Zu Audio Soul Superflys

[fishbones]

Anyone on here own, or have heard them?

To me, they're a very cool looking and cool philosophy speaker that has sparked my interest. I do most of my listening late night when the rest of the fam is asleep, so the high efficiency, easy to drive aspect seems like it would be a good speaker for it? And they seem to not have some of the downfalls of many other high efficiency speakers. I am still considering Totems very strongly, but can find very little info on the Superflys to compare how they might differ from say the Totem Sttafs - low-level listening performance/soundstage size or presence/imaging/palpable-presence? I have been reading threads for days, but reviews are hard to come by. I have been going through the 500+ post thread at Audiogon, but my eyes are getting blurry. So anyone having ears on them here?

[fishbones]

bump

[steveinaz]

If you're looking at Totem, I'd recommend looking into Fritz speakers; specifically the Carbon 7. I'm not trying to give myself a woody, but they really are that good. I looked at Salk, Dynaudio, and Totem...I'm glad I got a tip about Fritz speakers. Click my sig for a preview...

[fishbones]

Steve, I'm looking for something that excels (as much as a speaker can anyway) at low-level, late night listening sessions? How would you say they perform in that area? Also, how are their floorstanders (my preference), and what did you like more about the Fritz over the Totems when listening to each? Thanks

[steveinaz]

Low level listening is good, but not it's forte for sure. Fritz can build the C7 in a floorstander if you want it that way--I'm not sure of the cost increase though. Call or email him, he'll talk your ears off. I never got a chance to hear the totems, but went on the opinion of someone who had compared the two (Zero--Sean).

I believe Fritz uses the Usher version scanspeak woofer when he builds the C7 in a tower configuration--he said it was better with the increased volume of a tower, where the scanspeak carbon was better in smaller volume cabinets, because it won't as readily compress/collapse at high volumes.

Fritz talked me out of the floorstander version--he insisted the monitor sounded more tonally correct, in his opinion. He assured me I wouldn't be disappointed with the bass output of the monitor---he was right.

[steveinaz]

My review last year is a little mis-leading in respect to low level listening; now that I've had the C7 for almost a year, they could be a little better in that regard. I think it's because of the laid-back nature of the speaker, that it takes a little steam to get them to sing at their best. I think the Scanspeak mid-woofer is pretty rigid, as I rarely see it move at all, even at high levels.

[Face]

Is all your listening late night? If you're looking for something that sounds full at low volumes, it may sound boomy at regular or loud volumes. You can also move your speakers closer to boundaries(rear/side walls) for late night listening, and them move them back for regular listening.

[Conradicles]

You can also move your speakers closer to boundaries(rear/side walls) for late night listening

Troy, I do a lot of low level listening too and this that Face mentioned works extremely well with my LSi9's.

[fishbones]

Well, after many months of research, the only speaker left standing after all the dust cleared and settled...was the Zu Audio Soul Superfly. It had the most qualities of what I was looking for in a speaker (almost all), looks cool, and hopefully will sound great. I spoke to Sean at Zu Audio (great guy), told him what my finances allowed, and he hooked me up with a pair of b-stock at a great price and I should be getting them in a week or so. Lookin forward to it!

[george daniel]

If you're looking at Totem, I'd recommend looking into Fritz speakers; specifically the Carbon 7. I'm not trying to give myself a woody, but they really are that good. I looked at Salk, Dynaudio, and Totem...I'm glad I got a tip about Fritz speakers. Click my sig for a preview...

Talk to me please sir--I had Tyler Acoustics,(Taylos Monitors), then moved to a custom bookie,,and I've got the itch now--and the Carbons' are on my list.

[coolsax]

glad they were able to hook you up. Its a shame what happened to Zu Audio as they are having to resolve some money issues according to their history/bio, they hired the wrong guy to be ceo last year.

[fishbones]

glad they were able to hook you up. Its a shame what happened to Zu Audio as they are having to resolve some money issues according to their history/bio, they hired the wrong guy to be ceo last year.

Yes it was a shame. I sent Sean my condolences. I don't want to say verbatim what he told me, because it's not my place, but he said things are going in a very positive direction in that regard, and Zu company is going to be better for it. Karma has a way of working out, especially when laws were broken .

[Texas42]

I have a pair of super fly's and they are extremely nice. Very detailed and musical and great at low levels. You will love them I am certain.

Happy listening,

Dave

[steveinaz]

Talk to me please sir--I had Tyler Acoustics,(Taylos Monitors), then moved to a custom bookie,,and I've got the itch now--and the Carbons' are on my list.

Sorry for the late response George, what questions did you have? Feel free to email me, and I'll give you my home phone.

[george daniel]

Thanks-- just popping on at work--I'll get back to you this evening--thanks again--george

[steveinaz]

Short version; the Carbon 7 is a speaker that will have you listening to the music again, and not the equipment. It's been a long time since I've owned a speaker that I could just enjoy. Think of them like a low maintenance girlfriend, maybe not the flashiest thing in town, but she's consistent and seems to know exactly what you need.

[fishbones]

I have a pair of super fly's and they are extremely nice. Very detailed and musical and great at low levels. You will love them I am certain.

Happy listening,

Dave

Thanks for the response Dave. What do you have them powered with? My equipment isn't ideal for them, but was going to be changing some things anyway down the road - still at a toss up of what to do exactly.

[madmax]

I have the Druid MK4's and the Def. Excellent speakers in all respects. Here is a thread I started about them. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...ighlight=audio
madmax

[fishbones]

I have the Druid MK4's and the Def. Excellent speakers in all respects. Here is a thread I started about them. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...ighlight=audio
madmax

Yep, I saw that thread, and re-read it again. Thanks!
I almost changed my mind to the Omen Defs after talking to Sean on the phone (with his suggestion of what equipment I had currently), but after telling him what equip I was looking at down the road, and what qualities I wanted in a speaker, we decided the Superfly's were the right direction for me. Glad you're enjoying them!

[madmax]

Its all a crapshoot until you hook them up in your room with your electronics. I can say the Def is extremely close in character to my Avantgarde Duo. Not bad for a $3500 speaker! I hope you do a review of the Superfly, it was high on my list too.

Here is one thing which is different about these Zu. The amplifier is everything. I'm not saying a higher quality amplifier vs lower quality is better or worse. The speakers sound totally different with different amp characteristics. I ran through many different amps laying around the house and each one gave a very different performance. All these amps would have sounded similar on many other speakers. Also, when first unpacked the Def sounded OK for awhile then got very annoying, then got better, then worse again then much better as they burned in over a few hundred hours. After all was said and done they sound great every time now.

[doctor r]

Have not owner Zu speakers, but I love thier cables. What type of equipment are you looking to move towards that Sean thought the Superfly's were the better choice? It is enjoyable to call a company, talk directly to one of the owners, and receive insightful guidance. I was glad to see that they weathered the storm last year and are now moving forward as an even more solid "built in the USA" audio company.

[fishbones]

I'm leaning toward a Virtue Audio 901 Sensation w/ Dodd tube buffer. Sean said he has heard this combo and was very impressed. I believe Seth (Virtue Audio) brought this configuration over to Zu's booth at one of the shows and it was a real eye-opener for them. The Superfly's don't do well with too many solid state amps, at any price, but this combo sounded really good to them. He said it bettered the Levinson and Krell equipment they had on hand (as far as solid state anyway).

I have no doubt they would probably sound better with all tube, and it would be cool to try some lower wattage tube amps, but I'm trying to lean towards a more family freindly setup these days. Sean thought I would be very happy with this combo - even considering all of the great tube equipment he's heard them with. Sean did say he thought the tube buffer made an important difference for the Superfly's. Without it, they tend to sound a little lean.

Yes, it was great to talk to one of the visionaries behind this speaker directly. Getting that kind of experienced guidance when deciding on a product is getting harder to find these days. And he is such a great guy. He was extremely helpful and genuinely passionate about good sound.

BTW, I have their Zu Mission speaker cables on order too ...I have heard equally good things about their cables. And I will do a review on them after I make sure of their long break-in. DocR, if you ever were interested in driving down to hear them, you're more than welcome too.

[steveinaz]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be weary of a speaker that is so amp picky...

[madmax]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be weary of a speaker that is so amp picky...

I thought that too at first. My highest dollar amps sounded ok, some of the other tubes sounded ok but not as good, none of the SS did much good. I found the more power the SS amp had the less quality and the less the perceived volume was. My Dayton 30wpc T-amp was the best. Not only better than the others but extremely good.

Now I've decided maybe an amp dependent speaker is not so bad so long as you can try a few and pick out the best. Once its mated to the correct one the sound is amazing.

The final outcome was the $100 t-amp/Zu Def combo, $3600 total, was just a step away from the Manley Signiture amps/Avantgardes, $30K total. A friend described the difference as "the Avantgardes sound a little more mature. I agreed with his comment. This is in a HUGE listening room too which you would expect the Avantgardes to have quite the advantage. I also found with the ZU, both the Druid and the Def, the smaller the room the smaller the performance image although quality remains high. Also, they can be tuned quite easily to match any sound you desire in any given room using only the height adjustment of the feet. These do not have the typical high end high efficiency speaker "sound".

[madmax]

BTW, for late night super low level listening I have never heard any speaker sound better than any of the Polk SDA's with a low powered tube amp. You can turn down to the lowest level you can hear and within minutes they are giving you a full performance and completely imerse you in sound, you can hear everything in a very involving way. Nothing like it. I've tried the 1.2's, 2.3's, CRS and 1C's this way.