During our visit over a fun-filled weekend, the Zu offices displayed the telltale signs of men at work: a new butch 18" woofer under consideration; an old Luxman direct-drive turntable awaiting its Zu makeover; a photo shoot bay; stylish Mac computers exclusively, wirelessly networked for instantaneous sharing; awards and show displays on the wall; and various bits and pieces of work left unfinished for the coming Monday.
A sizeable magazine rack in the resident sound room houses a plethora of European, Asian and American print magazines. Yellow sticky notes indicate a review or ad if the cover itself doesn't give away why a particular mag finds itself filed away here. To date, Asian press coverage completely obliterates US or European sightings.


During our visit, the resident system with Melody 1688 II preamp and Zu-modified Audiopax Model 88s fed Tone monitors and the newest entry into the line, the Mini Method 2 x 10" sealed subwoofer. This ultra-potent Mini will go to market shortly for a projected retail of $1,500.


So taken was Ivette by the Mini's appearance that she commissioned Zu to build her a pair of burgundy lacquer Tones, with the Mini's grill cosmetics on a Tone box slightly taller and shallower than the stocker. Apparently custom requests at Zu are quite common and the resident maniacs do their best to accommodate them. "Stoked customers are by far the best advertising game going" seems like a running theme here.
Melody's SP3, Atma-Sphere's S30, Butler's TDB 2250 and Yamamoto's A-08S are resident Zu amps as is a monstrous Rogue Audio Zeus in Adam's dedicated basement rig. Ditto for an Opera Audio Droplet CDP, an Audiopax preamp, a Benchmark Media DAC and various hard drives.
Zu's boisterous new - um, corporate tag line reads A Revolution in American Hi-Fi. It telegraphs patriotic pride in made in the US roots. It also hints at a deliberate focus on vintage audio values. Those manifest as high sensitivities, tube friendliness, wideband drivers, wide baffles with shallow cabinets, paper cone diaphragms, minimum or no crossovers and very high power handling. This return to 50's and 60's sensibilities does, in today's climate, constitute somewhat of a revolution. It's a return to core values which Zu believes were too hastily abandoned for lesser solutions that ultimately don't serve the music as well.

Revolutionary too -- in High-End's somewhat stuffy, dogmatic and old climate at least -- is Zu's enthusiastic embrace of popular DJ and dance hall culture. At HE 2006 in Los Angeles, this is planned to be demonstrated as an after-hour Zu-hosted rave party. On the "Stereophile Show" premises. With venue permission already granted until 2:00AM. With a professional DJ running the rave. When asked what kind of artillery Zu was planning to shlepp to LaLa Land, Sean merely grinned. Mischievously. Dare I imagine that the manly 18-inch woofer on the office table was no mere coincidence?

In an ageing industry, Decaria & Casey (Adam's 30 with four kids; at 35, Sean is Zu's patriarch with three kids) enjoy their youthful elan as a formidable weapon. But it's also an in-built curse. The latter aspect manifests predominantly by way of a diehard perception. Digging hard-hitting music at happy levels has to coincide with something not entirely fit for and appropriate to High-End ambitions. Never mind that it's got to be proof positive of a lack of proper science and engineering chops. "I mean, dude, if their solutions were truly as radical and happening as reviews and customers insist they are, then how the frick come that none of the majors have embraced 'em a long time ago? See?" Good question indeed. If a convincing retort is slow in the coming, don't blame Zu for your personal difficulties. Having just returned from an Arizona trip to install and set up a pair of Definition Pros, Adam shared that their newest customer Archie has worked his bleeding edge ascent up Mount Perfection from Avantgarde Trios to $135K Wilson Audio Alexandrias. Yet he now lives far happier and with money to burn on a pair of Pros driven by two FirstWatt F3s because the big Wilsons never entirely worked out for his room (and his wife is happier with the Definitions' more demure appearance).Two of Nelson Pass' glorious JFET power amps on the bi-amped Definitions Pros? That ought to be the sledge hammer in a deerskin glove. Very righteous, me thinketh!


For this Scottsdale/Arizona desert installation, Jason's spray booth and hand buffing created a metallic silver coat which, depending on light conditions, goes slightly plum or mauve to pick up the faint hues of the silk walls.

But resting on their laurels isn't something youthful vigor and competitive drive make possible for our deceptively low-key Zu men. Always planning ahead, always experimenting, stepping into Adam's digs had me come eye to eye with a one-up Druid on 'roids. It likely will never see the light of day outside Adam's crib yet it does presently serve as an experimental platform whereby to test different cabinet loading schemes, baffle widths and radiation patterns (note the rear-firing widebander in this iteration).

Reminiscent of the stark discrepancy between the modest log homes of the early Salt Lake settlers and the hard-to-correlate splendor of the temple they fashioned by hand over a span of forty years, Sean & Adam take gleeful pleasure in their humble beginnings which forced them to push far on very little.

Having lived very simply in foreign lands by the time they were 19, both were forced to cultivate personal resourcefulness early on. For Sean & Adam and their team, Zu is a test bed for how to get good results with a smartly applied simplicity that isn't too proud to lean on the past.


Church founder Joseph Smith who received and translated the gold tablets from Moroni is known by his people as the Prophet of the Restoration. We saw the movie that chronicles his life at his Memorial in Salt Lake City. His sculpture takes pride of place in the foyer above. Restoration of a different kind is a core concern for Zu. High-End audio has become irrelevant to the masses due to its pricing and a focus on performance parameters that speak more to the head than the heart.


Technology for technology's sake. Reliance on measurements over listening with one's ears. Faux advances in hi-tech materials that sound worse than plain paper. Complex crossovers that screw up dynamics and the time domain. Presentations that fall apart when asked to play at realistic SPLs and with the kind of bass energy and dynamics that are present in clubs.


These and related matters are what Zu attempts to address in their own ways. These folks hope to restore the accessibility and relevance of high performance audio to more people than just the few already inside the church of audiophilia. Looking at their growth curve, Zu seems to be on the right track. Particularly gratifying for 'em are their many vocal customers who often end up more than customers and in some cases even travel to Ogden just to meet the Zu men and women face to face. Zu's sub isn't the only item on the menu then that's got solid method behind it.

In conclusion, my visit to the Zu factory merely reconfirmed impressions I had already collected from exposure to their products and subsequent e-mails and phone calls during the various reviews I've penned on the Druid, Method, Definition Mk.1.5, Definition Pro and Varial.

These gents march to their own drummer. Their beat epitomizes a much-needed return to fair pricing, sane realism in sizing, aesthetics and how much power it takes to drive their speakers. While especially loudspeakers are very much a matter of personal taste, there can be no denying by even their stoutest of opponents that Zu Audio is contributing something fresh and new to our scene. That's exciting and worth reporting on all by itself. Kudos to these young Turks, for showing us old goats [example of one facing you to left] how to have fun again!
Zu Audio website