Please understand it is still just my opinion and there are a ton of variables that play into the scenario. I have owned both Merlin and Joseph and these are completely different than Zu because Zu does not use any crossover parts for 8 of the 10 octaves. My Wilson Grand slams and Magico were a complete different level than the Merlins or Joseph speakers but again the crossover in the more expensive speaker is an issue for me but perhaps other people can live with crossovers; I cant. With 60 of junk cooper in a coil and 5% tolerance levels on caps and resistors, how can any speaker designer claim their speaker is phase coherent at the listeners ear? I believe the reason I prefer Zu is because they sound like the artist voice, phase coherent. There are some very good speakers on the market today but for me all the frequencies must arrive at my ear at the same time or the speaker becomes fatiguing. Again it is just one persons opinion. I could never go back to a speaker that has a crossover in the midrange area.