I had some Dared monos - but they were 300Bs. They didn't last a week, sounding muffled and mushy. I've heard others say that some of the Dareds are very nice and maybe yours are better.
My aural memory is fading with the Druids since I haven't heard them since I upgraded mine to Definitions 18 months ago. My recollection is that the overall midrange tonality was very good but not quite as fast as my single driver Fostex 206E bass reflex boxes. Those have paper cone 8" drivers and are blindingly fast. However, they also are peaky and very limited in output.
With the Definitions, midrange tone is exemplary though I have mine running about 3 db down through the presence band, around 1khz to 3 khz. Since the same drivers in a different configuration definitely work well, I'd say it isn't merely the 10" midrange that's disturbing your perceptions.
The higher up you go in efficiency, linearity gets increasingly difficult to achieve. To find a smooth sounding speaker with frequency extension is fairly easy for 50-watt compatibility. To do so with 2-watt compatibility . . .
I'd try some different amps just to ensure it's not an amp/speaker communication problem. Zu speakers are definitely chameleons to the amps (and other ancillaries) paired with them so maybe the match just isn't good.
Or, maybe they're just not for you. High-eff speakers are almost by their nature idiosyncratic. It's possible you'll find something else whose quirky personality is more agreeable.
My aural memory is fading with the Druids since I haven't heard them since I upgraded mine to Definitions 18 months ago. My recollection is that the overall midrange tonality was very good but not quite as fast as my single driver Fostex 206E bass reflex boxes. Those have paper cone 8" drivers and are blindingly fast. However, they also are peaky and very limited in output.
With the Definitions, midrange tone is exemplary though I have mine running about 3 db down through the presence band, around 1khz to 3 khz. Since the same drivers in a different configuration definitely work well, I'd say it isn't merely the 10" midrange that's disturbing your perceptions.
The higher up you go in efficiency, linearity gets increasingly difficult to achieve. To find a smooth sounding speaker with frequency extension is fairly easy for 50-watt compatibility. To do so with 2-watt compatibility . . .
I'd try some different amps just to ensure it's not an amp/speaker communication problem. Zu speakers are definitely chameleons to the amps (and other ancillaries) paired with them so maybe the match just isn't good.
Or, maybe they're just not for you. High-eff speakers are almost by their nature idiosyncratic. It's possible you'll find something else whose quirky personality is more agreeable.