Oh yeah, those are great guys over there.

I had a similar experience. They run a great customer service, and I was pained to have to send them back. They are also VERY attractive speakers.

I'll take Mrs Butterworth's over real maple any day

Your room probably is the issue, so find a set of speakers that sound good in your room, I own the union 6 from zu and they are great in my listening space.

never sound "hardest, harshest" my pair. Even the opposite: super silky and pleasant (and detailed) high frequencies. My problem was that I could never solve a suction of a certain sector of the low/high (or mid/low) frequencies. They even had tremendous bass extension, but not tight.

My union 6 needed hundreds of hours to break in, I don’t think one can make a judgment about Zu speakers without taking break-in into consideration. Also, Danny like all KZfaq hifi folks is selling a product and managing an image. Many of his criticisms of these speakers apply to every speaker on the market. This video leaves me with the impression that he came into this review with an agenda - maybe just the way he presents his findings…

@@chrisrocca yea you nailed it, I needed around 100 hours to break my union 6 in, but I also have a Luxman 509x integrated powering them.

There are no crossover components on that 10" driver. Normally they have an inductor on the woofer to soften the harsh sound. And that is what Danny did.

I purchased a set of LCR Tecton and it was as natural as my bird calls. They guarantee satisfaction so I returned them (No finger prints allowed! and you pay the freight.) and was informed by them that they measured perfectly. So it must be me.

Tekton are not all tweeters perhaps spend less assuming and actually reading what it is

@@MichelLinschoten I BOUGHT them. Please don't lecture me on what I prefer. I researched the crap out of them and didn't like them in MY home.

@@MichelLinschotenthe Tekton Lore is very similar to this speaker…Lore has a better tweeter but it’s an empty box and doesn’t have baffle step correction so a rising response defines it.

Tekton has a huge lineup... During the period where I bought/auditioned the Zu DW, II, I also bought a pair of Tekton speakers, inclusive of the array you hint about. Frankly, they are absolutely amazing, not a hint of harshness, and a deeply revealing midrange. The concept that gave rise to the tweeter "array" you claim is never going to work is the fact that tweeters move with very low moving mass, which stands in contrast to the much heavier driver complement found in most MIDRANGE configurations. The lightness of the midrange in the "array" allows for effortless expression of all of the signal/frequency range covered by the midrange. It's an absolutely delightful presentation, which is why you see the Tekton Moab receiving so many awards and accolades. For the money they are seemingly unbeatable. I had though the Zu could be another giant killer, but I was mistaken, although I do think in a much more heavily dampened space that the Zu would open up.

I agree. I've had DWs and now own the Omen mk2 speakers. I will agree about several points Danny made. The horizontal off axis is very noticeable, even without measuring tools. I use them in a small room for NFL so they are about 7 ft away and pointed (as Danny says) at ear level and right at my head. I like these speakers, but might consider this kit. I'm not adverse to change or mods.

​@vcp93 Yes, everyone's tastes are different. If you can modify something to customize to your taste, more power to you. I used to sell audio back in the late 80s. Never been much of a specs and measurements guy. Sometimes specs and measurements can cover up for deficiencies that aren't being measured. But our ears are the best measurement tools for what we like best.

Agreed. I own Dw 2s and sometimes it is frustrating. but I knew full well that they dont measure well going in. and I really dont care. as i dont listen in a nice little space searching for the last little thing.I do like to rock. not very audiophile of me i am sure but damm I cant imagine not having these things!To each their own for sure.

​@Ian-wh8ut There's an awful lot of speaker companies who've been around for a long time that people like, and they don't necessarily have great "measurements." The greatest measurement tool on the planet is your own 2 ears. No scope, machine, or computer can replace your ears. Here's another analogy. Imagine going to a concert and the musicians passed out the sheet music to the audience. Not a note was played. They just asked everyone to read the music together and Imagine how it sounded. Perfect music. Right? No distortion, no worries about frequency response, or off axis listening. But what did you hear? Nothing. Listen to the music instead of analyzing it. You'll get more enjoyment that way.

@@Ian-wh8ut Same here, simply a fun speaker, I have the DW6 Supremes and a pair of Omen Dirty Weekends. Both are a blast to listen to. I trust Danny and his findings, and may even purchase one of the kits, but not something I have on my top 100 things to do this year list.

It ideally should look like a wide even height hill that gently rolls forwards towards the viewer & evenly down to the ground with no protrusions or extrnding section looking different from another section along it's smooth width. It's a guess but that's what I instantly thought when I first saw these 3 dimensional representations while only used to 2 dimensional graphs of sonic traits. But, many folk like a lift in the low end, some like bright sparkle in the hi mids & treble, speakers near perfectly even across their whole frequency response may bore some people, if we heard a speaker with a perfect spectral 3'd graph, would we like it? without room gain? I dunno but would love to hear such a perfectly flat speaker as I've no idea how they would sound. It's a fascinating subject to me at least. Maybe in the future, some hi' tech' will allow someone to draw the perfect spectral graph & some multi-msterial 3'D printer will make them, & many might say "I preferred my old imperfect speakers, we wouldn't be around if it happened. P.S. my love of music alone drives my interest, I don't buy L.P.s (yes, still rare s/h not re-done in the age of the Crossley Suitcase systems sold in the same shops as L.P.s) to listen to my system or I'd probably only need less than 10 or albums for that purpose. Hearing Lightning Hopkins on a good system really moves me, he's dead by now but my latest discovery.

Almost everything he pointed out was covered in Vance Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook over 3 decades ago. I'm surprised some of this stuff is still done.

@@gregsunderland6394 but you have to read the textbook to not fall into the traps.

Yeah, but with the upgrade they really transformed.

That's because it's your ears that matter, not measurements. Danny just wants subscribers like all youtubers.

@@dougdavis8986 of course measurements matter. danny clearly showed that how bad the dispersion of the DW is, how can anyone achieve any semblence of a soundstage with that, its nigh impossible. also some people just have tin canned ears, idk how anyone cant hear those sharp treble and not hear the speaker screams at you.

@@nabildanial00 have you listened to the Zu?

@@dougdavis8986 nope and i dont need to. im a hobbyist speaker designer and i've dabbled in enough speaker designs to know how bad those would sound like.

@@nabildanial00 lol

always

I'm 63 with severe tinnitus and even I could here the treble coming out of that compression tweeter Zu put in that box.

God forbid if sound engineers mixed/mastered on these.

I don't know about that, if you do it right you can still have dynamics and wow factor. That thing is rattling.

I like the way mine sound. It is a natural, musical sound. If you like a different sound, then listen to whatever that is. I like many genres of music, but there's a couple of genres I don't like. So I don't listen to those genres. It doesn't mean those genres I personally don't like are bad. Other people may like them. To each their own. Lots of people have listened to my Zu's and complimented the sound. I never pass out a spec sheet to my listeners. You can't listen to specs.

@@neilfisher7999 I got a buddy who said check out my new tv, do you think anything was going to come out of my mouth other than, oh, that's nice.

Strangely enough these speakers get rave reviews every where...lol

Well, yes and no. The output level below 200 to 300Hz is the same as it was. I just brought the level of everything above it down to match it.

For a fair price non the less!

@@dabbidaa1547 Personally, I would sell those speakers and put the money towards purchasing one of Danny's kits.But the Zu's were in a desperate state so their resue earned high commendation.

I have heard Clayton's Caladan. It sounds really nice.

@@dannyrichie9743 Thank you, that is good to know.

S T O P C A P I T A L I Z I N G F O R F K S S A K E

maybe they will send some threats with talk of lawyers like tekton from the same state did lol

Pick them up cheap on the used market, add Danny’s kit and have yourself a good set of speakers.

Zu will be just fine.

​@@einarbk885that didn't work out for tekton, I would love to see him look at tekton, I have seen drywall screws holding there speakers in on there earlier models.

@@Harrisongrey19 ii wouldnt be suprised. nowdays men are claiming to be actual women and bad speakers are actually good.

Dirty speakers require dirty solutions lol

Yep my union 6 are a great pair of speakers.

Me too, but now I want to play with them and see if I can improve their performance, or if these mods suck the fun out.

DW6 Supremes here, and a pair of the Omen DW's, both sound fantastic to my ear, and others in the house. A fun speaker, both really bring the music to life. And I was able to audition before purchasing, the only reason I bought them. I find they work best on vintage and tube gear, or a class A amp.

@@michaelwright1602 yes, I am using a Sugden Class A and overall pretty happy with the result. Tried a class D just out of curiosity and the pairing was definitely not for me.

@@michaelwright1602 Although I often power them with a pair of Schitt Aegirs running as monoblocks fo mostly class A an sane listening levels, I've also enjoyed them very much with either the 4-5 watt Elekit class A amp I built or the Elekit 34 or so watt push-pull amp I have. Mostly running KT88s or EL34s. These speakers are easy to power.

It's a full range driver, that's the only magic of that box, and poorly executed

That is correct.

Actually I love the music as well and I spend a lot of time in the listening room. However, my enjoyment goes up as quality goes up.

He’s only promoting his brand so people buy from him, why is it that he has kits for every speaker he test hmmmm… not that hard to figure out bud

@@Harrisongrey19 if you dont see any issues with the DW like danny has shown us, idk what to tell you.

@@Harrisongrey19 Your IQ must be minus eternal

@@nabildanial00 he has shown up what he has measured and heard, luckily other people don’t have his hearing

@@Harrisongrey19 I guess if my hearing was so bad that cabinet resonances, uneven responses, phase issues, off axis beaming, driver break up, or lack of step loss compensation didn't bother me then I would be lucky too?

Swapping out the tweeter means everything has to change.

no, he could not

Have a look at our X-Series models.

People think no crossover is the best crossover because they heard it before from people who don't know anything

This is not a review. They were sent in for an upgrade.

Accurate speakers with flat responses usually don't sound good to many people. Because....they have been listening to speakers for years with a frequency response like Zu's. Unfortunately, they use badly designed speakers as reference. So, naturally when they hear high quality and fine engineered designs. It doesn't sound like the "Bull Horns" they have come to know and love.

Technically yes, it's possible. You'd basically have to cut and glue a new baffle over the original, as the stock baffle isn't thick enough on its own to countersink the drivers. However, the crossover would need to change also as the time alignment of the drivers has changed.

@@michaeldickerson5155 He does explain how you hear all the flaws that show up on measurement

@@michaeldickerson5155 Listening to cabinet resonances, response problems, phase issues, and beaming issues doesn't make them go away.

These issues are easy to hear.

A large percentage of audio reviewers are shills. Never buy a speaker, without hearing it in your home.,

Zu Audio and every other Hifi company have 30-60 day in home trial. Try it. If you don’t like return it. Simple. Reviewers like it. You might not. It’s not a big deal it just Hifi

The Stereophile review measurements on the Zu Audio Essence look pretty similar. Lots of resonance. Enough for me to decline. Yeah the review text slimes it up ... but the graphs speak for themselves

Have you noticed that a lot of reviewers take no measurements whatsoever? I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've seen equipment that measures good but sounded bad. But I've *NEVER* had anything measure bad that sounded good.

@@jdlech many people say that about Klipsch, and other companies but many many people love what those speakers sound like. Many vintage speakers out there that don’t measure well but folks love them. Most people don’t have a well treated well room, and have speakers pushed up against the wall and expect their speakers to sound amazing…

I have a pair too and find them to be very fun. They’re also more forgiving of bad recordings than the more “hifi” stuff out there. I have Kefs too. Very different. But Zus are fun and very dynamic and punchy. Plus they look fantastic. His talk about them being super directional doesn’t ring true to me. I think my kefs are more directional than my Zus. Idk man. I’ve watched a lot of this dude’s videos and I’m not even convinced that he listens to music. I think he likes math and engineering a lot more than he likes grooving to some tunes. But that’s just the vibe I’m getting.

No, that would add more diffraction.

I am not surprised! I am glad I never bought these speakers.

Lusted after these speakers for a few years but never pulled the trigger, then saw Danny's other Zu video. Glad I did. May go with Emotiva if I ever upgrade from my 1970 ARs.

Yes they have a switch on the amp that allows them to be switched over to 220 to 240 volts.

@@dannyrichie9743 Awesome. Thanks Danny.

Those models are top notch.

I read some about omni directional and was intrigued for awhile but I found lots of documentation that they are not good for center chanel or dialog clarity. That's not what they do well in from what I understand.

@@trauma50disaster1 My experience leads me to that conclusion.

Maybe they'll order one and try it out.

Some, maybe, but using it would require a lot of parts for correcting its response, and it would not play as low or have the sound quality of our dome tweeter.

@@dannyrichie9743 No doubt that you''ve got way better results than could be achieved with the original tweeter. But I guess many owners could be spooked by the different tweeter appearance. Disclamer: I don't have any Zu Audio speakers.

@@IliyaOsnovikov Oh, I don't think anyone performance minded will be spooked by a tweeter change.