Zu Soul Superfly

No they aren't.

Omen: 1500msrp $1000 preorder

Soul: 1800msrp $1500 preorder new customer $1400 prior

"blank statements" - well I could talk all night about each Zy speaker but a balance has to be struck and my statement has to be seen in the context of other statements I have made here on Essence re: the two different perceptions of it that exist.

FWIW, at my dealer we worked our way from my Naim amps and power supplies to what used to be owned by Avonessence. As we moved up instruments became much more natural but lost a little PRaT. Fine for some but not for me. What we could not lose regardless of amp was a certain cuppiness on female vocals. Two people disliked it. One was okay with it. It has been noted in reviews of the Essence so I wasn't just imagining it.

Other things do come into play though. When on demo in my own space the vocals were less cuppy but were recessed. It could only be fixed by locating them in open space too far into the room to be acceptable.

For many people they do treble more in the expected "hi-fi" way but for just as many the Druid, for but one example, does it more naturally and coherently. Each to their own :)

The Essence with Naim gear IMO is too much, the Essence speaker isn't a good balance overall, they do have some outstanding traits with the Naim amps, but swapping to other manufacturers amps brings them to life.

The Druids are a fine match with the CDX2 and Naim amps as they calm their (what can be termed) as bright and glassines, with the further opened tweeter unit in the Soul Superfly I wonder if this will still be the case? In my experience the CDS3 that Mahughes moved upto when listening to the Essence at our dealers, is a better match with these speakers, but IMO not a very good match with the Druids (that I once had), with the slightly dark nature of the Druids presentation coupled with a similar darker sounded CDS3, culminated in a sound presentation which was not engaging or enjoyable overall.

I do believe that mine and Mahughes requirements regarding engaging music are one and the same, it is just that we have/are tackling in it in a different direction. But I could be wrong;)

Gopher:

Yes, you are right! Soul is now $1800 MSRP and Omen is $1500 MSRP

These prices make no sense of course. Is Soul the standard or superfly? Why would anyone get $1500 Omen instead of $1800 Soul? It is laughable. I will laugh as pricing continues to evolve.

Zanon, my friend. It seems you're looking for a conflict here ;)

I suggest you give Zu a buzz or drop their new CEO a line. They have a long term plan which makes the Omen and Soul's existence alongside the Omen make perfect sense, but its not my place to voice it.

Of course the Soul is the standard at $1800 and the Soul Superfly remains at its projected price in the US.

From the specs of the Omen I suspect it will be a slightly more laid back speaker than the Souls. Despite same or similar driver/tweeter as Superfly (CEO told me same as Soul, Sean told someone else same as Druid).

I think Zu described the Omen as a shorter Druid that isn't gap sensitive (hearsay). The Soul (standard and superfly) were both described as the next evolution/superior to the druid).

Again, speak to Zu directly as their CEO volunteered plenty of info, but as they haven't made any announcements on the forums I won't spill the beans.