Overall, I found at least half the rooms suffered from typical "audiophile" performance. That was a high level of detail, loudness, and good clarity but lacking in a sense of body, real dynamics, and musical realism.
Still, two stood out as my biggest speaker disappointments -
I agree on the Zu. In all fairness I had high expectations based on all the good comments their models receive here and other sites. But instead I heard an "OK" system, like 100s of others.
The other was the Tannoy Kensington SEs. Admittedly I had a previous audition with both the Canterbury SE and Yorkminster SE that presented some of the best musical enjoyment and connection as any systems I've heard. So I expected a similar experience with the Kensingtons, albeit with less bass. Perhaps it was the set up, they were on the side wall in the Yorkminster demo room which required a 90 degree shift in chairs. And they were driven by an 8 watt SET amp while Tannoy recommends at least 50 watts. But the result lacked the involvement and rich musical connection I expected based on previous Tannoy experience.
Still, two stood out as my biggest speaker disappointments -
I agree on the Zu. In all fairness I had high expectations based on all the good comments their models receive here and other sites. But instead I heard an "OK" system, like 100s of others.
The other was the Tannoy Kensington SEs. Admittedly I had a previous audition with both the Canterbury SE and Yorkminster SE that presented some of the best musical enjoyment and connection as any systems I've heard. So I expected a similar experience with the Kensingtons, albeit with less bass. Perhaps it was the set up, they were on the side wall in the Yorkminster demo room which required a 90 degree shift in chairs. And they were driven by an 8 watt SET amp while Tannoy recommends at least 50 watts. But the result lacked the involvement and rich musical connection I expected based on previous Tannoy experience.