sean Casey by John Atkinson

 

[mhardy6647]

Yes, you saw them everywhere. SEAS has revived the A25 (sort of) and offers an A26 kit.

indeed... a might pricey, though.

 

[fpitas]

indeed... a might pricey, though.

It's vintage

 

[Sal1950]

It's vintage

As am I.
But still I get no respect.

 

[beagleman]

I don't know about the '80s, but in the '70s the Zenith Allegro loudspeakers (bundled with all in one or quasi-component stereos of fair to middlin' quality, actually) used a smattering of different Foster (Fostex) tweeters of generally pretty good quality.
Nothin' wrong with allowin' a woofer to (ahem) free range, as long as it was designed to do so (or, at least, not aggressively designed not to do so, as such drivers are nowadays).

Winslow Burhoe did this, famously and quite effectively, starting in the early 1970s with his EPI/Epicure loudspeakers.

I am very familiar with the older Advent Legacy, from the mid 80s.

IT sounded a good bit better than any of the Zenith 70s or 80s speakers. And yes I have heard them all, over the years.

The fostex horn was "okay" to good to me, but nothing great. I guess fairly good for a high efficiency horn, but not anything really resolving or super smooth.
Not saying the Zenith stuff was junk, but a bit towards the sound of a big jukebox speaker maybe? Not smooth and detailed, but a bit more towards loud and a bit harsh in some ways.

 

[MarkS]

Stereophile interview with Sean Casey by John Atkinson

This is five years old ...

 

[Mart68]

A friend owns some Zu. Deeply unimpressive. Using EQ to pull the mids down a bit made them less shouty and more listenable but still rough round the edges. Lots of speakers have strengths and weaknesses but I could not discern any strengths with the Zu.

Okay they are sensitive so maybe if you have a fetish for low power tube amps and want to give studio recordings a bit of a rough edge to make them sound more 'live' then they might have some appeal but have to think that there are better, cheaper ways of doing that.

JA's comments quoted above about the issues that show up in the measurements not being as obvious as he thought they would be is far too kind. The issues are immediately obvious. Without the EQ I would not have carried on listening to them for more than a minute. That's how bad they are. They reminded me of 'White Van Man' speakers.

 

[beagleman]

A friend owns some Zu. Deeply unimpressive. Using EQ to pull the mids down a bit made them less shouty and more listenable but still rough round the edges. Lots of speakers have strengths and weaknesses but I could not discern any strengths with the Zu.

Okay they are sensitive so maybe if you have a fetish for low power tube amps and want to give studio recordings a bit of a rough edge to make them sound more 'live' then they might have some appeal but have to think that there are better, cheaper ways of doing that.

JA's comments quoted above about the issues that show up in the measurements not being as obvious as he thought they would be is far too kind. The issues are immediately obvious. Without the EQ I would not have carried on listening to them for more than a minute. That's how bad they are. They reminded me of 'White Van Man' speakers.

They semi remind me of lower cost "Sound reinforcement" speakers.

Not SUPER sensitive, but in the lower to mid 90s, but with break up from the woofer.
A very common sound with lower cost P.A. Speakers and sound reinforcement stuff for small events and so on.

 

[Sal1950]

This is five years old ...

Still enlightening into his approach no matter how you feel.

JA's comments quoted above about the issues that show up in the measurements not being as obvious as he thought they would be is far too kind.

That's just John. He always has to demur measurement results to a subjective review.
Too bad.

 

[MattHooper]

Stereophile interview with Sean Casey by John Atkinson

I've seen that before. Good interview. I appreciated hearing Sean Casey's approach.

I'm quite sure Zu speakers wouldn't be for me (only heard them at a show) but, hey, he's got a sound he's going for, there's a niche audience who he's serving who like the speakers, so...good on him. I'm fine with diversity in audio.

 

[JPA]

I don't know about the '80s, but in the '70s the Zenith Allegro loudspeakers (bundled with all in one or quasi-component stereos of fair to middlin' quality, actually) used a smattering of different Foster (Fostex) tweeters of generally pretty good quality.
Nothin' wrong with allowin' a woofer to (ahem) free range, as long as it was designed to do so (or, at least, not aggressively designed not to do so, as such drivers are nowadays).

Winslow Burhoe did this, famously and quite effectively, starting in the early 1970s with his EPI/Epicure loudspeakers.

A friend of mine had a pair of EPI100s in high school. Worst speakers I've ever heard. The boomy bass always gave me a headache after half an hour.

 

[MarkS]

hey, he's got a sound he's going for, there's a niche audience who he's serving who like the speakers, so...good on him. I'm fine with diversity in audio.

Reminds me of the remark of Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska in 1969 on Richard Nixon's Supreme Court nominee G. Harrold Carswell, conisdered by many to be a lightweight: “Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance?"

So I suppose the people are equally entitled to mediocre speakers ...

 

[Mart68]

I've seen that before. Good interview. I appreciated hearing Sean Casey's approach.

I'm quite sure Zu speakers wouldn't be for me (only heard them at a show) but, hey, he's got a sound he's going for, there's a niche audience who he's serving who like the speakers, so...good on him. I'm fine with diversity in audio.

I'm also fine with it but it still intrigues me as to what qualities Zu speakers have that some people find attractive. They are not cheap, so it's not the low price.

Is there something about the rest of their equipment that somehow gels with the ZU and makes it sound good? Do they only listen to specific programme that sounds good despite or because of the speaker's flaws? Or have they just never heard a good speaker?

None of those options seem likely, but there must be an explanation.

 

[PeterW]

I've seen that before. Good interview. I appreciated hearing Sean Casey's approach.

I'm quite sure Zu speakers wouldn't be for me (only heard them at a show) but, hey, he's got a sound he's going for, there's a niche audience who he's serving who like the speakers, so...good on him. I'm fine with diversity in audio.

There are lots of incompetent misguided and twisted so called speaker designers in this game, this one is actualy likable.

 

[MarkS]

My guess is that people like the Zu story, and then when the speakers sound different, that gets intepreted in their minds as better.

 

[PeterW]

I really don't understand why anyone would own a pair, amongst my least favourites I would include Devore and Audio Note UK, any number of horn loudspeakers ,and I like horns , Zu comfortably holding the top spot though.
Keith

I agree with the first part on Zu. Devore and Audio Note are just a copy of of the Dynaco A25 in a bigger and more attractive box for a ridiculous amount of money.

 

[mhardy6647]

A friend of mine had a pair of EPI100s in high school. Worst speakers I've ever heard. The boomy bass always gave me a headache after half an hour.

Bizarre.
Something was wrong there.

 

[JPA]

Bizarre.
Something was wrong there.

No, I remember reading they had a big hump at 100Hz. That was pretty common in bookshelf speakers back then to give the impression of more bass.

 

[Vacceo]

As am I.
But still I get no respect.

No Sal, you´re limited edition. Passing seven decades, loathes vynil, despises tubes, embraces streaming and digital, loves multichannel, likes a flat response... At some point you´ll just drop that you also like Death Metal and I´ll now know if you´re trolling me or you´re an absolute rarity.