I have seen some conflicting information regarding Zu speakers and whether or not they build and use their own drivers. The link below shows pictures from the Zu factory. These picture show them in fact building their own drivers. Pretty impressive.
Any opinions on the quality of sound? I think it is great that they are not using off the shelf drivers, as has been stated at times, like Eminence or APT.
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=177239
Any opinions on the quality of sound? I think it is great that they are not using off the shelf drivers, as has been stated at times, like Eminence or APT.
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=177239
Crimony, I bothered to register, and it won't allow me access to that thread.
Obnoxious.
Funny thing of note, another thread there has my post on Zu at audioasylum linked. Seems someone likes my calling of Zu's lies.
APT isn't a manufacturer, it's a part #. The compression driver they appear to be using is an eminence APT-50 on a custom Al horn.
I would be very surprised if they were building their own drivers....
Obnoxious.
Funny thing of note, another thread there has my post on Zu at audioasylum linked. Seems someone likes my calling of Zu's lies.
APT isn't a manufacturer, it's a part #. The compression driver they appear to be using is an eminence APT-50 on a custom Al horn.
I would be very surprised if they were building their own drivers....
I believe ZU have been using custom made drivers
Its my understanding that they today build drivers inhouse, with standard parts from various firms like Eminence mixed with their own special parts
Or maybe the inhouse driver building is only about proto experiments
About the APT 50 it seems like its changed to a ribbon, on customers request who found the APT horn too crude
Not sure about the ribbon
Maybe modified Tangband
Or maybe it was only tried and later changed to a custom RAAL
Its my understanding that they today build drivers inhouse, with standard parts from various firms like Eminence mixed with their own special parts
Or maybe the inhouse driver building is only about proto experiments
About the APT 50 it seems like its changed to a ribbon, on customers request who found the APT horn too crude
Not sure about the ribbon
Maybe modified Tangband
Or maybe it was only tried and later changed to a custom RAAL
I was always under the impression that the main drivers were made to their specs. by Eminence, who are very good at offering this facility to small companies. The Hammerdynamics & Hawthorn Audio units are done in that way; from the looks of things the Bastani drivers that some people seem to have been raving about over the past 6 months may also be made by them.
Whatever, I gathered that Zu had shifted, or were starting to shift to, a ribbon in place of their old horn-loaded unit, source unknown. I have a suspicion that might, in the long term, bite back on them because partnering ribbons & dynamic drivers is a major PITA, and the transition is rarely seemless, even when crossed up high. YMMV of course. Good advert for Zu though, this, isn't it?
Whatever, I gathered that Zu had shifted, or were starting to shift to, a ribbon in place of their old horn-loaded unit, source unknown. I have a suspicion that might, in the long term, bite back on them because partnering ribbons & dynamic drivers is a major PITA, and the transition is rarely seemless, even when crossed up high. YMMV of course. Good advert for Zu though, this, isn't it?
Scottmoose said:
Sure is
Its probably very important with such changes, which results in new tests and gained interest
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/zu16/essence.html
edit, if you mean this thread is good advert, I dont think it matters much...its more likely so that some would want to build a "clone", only to find it impossible
Hmmm, that 6moons piece shows drivers being modded.
Also, IIRC, a picture of a recent model showed an Eminence sticker on the rear of the driver. OTOH, I could be mistaken or it could have been an earlier model; I don't think so, because it kind of stuck in my mind at the time... and few things do.
Cheers
Also, IIRC, a picture of a recent model showed an Eminence sticker on the rear of the driver. OTOH, I could be mistaken or it could have been an earlier model; I don't think so, because it kind of stuck in my mind at the time... and few things do.
Cheers
badman said:
That was me. A poster dropped Zu into a thread regarding Lowther drivers. I pointed out that Zu's use of a relatively inexpensive guitar speaker is not the same as using a Lowther.
The poster responded that Zu used their own drivers, not the Eminence, and that this had always been the case. He then posted pictures sent by Zu showing the construction of the drivers in the shop that Zu apparently sent his way upon request. Well, it appears that there remains a fair bit of controversy regarding the origin of these drivers. So I called out the poster to either rebut a poster and Zu owner from Audiocircle, who had indicated that Eminence drivers were part of his speakers, or tell us why we were being misled as to these origins.
That thread was removed without an explanation from the poster regarding the pictures and the claims that Zu makes its own drivers. I did not think it was too harsh calling out the poster, who claimed to have visited the factory and seen the drivers built.
Too bad it went this far, but for some reason the poster did want to address these contrary opinions. I would think that the manufacturer and poster would have wanted to clear this up. Oh well.
Well, in fairness to them, I can't honestly think of a good reason why Zu should just give out details of their drivers (or anything else for that matter) to all & sundry. What would be in it for them?
From my POV, I can't really see why it should matter if Zu's drivers are built by Eminence to their spec., or if they are the major source of parts. They are regularly written off in some circles, possibly due to snobbery, or a lack of understanding of commercial realities, but if you step back & consider the reality of the situation, things look a bit different. Eminence are the largest driver manufacturer in the world, and it's not exactly as if they don't know what they're doing -their engineering is usually first rate for the money (more you spend, better it gets, as is right and proper, but it's never less than decent), and they have an enormous parts bin & custom facilities, which should help keep costs down through economies of scale. This is ideal for small companies (possibly Zu & Bastani, certainly Hammerdynamics & Hawthorne, and many others as well), because it means they should be able to aquire a well-engineered driver or components built to their requirements for a reasonable price, which is important, given that they're a business, with the object of making money. Put it this way, if I ever needed to get a custom driver built, Eminence would certainly be one of my first ports of call.
From my POV, I can't really see why it should matter if Zu's drivers are built by Eminence to their spec., or if they are the major source of parts. They are regularly written off in some circles, possibly due to snobbery, or a lack of understanding of commercial realities, but if you step back & consider the reality of the situation, things look a bit different. Eminence are the largest driver manufacturer in the world, and it's not exactly as if they don't know what they're doing -their engineering is usually first rate for the money (more you spend, better it gets, as is right and proper, but it's never less than decent), and they have an enormous parts bin & custom facilities, which should help keep costs down through economies of scale. This is ideal for small companies (possibly Zu & Bastani, certainly Hammerdynamics & Hawthorne, and many others as well), because it means they should be able to aquire a well-engineered driver or components built to their requirements for a reasonable price, which is important, given that they're a business, with the object of making money. Put it this way, if I ever needed to get a custom driver built, Eminence would certainly be one of my first ports of call.
Still, not exactly the same as Lowther.
Too bad we just could not have gotten an informed post like this and moved on. It would have saved everyone time and hardship.
Let us just say that the discussion revolved around other elements and the issue of what Zu uses or does not use brought many of those into play.
Too bad we just could not have gotten an informed post like this and moved on. It would have saved everyone time and hardship.
Let us just say that the discussion revolved around other elements and the issue of what Zu uses or does not use brought many of those into play.
Attachments
Ah, yes. Well. That kind of thing can happen unfortunately.
No, it's not the same as a Lowther / similarly priced 'name' FR driver, but that shouldn't really be an issue. Sure, you usually get what you pay for in this life, but a/ you need to compare like with like in order to draw any valid assessments, and b/ it very much depends on what it is you're actually doing. A £50,000 driver from the most worshiped name in the book isn't going to do you a whole lot of good if it doesn't fit your basic requirements.
Of course, the high-end names -Lowther, Fertin, Supravox, PHY et al have the mystique factor, but then, they're driver manufacturers, not speaker manufacturers, and that's their stock in trade. A speaker company OTOH doesn't / shouldn't really run up against this matter, because they're not selling raw units, but completed speaker systems. That said, if they put out a load of marketing nonsense, they might well get called on it, in which case, they only have themselves to blame.
No, it's not the same as a Lowther / similarly priced 'name' FR driver, but that shouldn't really be an issue. Sure, you usually get what you pay for in this life, but a/ you need to compare like with like in order to draw any valid assessments, and b/ it very much depends on what it is you're actually doing. A £50,000 driver from the most worshiped name in the book isn't going to do you a whole lot of good if it doesn't fit your basic requirements.
Of course, the high-end names -Lowther, Fertin, Supravox, PHY et al have the mystique factor, but then, they're driver manufacturers, not speaker manufacturers, and that's their stock in trade. A speaker company OTOH doesn't / shouldn't really run up against this matter, because they're not selling raw units, but completed speaker systems. That said, if they put out a load of marketing nonsense, they might well get called on it, in which case, they only have themselves to blame.
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