A Zu / Tekton / Omega Speaker Positioning Thread

One thing I forgot: I also tilt the Lore up slightly, about 1/2 inch. Also, the Lore loses about a foot laterally, but still well outside the speakers. Depth is superb on both speakers. If I swap in my Cary 280 v12 with KT66s, the depth increase, the height increase, it's wall-to-wall on good recordings like Muddy Waters "Folk Singer."

Cymbop,

I am now going o give you my main listening room positioning for Lores only. Room dimensions are 16x26. 9 foot ceiling. When I use the Lores in this room I have them along the short wall 4 feet out into the room, 4 feet from each side wall 8 feet apart. I sit about 10 feet from speakers. Toe in is basically the same angle as my office. This room has an abundance of furniture, plants, paintings, hardwood floors with rugs, and so forth. Sound stage is wall-to-wall with either the Lores or Infinity Prelude Compositions. With the Compositions there is no toe in, fires straight ahead. I usually have my Cary 280 V12 with Cary SLP 98, a Rega P3 with Grado Platinum, or Sony DVP S9000ES as transport with Eastern Electric DAC upgraded fuse and Shuguang Black Treasure 12AU7, plus either Silnote Reference II IC, sometimes Alpha Core Silver Saphire; PS Audio Statement speaker cables. I also have used Kimber 8TC, Alpha Core Silver AG1s. Digital is either Black Cat Veloce or MIT. Power cords are all Custom Power Cords.

I am a Zu lover but found the Superfly speakers extremely difficult to place correctly. As David alludes to above, there is little margin for error, but when placed perfectly (I also found treatments necessary for this speaker) they are capable of disappearing.

On the contrary when placing/room interaction is off, the top end can be hot and fatiguing and the sound flat, dead and not really compelling.

Zus are capable of beautiful tone with great harmonic density coupled with raw drive, but they need to be coaxed. Its my theory that the difficulty I had placing mine is why they traditionally show poorly at conventions.

I've had 3 Zu haters hear my rig and change their conclusions... that is, until I reconfigured my room and lost my magic.

Gopher, this thread is aimed at helping to get that magic back. The harmonic density I'm hearing from the Omens coupled with their _speed_ is an incredible combination; if I can get the imaging right I'll be in heaven.

So for you, what specifically changed with the new configuration? Sidewall distance? Pullout from the front wall? Seating position?

Hello,

I just purchased a pair of Zu Essences. I heard them at a dealer, driven by some sort of Arc tube amp. They certainly sounded dynamic, but I found their soundstage to be to forward for my liking; a bit bright, too. I asked the dealer for a home demo and he was happy to oblige. I am quite conservative in my purchases. I have not fundamentally changed my system in five years, satisfied and happy. I chose to give Zu a try since I was planning to move and wanted to simplify things a bit. I am often surprised at the bad rap that Zu speakers get. Anyway, I took the Essences home and hooked them up to my Manley Neo-Retro 300b's. Damn, but I was proud of my amps at that point. They firmly set the soundstage back behind the speakers, where I like it, and proceeded to give me a much more dynamic and detailed soundstage that I had previously experienced in my system. My previous speakers gave me a deep and precise soundstage, grat decays, but a very laidback presentation with little bite and attack. The Essences have an often startling attack that is only bright with the hottest, and in my opinion, worst recordings. The Essences are surely sensitive to proper room placing, but they dissapear entirely in my setup. My room is less than ideal, square, large, 12 foot concrete ceilings, and 20 feet of 6 foot tall windows on one side, but I don't have much trouble with soundstage accuracy, size or brightness. I toe in my speakers so that the tweeters cross just behind my head. I hope that helps some...

Ivan