Zu Soul Superfly

>> I must say that I loved the perceived euphony of the Druid. Are you saying that I might feel it has gone or just lessened slightly?<<

I'll try to separate characteristics here. Druid has known midrange response anomalies that give it a bit warmer-than-real sound, which combined with the soft top end render it sounding what some people refer to as "dark." The v4-08 upgrade substantially removed this but traces still linger. If that kind of euphony is what you like, Superfly will lose it conclusively in favor of better frequency accuracy and clarity without ever sounding cold. You can always restore some of that darkness by mating the speakers to the right 300B amplifier;>).

HOWEVER, if the euphonic character you love is more like your reference to "...Ben Webster blowing a real horn stood in front of you...," well, you're going to get that, just more! That tonal density and ability to represent the full bite and burr of a horn with the musicality of having small dynamic changes utterly transparently revealed, and the holistic sense of a horn fully represented rather than torn apart by a crossover and represented by different drivers your head has to put back together -- that's "better" than Druid, conclusively.

More frequency accuracy combined with absolutely no loss in tone. In fact, you'll gain tone along with an even quicker jump factor and bass extension that retains transient definition as low as it goes.

I can't say yet about base Soul, but you have to look at Superfly as expanding the polar graph of favorable attributes of Druid while taking some kinks out of the circle where Druid had consciously-chosen, restricting compromise.

Does that help?

Phil

I too am a little confused by the apparent 'tiff' between Phil and Zanon, but both have offered solid, legitimate insight and recounts of personal experience so both are valuable to me.

For those wanting more feedback, I've largely achieved what I want with these speakers. The control the F1 has over the FRDs is amazing and the extra detail and natural extension I'm getting on the top end compared to with my Abbys is a revelation.

As suggested previously, these speakers have a signature that is harmonically rich/tonally dense with excellent speed and dynamics.

In my current system configuration they serve up an abundance of coherent energy. They are just extremely musical with everything I throw at it and deliciously versatile as well. Having these speakers made me realize how much my prior speakers controlled my listening choices. With the Zus, everything I've got is fair game from Jay-Z to Miles Davis.

The midrange is quick with great inner detail, but its not at all sterile sounding--very human. I think this is what people refer to when they describe it as 'organic'.

The bass response has been terrific as well. I truly don't want for a sub woofer.

The entire frequency spectrum is interegrated extremely well giving a very linear sound.

I can listen to this rig for hours--it just breathes PRaT... very musically satisfying. I'm not quite getting the emotion I've experienced before but suspect that would be achieved with tubes rather than my transconductance amp. Don't get me wrong, they are emotionally communicative and engaging, but not THE most emotionally gripping experience I've had... Definitely the most I've had with SS though!

I had thought about Zu and decided against it a few times in the past. I don't know why, but I had a feeling their house sound would be very... weird. I'm honestly disappointed now that I waited so long, but the Soul Superfly really was a good place to jump on board.

I'm beyond satisfied with my purchase.

Thanks Phil and Gopher. Most useful.

Phil - yes that sorts it for me. In retrospect what I loved most about the Druids was that realness. The dark sound as you put it was something new to me but I grew to love it because it never got in the way of that realness. Having heard the Presence deliver much the same with perhaps less euphony then I doubt I'll miss it that much.

Gopher - your post is very encouraging. Your first posts on arrival of the Superfly were positive but a little vague. Now it's as though the speaker has allowed you to see what it's doing better in every area without any detriment to the music.

I've got at least s month to wait for my pair in the UK. it's going to be a long month :)

Mike

Mike,

I wanted to hold up on commenting much at first for a few reasons.

Firstly, the drivers were no burned in (and probably still have a couple weeks to go).

Secondly, I did not have appropriate spikes and was using the floor footers on carpet which was difficult because my plinth gap was uneven as a result--practically sitting on carpet in middle with gap around edges. I used my Abby spikes awkwardly for a couple of days until my Cains sold, but the screw was too small for the hole and they were very anything but appropriately planted.

Thirdly, I've been beta testing a new line of cables which repeatedly introduced a very positive improvement in sound. Now that these things aren't issues (drivers/cables settled and appropriate spikes on) I feel more comfortable commenting in depth.

It still surprises me how much more extension I've got on top and bottom while retaining the FRD coherence. I almost took the plunge months ago to try the Druids (before soul superfly was announced) but the guys on audioasylum almost unanimously advised against it, so I'd put that on hold.

I am happy I decided to be an early adopter on these and don't miss anything about the Abbys sound--only their looks.

I truly believe these speakers will be good enough to see the benefits of all upgrades elsewhere in my system. That is very cool for me.

Thanks Gopher,

I'm always amazed how many people post about new kit and are critical of it, only to mention in passing that they're running something else in too. Nice to see some caution followed by detailed description.

Once I have my Superfly I'm going to burn them in and experiment with position. Then I intend to post extensively on the outcome. However, i'm hoping to be so otherwise occupied that I can't get out of my chair ;) I'll try my best though.

Mike