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How are Zu loudspeakers different In a market where nearly all speakers are the same either Zu is wrong, or everyone else is. There are many additional points that make Zu loudspeakers remarkable, but the following five distinctive traits lay the foundation. It’s high efficiency full-range 10” loudspeaker-driver plays nearly all the musical scale with stunning dynamic range, and with linear behavior, creating such a natural and vivid sound that you will no longer focus your attention on the speaker, just the music. There are no crossovers sucking life out of the music like 99% of today’s loudspeakers. New driver / box loading technology developed by Zu allows improved driver-to-room coupling. Zu’s own B3 internal cabling and solderless termination offers significant improvement in amplifier / loudspeaker interaction, increased resolution and reduced noise. In-house manufacturing ensures quality, consistency and long-term viability. Point one, Zu’s 10” high efficiency / high power handling driver With high power amplifiers saturating the market, why would anyone looking at loudspeakers consider high efficiency as an essential design feature? In addition to the technical reasons stated in “What makes a loudspeaker good”, high efficiency is necessary for low power amplifiers; and the Zu + tube combination, especially single ended triodes, is certainly addictive; as can be single element FET solid-state. Regardless of amplifier selected, a wide bandwidth driver with high efficiency, combined with wide dynamic range results in very real resolution and contrast. Combine dynamic range with good frequency and time behavior, and get sound that is so effortless and engaging that you find yourself making excuses to spend time listening. Zu loudspeakers give an owner the option to connect just about any amp, from a little 2-Watt single-ended triode, through the super high-output transistor amps. Zu’s resolution and intimacy allow users to explore amplification at a whole new level. And this brings us to another side of the Zu speaker, that of high power handling. The main percussive feature in today’s music is the kick-drum and most hi-fi speakers can’t even look at a one, let alone reproduce it. They are either grossly inefficient, can’t play bass, or can’t handle power. Many loudspeakers have power handling, a few have high efficiency, Zu has both. Moderate to high power combined with the high efficiency of Zu results in a dynamic range able to recreate concert level playback, or thunder claps, or car crashes, or jet flybys.... Zu believes in having the ability to do real levels without risk of damage to your gear or ears. (It’s high sustained SPL levels plus noise that is the destroyer of gear and hearing.) You won’t have to turn up the volume to uncomfortable levels to get convincing bang from a soundtrack or crescendo from Wagner. Point two, no crossover. Zu loudspeakers are designed and built well enough not to need “fixing” with crossover and other electronics parts. Today, nearly all home audio loudspeakers use plastic or metal cones and crossovers. They do this as a cost savings measure, plastic cones are easy to work with, and crossovers allow you to fix and tweak without the expensive of heavy time and tooling. We also think plastic and metal cones are used as a gimmicky sales tool; new and different equals better.... Loudspeaker-drivers today are designed to look good first and produce a salable sound second. In the ‘50s, budgets and living room spaces were being split between television sets and audio, and it was during this time that acoustic suspension speakers were introduced. Consumers began to gravitate to small speakers that gave the impression of big sound, and today’s speaker builders continue in this convention. Real fidelity has all but disappeared in today’s living rooms and anyone who has tried to playback rock, big orchestra, even piano recordings on their home speakers at moderate levels knows it’s a long way from lifelike. For over fifty years now it has been, out with the big well-made speakers and in with the new smaller and cheaper ones featuring cost-mandated imported drivers, engineered to sound impressive but not really delivering realism. Zu on the other hand has continued on the course set out by Western Electric, RCA Victor, and others, using paper based cones, even leaning heavily on the exceptional 1930s Hawley cone design. Not being afraid to design and produce their own speaker-driver has allowed Zu to create a modern device that is capable of playing bass, mids and lower treble with better overall fidelity than the multi-driver designs of today, and without filter parts injecting noise, robbing efficiency, and sucking the soul from the music. Point three, Zu’s wide-band driver / box loading technology. Zu has designed a speaker driver / box loading technology that reduces the acoustic impedance ratio of loudspeaker-cone to room, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing cone motion. Similar to a horn, but inside out, and coupling the cone from behind. This original technology significantly widens the usable bandwidth and reduces distortion. It does not introduce distortions common to horn loaded speakers and is operable through several octaves. Generally, if bandwidth is widened distortion is increased. Bass-reflex, or ported speakers are infamous for this, as are transmission lines, and acoustic suspension designs. Currently, Zu holds this technology as a Trade Secret. Point four, Zu cable inside. Zu does not skimp on the internal cable of its loudspeakers; no zip-cord running about, no cheap imported wire, nothing that will get in the way of performance. Zu manufactures its own cable and places considerable attention to this aspect of design. Zu’s own B3 internal cabling, combined with solderless and cold forged termination techniques lower noise and increase resolution, and significantly enhance amplifier/speaker intimacy. Within Zu loudspeakers you will find original Zu-designed and built cable assemblies using nothing but the highest-grade Zu cable product. Point five, Zu builds what it sells. Today’s audio companies focus more on product style and packaging than fidelity or lasting quality. It’s a, profit first, never mind performance or craftsmanship so long as they sell, business. Zu on the other hand, makes audio gear that place performance and build quality first; trusting that if we build the best products, with a duty to our community, sales and success will follow. Imagine, products selling themselves.... To maintain its inventiveness and realize its long term goals, Zu chooses to use critical components and sub-assemblies that have been developed by, and are made at, Zu. Simply, our products are made by us at Zu; tested, listened to, and packaged at Zu—If it wasn’t invented or made by us, we have a serious problem putting our brand on it. Really, how much difference is there between loudspeakers that all sport nearly identical speaker drivers, often made by contract in the same rundown overseas sweatshop. If a manufacturing company is not continually reinvesting in production and tooling you can bet they will fall behind, maybe lose everything. Just look at the history of Edison, Tesla, Western Electric, and note what happened with Western Electric / ATT, NEC, and Sumitomo. Oddly, Zu is the exception today, most outside aerospace / military companies no longer make product themselves, choosing instead to outsource the majority of their product. For every ten loudspeakers sold in the US at least nine are made in China. If you are a Chinese company, you should build it in China, and if your company is in Ogden, Utah you should build your products in Ogden. Sure there is a huge temptation to outsource and to get some of that cheap labor, but not for something you really care about, something you build that will be used nearly everyday of its life! There are several other features that are original to Zu, some are held as Trade Secrets like our cable, others are detailed within the loudspeaker model’s description but really, what it all comes down to is how they sound to you and in your own living room. |