Thanks for watching! Yes, I personally have a tendency to be afraid I will regret not buying the more expensive or the upgraded version and I always wonder if I am actually over paying for performance of features I won't use. So in this case I wanted to explore just what the least expensive option ZU offers in the DW6 and how good does it sound. And ultimately should you spend the extra for the Superfly or the Supreme. While, I have not heard the Superfly or the Supreme versions, I have AB listened next to my $3k Sonus Faber Lumina V and as I said in my review, thes "base" DW6 are IMHO 95-97% of the Lumina V So a great value I think.
I have Boston Acoustics A100 Series 1 from the early 80's that have no crossover to the 10" woofer. There is just a resistor in line with the tweeter for a crossover. They also seem to have very cohesive imaging with a wide sweet spot.
I've owned the ZU DW6 base model for about 10 months now. They require very careful setup to sound good. They also require some additional play time to break them in properly. Mine are 7.5 feet apart, two feet off of the front wall, tilted back 7 degrees and toed in about 10 degrees to point just past my ears when I'm sitting in my listening chair. Soundstage and imaging is excellent. I'm driving these with a pair of 5 watt Pass Amp Camp Amp mono blocks running in class A. They will play into the high 90's very easily ! I wouldn't worry too much about the GR Research review. Based on the test numbers these speakers should sound awful and they don't once they are setup properly. Also, numbers cant predict how a speaker will sound in any given room.
Yes I agree with your comments here. Since my review after I shipped back the Klipsch RP-8000F II I moved these DW6 to the outside of the Sonus Fabers so the Zu are now 11' apart and I also increased the backward tilt by another 1/4" and I like this setup even better. It has improved the soundstage. I really like these DW6. I think for $1599 they are a tremendous price to performance value! Great choice on your amp pairing!
Having a bit more background info than some, plus having been a speaker manu clear back into the late '70s, watching tubes die out to germanium transistors, die out to silicon bi-polar, die out to VFET, quickly die out to MosFet, and from class AB to A to G to X to D to Tripath to .. Yeah, what a long strange trip it's been, lol, So of the two mentioned, ...I'd take Klipsch.
I have Zu DWX on JBL js6 stands driven by Schiit preamp and power amp. Love the sound and enjoy the music. One thing that you did not mention is that Zu speakers sound good at low volume... . ..
Right on man! I own the DW 2s and for me that off axis sound is all important. as i like to rock out generally i dont sit in one spot all the time. works for me.and the midrange. but i am trying to add a sub can you give any advice on where to set the crossover with that?thanks!
I would check out Danny’s review at GR research if you are interested For me a hard no with that resonant chunk of metal tweeter wave-guide Danny has a smart fix for the tweeter.
You need to listen to them yourself. I had a pair and didn’t hear any resonating issues. My experience was more positive and more like the several positive reviews you find online. Danny seems to be the sole detractor. I’m sure he’s right though and makes good points as you see on his charts, but listening to them did not bring out for me the negatives that he found. I had to replace them though b/c they were too big for my narrow office space.
@@ConorHanley If it is your contention that Danny’s measurements are inaccurate I can’t dispute your opinion other than it is my opinion that the measurements are accurate. If the measurements are accurate then the clunky metal wave-guide measures poorly. Using a different tweeter makes sense based on the measurements and at that point the Zu makes far more sense to me.
@@middleearthltd No, I wouldn't dispute the measurements, I'm sure their fine. Just, I wouldn't take GR arguments about much else without a pinch of salt. I regard him as a snake oil salesman. But , feel free not to agree with me.
I did purchase the ZU Dirty Weekend Mk.II (RUSTIC HICKORY, Jupiter Cap Upgrade) in 2021 and after around 2 months running with tube gear (PrimaLuna HP, Inspire KT88) I put them back into the box and never hooked them back out. My Focal Aria 936 and 926 running circles around the DW Mk.II. I would check out Danny’s review at GR Research to what he found.
I have a klipsch Heritage model - Heresy, that surprisingly taxes my amp inspite of its high efficiency rating. I really love them . What I'm curious about is would the DW model without a crossover exhibit the same phase angle issue?
that's an interesting question about the phase angle issue you are experiencing with the Heresy but unfortunately that is something I'm not technical enough to answer for you. I can tell you that I have been very much enjoying playing these Zu DW6 on the 7.6wpc 300B tube amp and also the 12wpc EL84 Tube amp and those are terrific pairings with these Zu DW6 Thanks for watching and for your question. Hope that can help.
Good question. I have not heard the KLH Model 5 but I agree there's an interesting comparison there. I had a pair of KLH floor standers in college back in the day that I loved and I wish I knew what the model was of those old KLH speakers. But physically the new KLH Model 5s look like my old college speakers. (my apartment in college was broken into and those speakers were stolen! So they were desirable LOL) Thanks for the encouragement!
lookin forward to watching this, I was interested until scared off with some poor reviews. Problem is I don't know if zu are high end or scam artists with having NO crossovers. no one else does that in life. often people say these is a lack of detail due to this
I'm not sure but I think I remember that Epos speakers were made sans crossover, and that was a mainstream and popular speaker that is still well regarded.
I go back and forth on whether or not to try the Zu speakers. Buying the lowest level (cheapest) version maybe the way to go. If I like them I can always do the upgrades myself.
@@mindhead1 I wanted too but I decided not to since I’m a novice and I might as well go with a traditional crossover for $1500 than a rare no crossover for $1500. Maybe after I’ve had several pairs of speakers around that price point then I’ll be experienced to know how zu compares. The nicest speaker I have is a klh model 5 so that’s pretty limited. The rest of mine are cheap as I just use them as placeholders in home theatre until I can figure out what sound I like. Sad thing is I’ve been stuck about two years watching reviews.
Having no crossover is a plus, not a negative. And these have no crossover, simply because one is not needed. Not because it's "cheaper" to do so. These use a full/extended range driver that plays all the way up past 10k. And the tweeter takes over where the woofer runs out. And they filter the lows from the tweeter with a single capacitor. Which is all that's needed. ✌️
@@amb3cog I have no clue just using my scam monitor alert however it concerns me perlisten, klipsh list a dozen of the top speakers don’t choose to leave crossover off so you may be right and zoo makes this choice which, according to them and you is better I just find it odd and raises my scam meter it doesn’t help with anecdotal reviews of people not liking it of Steve Gutenberg saying lacks detail
I had not yet paired the DW6s with the Black Ice Fx10H so I moved some gear around and played these on the FX10H and the TLDR is, this is a terrific pairing! I LOVE the FX10H what an amazing little tube amp! I setup the gear so I could AB listen between the FX10H and the Reisong A50 MK III SET 300B tube amp as well as AB with the Sonus Faber Lumina V which are twice the cost of the DW6. Both amps are GREAT on these base DW6 for my music library (I don't listen to EDM, Dub Step or HipHop that do sometimes dip below 30Hz) the DW6 are full range and IMHO no subwoofer is needed. I point this out because I very slightly preferred the DW6 of the SET 300b amp. That amp has a little fuller, richer bass than when these are played on the FX10H. Not more base quantity but fullness and richness. Everything else, including soundstage being thrown, I would classify as "sixes". I should note I had the same conclusion on what I was hearing when AB listening on the Sonus Fabers also. Great question and I enjoyed exploring the answer!
Thank you for a very informative and objective review. Well done! How does the Zu fair with orchestral music? Also, the B&W 603 S3 is $2K per pair when on sale and I was wondering if those might be a better choice for me considering my genre preference. $1599 is an attractive price for what Zu delivers. Does that include shipping? Thanks again.
Thank you, I appreciate that comment. The Zu is very dynamic and it is IMHO a great choice for acoustic instruments so this does very well on orchestral music. As far as the B&Ws I am a little tyreble sensitive so while I want highly resolving speakers that give me ALL the detail retrieval, I prefer a smooth treble presentation. This has meant on some B&W and also Focal their "house sound" can be a bit too sparkly for my ears. Having said that I have NOT listened to the B&W 603 S3 you mentioned but this is the reason I have not heard them yet, I have others on my listening to do list. And yes, the Zu price includes shipping and 60 day returns but I will remind you of my comment in the review about the footers and they cost $100 to the Zu cost.
Thanks for reviewing the base model and your opinion.
Thanks for watching!
Yes, I personally have a tendency to be afraid I will regret not buying the more expensive or the upgraded version and I always wonder if I am actually over paying for performance of features I won't use. So in this case I wanted to explore just what the least expensive option ZU offers in the DW6 and how good does it sound. And ultimately should you spend the extra for the Superfly or the Supreme.
While, I have not heard the Superfly or the Supreme versions, I have AB listened next to my $3k Sonus Faber Lumina V and as I said in my review, thes "base" DW6 are IMHO 95-97% of the Lumina V
So a great value I think.
For my set of DW6s' I ordered furniture levelers : 1” Long steel insert with 3/8”-16 threaded - these fit perfectly and cost under $10 for 4.
that's a great idea! Good tip!
I have Boston Acoustics A100 Series 1 from the early 80's that have no crossover to the 10" woofer. There is just a resistor in line with the tweeter for a crossover. They also seem to have very cohesive imaging with a wide sweet spot.
I've owned the ZU DW6 base model for about 10 months now. They require very careful setup to sound good. They also require some additional play time to break them in properly.
Mine are 7.5 feet apart, two feet off of the front wall, tilted back 7 degrees and toed in about 10 degrees to point just past my ears when I'm sitting in my listening chair. Soundstage and imaging is excellent. I'm driving these with a pair of 5 watt Pass Amp Camp Amp mono blocks running in class A. They will play into the high 90's very easily !
I wouldn't worry too much about the GR Research review. Based on the test numbers these speakers should sound awful and they don't once they are setup properly. Also, numbers cant predict how a speaker will sound in any given room.
Yes I agree with your comments here.
Since my review after I shipped back the Klipsch RP-8000F II I moved these DW6 to the outside of the Sonus Fabers so the Zu are now 11' apart and I also increased the backward tilt by another 1/4" and I like this setup even better. It has improved the soundstage. I really like these DW6. I think for $1599 they are a tremendous price to performance value!
Great choice on your amp pairing!
I have the superfly and love them.
Having a bit more background info than some, plus having been a speaker manu clear back into the late '70s, watching tubes die out to germanium transistors, die out to silicon bi-polar, die out to VFET, quickly die out to MosFet, and from class AB to A to G to X to D to Tripath to ..
Yeah, what a long strange trip it's been, lol,
So of the two mentioned,
...I'd take Klipsch.
I have Zu DWX on JBL js6 stands driven by Schiit preamp and power amp. Love the sound and enjoy the music. One thing that you did not mention is that Zu speakers sound good at low volume... .
..
Right on man! I own the DW 2s and for me that off axis sound is all important. as i like to rock out generally i dont sit in one spot all the time. works for me.and the midrange. but i am trying to add a sub can you give any advice on where to set the crossover with that?thanks!
I would check out Danny’s review at GR research if you are interested
For me a hard no with that resonant chunk of metal tweeter wave-guide
Danny has a smart fix for the tweeter.
You need to listen to them yourself. I had a pair and didn’t hear any resonating issues. My experience was more positive and more like the several positive reviews you find online. Danny seems to be the sole detractor. I’m sure he’s right though and makes good points as you see on his charts, but listening to them did not bring out for me the negatives that he found. I had to replace them though b/c they were too big for my narrow office space.
Wouldn't take anything GR Research says without a hefty dose of scepticism. But you do you.
@@ConorHanley If it is your contention that Danny’s measurements are inaccurate I can’t dispute your opinion other than it is my opinion that the measurements are accurate.
If the measurements are accurate then the clunky metal wave-guide measures poorly.
Using a different tweeter makes sense based on the measurements and at that point the Zu makes far more sense to me.
@@middleearthltd No, I wouldn't dispute the measurements, I'm sure their fine. Just, I wouldn't take GR arguments about much else without a pinch of salt. I regard him as a snake oil salesman. But , feel free not to agree with me.
Yes, it is just "problems" with those stupid crossovers!😂
There is superior solutions than doing that..❤
I did purchase the ZU Dirty Weekend Mk.II (RUSTIC HICKORY, Jupiter Cap Upgrade) in 2021 and after around 2 months running with tube gear (PrimaLuna HP, Inspire KT88) I put them back into the box and never hooked them back out. My Focal Aria 936 and 926 running circles around the DW Mk.II. I would check out Danny’s review at GR Research to what he found.
I have a klipsch Heritage model - Heresy, that surprisingly taxes my amp inspite of its high efficiency rating. I really love them . What I'm curious about is would the DW model without a crossover exhibit the same phase angle issue?
that's an interesting question about the phase angle issue you are experiencing with the Heresy but unfortunately that is something I'm not technical enough to answer for you.
I can tell you that I have been very much enjoying playing these Zu DW6 on the 7.6wpc 300B tube amp and also the 12wpc EL84 Tube amp and those are terrific pairings with these Zu DW6
Thanks for watching and for your question. Hope that can help.
I wonder how the KLH Model Fives would compare? Keep up the good work.
Good question. I have not heard the KLH Model 5 but I agree there's an interesting comparison there. I had a pair of KLH floor standers in college back in the day that I loved and I wish I knew what the model was of those old KLH speakers. But physically the new KLH Model 5s look like my old college speakers. (my apartment in college was broken into and those speakers were stolen! So they were desirable LOL)
Thanks for the encouragement!
lookin forward to watching this, I was interested until scared off with some poor reviews. Problem is I don't know if zu are high end or scam artists with having NO crossovers. no one else does that in life. often people say these is a lack of detail due to this
I'm not sure but I think I remember that Epos speakers were made sans crossover, and that was a mainstream and popular speaker that is still well regarded.
I go back and forth on whether or not to try the Zu speakers. Buying the lowest level (cheapest) version maybe the way to go. If I like them I can always do the upgrades myself.
@@mindhead1 I wanted too but I decided not to since I’m a novice and I might as well go with a traditional crossover for $1500 than a rare no crossover for $1500. Maybe after I’ve had several pairs of speakers around that price point then I’ll be experienced to know how zu compares.
The nicest speaker I have is a klh model 5 so that’s pretty limited. The rest of mine are cheap as I just use them as placeholders in home theatre until I can figure out what sound I like. Sad thing is I’ve been stuck about two years watching reviews.
Having no crossover is a plus, not a negative. And these have no crossover, simply because one is not needed. Not because it's "cheaper" to do so.
These use a full/extended range driver that plays all the way up past 10k. And the tweeter takes over where the woofer runs out. And they filter the lows from the tweeter with a single capacitor. Which is all that's needed. ✌️
@@amb3cog I have no clue just using my scam monitor alert however it concerns me perlisten, klipsh list a dozen of the top speakers don’t choose to leave crossover off so you may be right and zoo makes this choice which, according to them and you is better I just find it odd and raises my scam meter it doesn’t help with anecdotal reviews of people not liking it of Steve Gutenberg saying lacks detail
Did you happen to pair the DW6’s with your Black Ice FX10H? I have the DWX’s and I’m considering the FX10H.
I had not yet paired the DW6s with the Black Ice Fx10H so I moved some gear around and played these on the FX10H and the TLDR is, this is a terrific pairing! I LOVE the FX10H what an amazing little tube amp!
I setup the gear so I could AB listen between the FX10H and the Reisong A50 MK III SET 300B tube amp as well as AB with the Sonus Faber Lumina V which are twice the cost of the DW6.
Both amps are GREAT on these base DW6 for my music library (I don't listen to EDM, Dub Step or HipHop that do sometimes dip below 30Hz) the DW6 are full range and IMHO no subwoofer is needed. I point this out because I very slightly preferred the DW6 of the SET 300b amp. That amp has a little fuller, richer bass than when these are played on the FX10H. Not more base quantity but fullness and richness. Everything else, including soundstage being thrown, I would classify as "sixes". I should note I had the same conclusion on what I was hearing when AB listening on the Sonus Fabers also.
Great question and I enjoyed exploring the answer!
Not sure how the tweeter doesn't even have a minimal roll off capacitor ?
They look a little short 😮
Thank you for a very informative and objective review. Well done! How does the Zu fair with orchestral music? Also, the B&W 603 S3 is $2K per pair when on sale and I was wondering if those might be a better choice for me considering my genre preference. $1599 is an attractive price for what Zu delivers. Does that include shipping? Thanks again.
Thank you, I appreciate that comment.
The Zu is very dynamic and it is IMHO a great choice for acoustic instruments so this does very well on orchestral music.
As far as the B&Ws I am a little tyreble sensitive so while I want highly resolving speakers that give me ALL the detail retrieval, I prefer a smooth treble presentation. This has meant on some B&W and also Focal their "house sound" can be a bit too sparkly for my ears.
Having said that I have NOT listened to the B&W 603 S3 you mentioned but this is the reason I have not heard them yet, I have others on my listening to do list.
And yes, the Zu price includes shipping and 60 day returns but I will remind you of my comment in the review about the footers and they cost $100 to the Zu cost.
@@Hunter-Gray-LUV-Music Thanks for taking the time to respond.