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Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Source: Zanden Audio Model 2000P/5000S
Preamp/Integrated: ModWright SWL 9.0SE; Bel Canto Design PRe2; Eastern Electric MiniMax; AudioZone PRE-T1 silver & copper [on review]
Amp: Decware Zen Taboo; 2 x AudioSector Patek SE; Canary Audio CA-308 [on review]; Fi WE421A [on review]
Speakers: Zu Cable Definition Mk1.5 with new external bass attenuator (retro-fitted)
Cables: Zanden Audio proprietary I²S digital cable; 2 x Stealth Audio Indra; 2 x Zu Cable Varial [on review]; 2 x Cerious Technologies interconnect [on review]; Zu Cable Ibis; Crystal Cable Reference power cords; Z-Cable Reference Cyclone power cords on both powerline conditioner
Stands: Grand Prix Audio Monaco four-tier
Powerline conditioning: 2 x Walker Audio Velocitor S
Sundry accessories: GPA Formula Carbon/Kevlar shelf for transport; GPA Apex footers underneath DAC and preamp; Walker Audio SST on all connections; Walker Audio Vivid CD cleaner; Furutech RD-2 CD demagnetizer; WorldPower cryo'd Hubbell and IsoClean wall sockets
Room size: 30' w x 18' d x 10' h [sloping ceiling] in long-wall setup in one half, with open adjoining living room for a total of ca.1000 squ.ft floor plan and significant 'active' cubic air volume of essentially the entire (small) house
Review component retail: $9,000/pr in two standard finishes; $1,500/pr surcharge for any conceivable custom lacquer or paint
 

I've said it before. Behind their casual dudeness demeanor; behind their refusal to price their wares on performance (pricing 'em instead on honest build cost, with R&D investments amortized over the long haul rather than being pre-packaged into the products' retail pricing); behind their equal refusal to issue hyped White Papers for what clearly are very real inventions; behind all that easy-going informal youth hide deceptively sharp minds. And humility. When my review of their flagship Definitions ended up with me buying 'em and applauding concept and performance but finding one solitary yet vital flaw in the actual execution, they listened and responded. Quickly. Using four self-amplified rear-firing 10-inch woofers solely below 40Hz per speaker, I'd asked for an external amplitude control. The user had to be able to adjust bass output to match room, placement, amplifier and listening tastes rather than rely on a fixed factory setting.

Adam [above, far right], Sean [to Adam's left] and James [far left] hopped on three motorcycles and visited Taos to install a retrofit that, except for two remaining customers, has already been installed in every pair of US Definitions sold. Each new pair of Definitions is now shipped as shown above. The honkin' bass attenuator will likely end up around 11:00 o'clock if personal results and those of other customers are any indication.


Another feature that's been available all along but which I remained unaware of? Free factory break-in. Customers willing to wait for 7 days on their deliveries can take advantage of a free 100-hour 100-watt high-decibel break-in (a small charge applies for Druids and Tones). This is vitally important for low-power SET aficionados. They will otherwise wonder what the fuss on Zu speakers is all about. Just like the Gallo Reference 3s which will play beautifully with far lower power than you may think but must see high-current power for the first 100 hours to open up, the Definitions -- and that goes for the Tone and Druid as well -- need to get into the ring and be hammered hard before the dainty brigade will get the best of 'em. If you don't and feed 'em a single-ended 45 or 2A3 diet, they won't be cooked a year from now. Honest. Post initial abuse, they'll be pussy cats and ready for micro-power luv of the 6wpc PX-25 kind (though you may prefer more power for reasons covered below).

Having followed some of the on-line commentary in the wake of my Druid and Definition reviews, certain preconceptions remain. One is that high-efficiency wide bandwidth-driver speakers are prima donnas good for 80dB string quartets and Patricia Barber only. True, many of them don't like to be pushed. Not the Zus. Don't be shy and afraid you'll hurt 'em. Believe that the 300-watt power rating isn't marketing crap but a hint. Think Seal's "Killer" from his Best | 1991-2004 collection at rave levels. That's not to suggest you should abuse your hearing. Still, rest assured that your ears will give out well before the speakers would begin to distort and complain.


Lobing. Beaming. No way 10-inch drivers can work properly up to 12kHz. These from-the-ground-up engineered drivers work, period. If they misbehaved, you'd hear it right away. And you don't, right away or later. These speakers couldn't possibly soundstage. They disappear and layer like champs if your amp excels in those parameters. Tonal balance simply has to drastically change with listener height, forcing you to sit in a narrow sweet spot. Not. What makes you so sure of all those foregone lip-service conclusions anyway?


That's Zu's greatest failing - to communicate how their speakers (and also cables) in fact do exactly what's claimed for them. This reluctance to dish comes from one of the principals having worked for a high-profile audio company's bullshit department earlier (read: turn yet another variation on twisted, braided or coaxial cable geometries into the next coming via snazzy catch phrases and the usual spin doctoring). The other reason has to do with intellectual properties. The more you give away, the more likely you'll be ripped off. Sean and Adam chose to bank instead on the same time-honored MO that has people buy SUVs and fine art. You test-drive, you sample, you touch, you inspect, you make up your mind based on hands-on experience. Voice-over: "You mean, like, ya know, listen first, then struggle to understand why what your ears tell you messes with all your read-up conventional wisdom? Man, that's too far out for me."


The cynic in me thinks Zu's trust in audiophiles trusting their own hearing is too far out and sadly misplaced. The contrarian in me applauds them for their gumption. Bucking trends has its own rewards. For Zu customers, it means pricing that doesn't consider what equivalent performers demand elsewhere. What other cable firm with some real engineering behind 'em -- in this instance the mysterious B3 geometry and metallurgy -- would price their most expensive interconnect at $495/m/pr, their finest speaker cable at $1,200/10'/pr? What other speaker firm would price their flagship speaker at $9,000/pr if it competes fair and square with others at easily double (perhaps higher even but my in-house familiarity with such beasts doesn't stretch that far)?


Now that my AudioSector Patek SE minis have strutted their stuff in front of three Zu people -- who, naturally, have heard their top model with all manner of esoteric amplification -- they'll place an order for their own pair of Pateks post haste upon returning to Ogden/Utah. I now feel doubly compelled to tell potential Zusters that this combination -- for whatever exact reason of dumb luck seasoned with electrical explanations -- works insanely well. To be accurate, I must add the ModWright SWL 9.0SE into this equation which has recently sold to another reviewer taking its measure only to proclaim it within spitting distance of his mighty VTL 7.5.


Solid-state preamps like the Bel Canto PRe2 and the AudioZone PRE-T1 in this context miss the same magic by a mile (they do far better with tube amplifiers). So here's the thing. A $2,200 tube-hybrid remote-controlled preamp and an $1,800 50wpc stereo chip-based amp from a designer virtually unknown -- at least to mainstreamers -- produce bona fide "no apologies" statement sound with these speakers. In fact, this combo prompted Sean to muse that this was the first time he'd heard any system come within spitting distance of Adam's. I tactfully refrained from asking what Adam's ancillary hardware consists of. I didn't want to get derailed from my current realsizing adventures (which, incidentally, includes two pairs of just-delivered Zu Cable Varial interconnects to discover how much or little they'll leave on the table when compared to the mighty Indras). This pre/power combo has tone, incision, warmth, holography and can caress and bite depending on what the material demands.

As you've discovered by now, this isn't a review at all. Call it an added note to my formal Definition review to report that my one complaint has been addressed, making this compact yet loaded statement speaker far more flexible to now work in all manner of rooms and with various front-wall distances. With my toe-in arrangement, the closer rear edge of each speaker is 34" from the wall. That's a lot closer than eight high-efficiency rear-firing ten-inchers seem to suggest reasonable. Regardless, there's no boom, no undue spotty pressurization, no fat or muck, no ponderousness, no HipHop silliness. What there is is a seamless lower-to-midbass transition with exceptional transient and pitch definition and all the spaciousness, air and ambient visibility the best subwoofers grant.
The Zu Definition Mk1.5 is the hammer if you lust after full-range sound that's linear, dynamic, gutsy, fleshy and sounds as good at low volumes as it does at short-term rock-out ones (or long-term ones if you mean to abuse your ears). While micro-power amps will play all day long on a fraction of a watt, the apparently overkill 50 watts of the puny Pateks isn't overkill as it turns out. Power obviously benefits the meat zone of the music - the upper midbass range. That and lower still is covered by the front-firing wideband drivers. They respond to power reserves with better transients and far better articulation, control and gumption especially when things get dynamic and complex.


So there you have it, a common-sense defying loudspeaker that makes perfect sense once you actually listen to it (rather than have preconceived notions "prove" to you why it'd be a solid waste). To my sensibilities it made total sense well before I ever heard it. Still, I didn't know whether it'd work in my room nor whether it would seem well balanced. Now that I've voted with my wallet, I simply remind myself that I don't have to understand why the Definitions work so well against all apparent odds. Let their designers sweat that stuff. All I gotta do is enjoy 'em. So excuse me. It seems I have a prior engagement - with myself and some promising new music...
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