Zu Omen Dirty Weekend Sale

Let me say first that I paid $2,400 for the OD used plus I paid my moving guy to go to the Orlando area to bring them down.

There are a lot of things that I like about them, but there are some areas that can stand to be improved. My objective here is to identify those areas and implement suitable improvements.

I find that the OD's have a distinct edge to them, that I don't think the DW have to that extent.

Before this room, which is on the bright side, all of the rooms that I have had during my lifetime, have been heavily damped.

Going into this room, I was really expecting to have significant issues, but (thankfully) that proved not to be true. I like the brightness, it puts a sparkle into the performance and makes the music overcome the "darkness" and come alive.

I was never imagining that a 10" full range driver would bring that much harshness to the table.

But I was suitability perplexed? On one hand, the tweeter is only really active at rather high frequency's, more so than a usual tweeter.

On the other hand, a speaker's harshness, is usually attributed to, or at least begin's with the tweeter.

Because of that, I was considering to do the tweeter upgrade first to see if that would tame the issues with brightness?

What are your thoughts on this?

I can understand that.

Maybe among current "owner's" but as you are reading this thread, you are reading about people who just cant deal with the "brightness" of the Zu's.

I can understand in a heavily dampened room, that they will be not as aggressive and overly bright sounding.

 

Zu were super cool about the return. A full refund is pending, so I cant complain -they honored their 60 day return policy. If Zu ever decide to make a line of HE speakers that are EQ'd like Harbeth with more warmth, then we'll be talking again...

 

Definitely consider a capacitor upgrade to the Clarity Cap. That should take a bit of edge off. It's only $100 for the kit and easy to install. I've done it myself, but not with a twin driver array like Omen Def, only with single driver models like Omen, so I don't know if it's any more complicated (probably not). My experience kind of echoes this review here: Removing the grain (Part 2 - Zu Soul MKII and ClarityCap MR) | Darko.Audio

As far as the tweeter upgrade, it's harder for me to say if it'd be a significant upgrade. My Superflys had the old tweeters. My Omens feel like they are a little smoother through the treble, but I'm not sure if that's due to the "warmer" 12 ohm drivers or because they use the new tweeters Zu now uses, since the tweeter doesn't fully take over until 12kHz. FWIW, I will say having held both in my hands, the new tweeters feel more substantial and better built.

And I wasn't trying to talk you out of the driver upgrades, just giving you a caveat emptor. The 16 ohm drivers are definitely a step up if you love the Zu sound and your amp and you want more of it. They are definitely more resolving and the increased attack of notes and the texture of deep bass can be addictive. But if your current sound feels edgy I don't think upgrading drivers will help.

I'd give Zu a call, explain to them your likes/dislikes, and see what they recommend. They have the same 60 day guarantee on upgrades too, nothing to lose there.

 

Anybody use Zu with Naim amps ...? How does that combo sound? (Particularly interested in the basic Nait with "dirty weekends".)

 

I installed the ClarityCap upgrade in my DWs. Hated it at first, hated it less as they burnt in (about 30 hours), but still don't like them. I will replace them with the originals very soon. Yes, they definitely take off the edge, and provide better bass extension, but the balance is gone. I did find the unaltered DWs a little harsh, but not painfully so, but they sound, for lack of a better word, "coherent". I loved them on first listen. The Clarity Caps render the DWs "schizophrenic", in that there are passages of music when it seems like the tweeter has no idea what the FR driver is doing, and the FR driver gets muted and fuzzy.

I installed the caps one speaker at a time so I could hear the difference, and the opinion was the same for everyone in my household, the definition was gone with the new caps. This has improved over time, but I don't believe another 100 more hours of burn-in will improve them significantly.

 

Well, this is embarrassing. I am afraid I must eat crow. I swapped one of the original caps back in to compare, and lo and behold, for most of my test material, the Clarity Cap enabled Zu Dirty Weekend sounded better. The original caps have a harsher presentation. And after what must have been sufficient burn in, the Clarity Caps do not exhibit my perceived "schizophrenia" to the same extent. I would say, that under most circumstances, the Clarity Cap upgrade will be a significant improvement over the original.

I recently obtained an old Kenwood KR-4600 receiver, and with all music tested, the CC DW was smoother, and not at all harsh as compared to the original. With a Musical Paradise MP-301 SET tube amp with KT-88s, the original-cap DWs sounded better only with some Mazzy Star recordings.

I originally ordered these caps because of the reviews, and they were a great disappointment when I first installed them. It's frustrating that something as simple as a capacitor requires burn-in to rise to its optimal state. I'm happy now, that I've improved my DWs for a very reasonable amount, but the road to a "perfect" sound system seems excessively circuitous to me. Such is the burden of a hi-fi geek, I guess.

 

Is there really any places to check out some Zu's without having to commit to them and return if needed. I've very curious based on their whole design philosophy, but based on descriptions I've always been hesitant.

 

I give my experience with these.
I upgraded to the Clarity caps last November. I noticed an immediate improvement, without any burn in. I was told the caps would require a few hundred hours burn in to sound their best. The upgrade gives the Zu's a more relaxed presentation. I drive these with my Raven Audio Blackhawk. So far I am pleased, and highly recommend this $100 cap upgrade.

 

I waited for Zu to attend an audio show.

 

Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will have them at Lone Star Audio Fest. That'll be my first show, but I know it's not one of the big ones.

 

Zu offer's an in home trial, you can return them if you are not completely satisfied.

 

I'm aware, but sometimes I just want to give things a quick demo to see if it's even in my wheelhouse. Sometimes though I do think about taking advantage of all these options. Very tempting to save up and order some Zu's and a PrimaLuna and take everything over to my dealer and have an old fashioned shootout for a day. Maybe toss some PS Audio gear in the mix.

 

Time for another Omen Dirty Weekend sale. Who's buying?
Omen Dirty Weekend [Mk.II]

 

Zu Audio’s Omen Dirty Weekend sale returns!

SALE

 

I own Zu speakers and I am not the biggest fan in the world of them, but the DW's, on sale are one of the great speaker buys on the market today.

Because they are sensitive, they can play with a wide range of amplifier's, including the lower powered tube amplifiers.

 

A great buy indeed.

If anyone is considering these, I recommend spending the extra $100 for the Clarity Cap upgrade.

 

I’d love to know how the OP @Seancito has felt about his upgrade from Vandersteen 1Cs to Zu Omen DWs, as I’m thinking about making the same upgrade. Also wondering if my Rogue Sphinx V2 would be a good match for the Omens. I mostly listen to 50s/60s jazz, but some classic and modern rock, and classical as well.

 

I had similar equipment- the Sphinx and Vandersteens, but then my Sphinx had issues with the balance knob and I traded that in for a Cronus Magnum II, which I love. The Sphinx will pair nicely with the Omens and tubes. It does really well with jazz and acoustic guitar and instrumentals, but also does well with rock. I used to have an itch to upgrade speakers, and don’t have that urge to upgrade anymore...

 

All the write up's , literature , magazine articles , forum pages say these speakers are very bright and full range(aka jbl L100). Upgrading the capacitor will not make this buyer happy.

 

Hmm, If I get DWs, I will start with the stock (I like Mazzy Star too!), then consider upgrades later.

 

Consider the cap upgrade to be good advise.

I don't have the DW's, I have the original Omen Definitions and they have the older tweeter.

This tweeter is horribly harsh!