anyone heard zu definition speakers?

Sakes alive, Phil. Your volunteer efforts in support of Zu are exemplary. Your writing is concise and communicative. Following your dispatches (partially), I have sold my Druids and will be receiving custom-painted Definitions in about 3 weeks.

I loved the Druids, but they don't go below 40 hz. For rock or synthesized music, the lowest octave is a big part of the sonic picture. Subs are always an option but are fraught with peril. Everything I've read is that the Def's maintain the strengths of the Druids and add to them. This was crucial for me, as the Druids (aside from low-bass response) were the speakers I've been seeking for a long time.

Though you said the Def's are less idiosyncratic than the Druids, the Druids don't take long to love. They keep the single-driver strengths and smooth out the response, effecting a hybrid of sorts between the camps. I've always correlated "non-fatiguing" with rolled off treble, and aggressive or bright with tipped up treble. The Druids have very nice, extended treble, but they take non-fatiguing to another plane.

Single-driver lovers will already understand this. Because these speakers portray nearly all of the sound spectrum without crossovers and multiple drivers, the music all gets through the amp, to and through the speakers as one contiguous signal. It's never broken apart and sent in pieces to different drivers in separate locations with different voicing with the final product expected to be coherent and smooth.

I posit this generally necessitates work by the brain to reintegrate disparate parts. I never thought this until owning the Druids. They truly let your brain forget there's hi-fi in the room. I just hear music without parts. The parts are there, they just don't demand attention. How often have you sat listening thinking "how clear the cymbals are" or "nice bassline". Not with the Druids. They put it all together with one true voice that is astounding and unspectacular at the same time. Neat trick.

Anyway, preservation of these extraordinary strengths and adding deep, stereo bass would be the only way I'd switch speaks. And now I will.

They were the MK-IV's. The bass is taut and very satisfying down to 40hz. They don't have the kick of a true fullranger, but overall I'd definitely take the Druids over any multi-way I've heard.

I was contemplating subs. It's expensive to get a reference quality sub that would be fast enough to keep up with the Druids and still provide 20 hz extension. And, you'd need two of them for true stereo. I thought about the Method, but then it's not stereo and you're at $5,300 for the tandem, which is getting closer to the Def's.

I was worried about room integration and space. Accurate subs aren't small. And, you'd potentially be fighting room issues forever. Overall, the Definition is an excellent solution to all the concerns I've had about other arrangement. It's the 7-driver, single-driver speaker. :)

I owned the Druids and they are outstanding at $2,800. They were far more convincing musically than Gallo Ref. 3's they replaced.

And, at (I think) $1,700, the Tone monitors still support 101 db efficiency and the same delicious house sound the others provide.

My Def's showed up. They will not be leaving my house, probably ever. I haven't heard the Wilsons, but I'll compare with crossover'd speakers in general.

Yes, there's a big difference. Not having the signal smashed through a complex crossover, divided up, and sent to drivers with varying properties produces a whole, organic sound that is at once warm and accurate. The inconsistencies that are (speculating) inherent in the typical multi-way design and construction processes do not exist with the Definitions, or Druids for that matter.

The brain is released from the chore of hearing these different voices and integrating them into one. Since the drivers are identical and parallel, the music reaches the ear already as one whole sound. Based on my experience with multi-ways, I don't think this is possible with drivers of different sizes in different locations made from different materials.

Their bandwidth is limitless, which the Wilsons should be. The presence region is more forward, and Treble and bass are not tipped up like other hi-fi speakers. Thus, they may not be the best for some rock music. But, I wouldn't change the tonal balance one bit, as it is NATURAL.

And, the sum is MUCH more than the parts. Anybody in Seattle wanting to hear these, let me know. These speakers WILL catch on.

The Def's are not good nearfield speakers. That's one advantage of the Druids over the Def's. According to Zu, and borne out by my experience, these need 10 - 20 feet of distance from listener to speaker to come alive.

FWIW, Sean at Zu told me they weren't happy with the results they were able to get with the Def's at RMAF. They thought the results with the Druids were good though.

Yeah, these buggers will play obscenely loud. And, bass doesn't get compressed when they're loud. There truly is no substitute for driver surface area. I live in a 3-story house. The stairwells don't match up. Last week, the family was playing in the upstairs bedroom with the stereo playing in the basement and Jack Johnson was clear. The sound was excellent, not compressed or distorted. Wowsers.

These speakers do something I've never heard. They turn the air in the room into another medium. Not air, not water, the room's atmosphere becomes more dense, like something you could touch and ripple by running your hand through it. Like if it was just a tiny bit denser you could see it. It's utterly amazing.

They won't do this with all amplifiers. My Clari-T with its reduced gain gets it a little bit. The AudioZone AMP-1 doesn't really do it at all, but with the hi-gain Clari-T, the result is astounding. Mine has been sent back to reconcile the gain.

So, I wouldn't assume these will be perfect with every gear combination, but if you get it right, the result transcends hi-fi.