Zu Definition 1.5 vs Merlin VSM-MXe

Hmm.. Well this is interesting.. I do have to go on record, you can call me nuts, but if in anyway the Zu's with a total of 12, 10" drivers cannot reproduce the explosive transients of a classical recording with ease, over a sytem with a total of 2, 6.5" drivers than there are serious problems here. Anyhow, fact is the Definition's soundstage suffers due to the super stiff drivers for the first 300 hours.. Okay maybe 200 hours. This is the only reason anyone would think they don't grasp the sound or something is funny in the begining. They sound a bit compressed and disconnected, virtually like if you were to hook a standard dynamic drive speaker like the merlin up out of phase on accident. There is nothing to get use to in the Zu's sound, they do no miracles they sound just like any speaker and mostly better once they open up and are matched correctly to the right front end.

Beyond that I agree with the above that you could not pick a more different design, but not necessarily a more different sounding speaker.. Only thing they have in common is the price point. Which one represents better value and realistic sound? Well that will be up to you to get a hold of a pair of each. You say that you have heard the merlins lower tier, well my suggestion is take advantage of Zu's 90 day trial, cause you are spending a lot of money, and if you feel they are a step in the right direction over what you remember in the merlins, than make a decision based on your likes and dislikes.. Bottom line they will not totally open up without a good 2 weeks of at least 8 hours a day of music signal. Just run them at a normal level while your out to work or something, this is the only advise I can give.

All new Zu Definitions leave the factory with 150 hours of break-in. This takes a lot of pressure off the buyer during his evaluation period. Undertow is correct, however, about the need to loosen up the new drivers.
I suggest you try the Definitions with a Red Wine Audio Signature 30 amplifier and no preamp. It is the best combination I have ever heard.

This notion that Definitions are somehow not suitable for classical music and are instead a "rock and blues" speaker is unfounded. The speaker is remarkably neutral in tonal balance, can lay out a highly-scalable soundstage macro to micro, has sensational dynamic range with real-world amplifiers, and is among the best speakers at any price for maintaining clarity of the many simultaneous sound events in a full symphonic crescendo -- owing of course to superior resolution in part due to lack of crossovers.

I lived in Boston for a decade and had a share of season tickets for the BSO in Symphony Hall. That hall is its own instrument and distinctive in its acoustic signature. The sound of the hall is more readily apparent through Zu Definitions on recordings made there, than with any other home hifi speaker I can recall. Chamber music is realistically scaled and transient and dynamic delicacy is preserved. Opera is fully emotive. Yet the explosive power of expression of a full orchestra is vividly projected into your listening space.

These qualities simply support high fidelity regardless of music genre. The same qualities in the Zu Definition that render it effective at communicating the energy and emotion of rock or blues, also work to same advantage on classical music, but with this speaker nothing is given up in terms of downscaling and resolution on smaller works.

Phil

Ok guys,

Err...well i havent decided yet. My room is 15 x 15ft with high ceilings. It may well be that we buy another home soon however.

Music is very eclectic but i've been spoilt by the best of the best bits of other speakers, now i want to combine them into a speaker which scores VERY highly in every category....and for the price one shouldnt ask otherwise.

I am in europe.

P

>My room is 15 x 15ft with high ceilings. It may well be that we buy another home soon however<

Tough room. Buying a new house might be your best bet.

Oz