My buddy and I stopped by one of our local audio stores yesterday—Hanson Audio.  The main goal was to listen to the Focal Sopra No. 2 floorstanding speakers with a tube amp, and that is what we did.



The amp was an Octave VC-70, which is an integrated tube amp that delivers 70 watts into 4 ohms and slightly less into 8 ohms.  The speakers are ~91 dB efficient and the amp never ran out of juice, so it seemed like it was a good pairing.  The speakers are said to have a fairly flat impedance curve, but I haven’t been able to confirm with a graph.  

Front end was an Auralic Vega DAC being fed by an Aurender N100 server.  The control app for the Aurender is nice.  In my opinion it’s more refined than the Bubble UPnP app I am using.  We were streaming TIDAL through the Aurender because their NAS was disconnected.  

The Sopras were extremely detailed, yet very musical.  I haven’t heard speakers this detailed in a while.  The soundstage was wide, but not that deep (my buddy described it as mostly 2D) and was vertically higher than I am used to (e.g. looking up at vocalists).  Overall I would describe the presentation as forward.

The speakers are surprisingly dynamic.  I almost jumped out of the chair during the opening hits on Castillian Drums from Dave Brubeck At Carnegie Hall.  The drum solo in this track was dynamic, engaging and the drum hits sounded natural, tight and snappy.   That said, I did cringe slightly on a few of the cymbal hits.

There were a few other times I thought the tweeter was a bit too hot, but I didn’t get any listening fatigue.   Bass was mostly good, but the room was a little too small for the speakers so there was some boom on occasion.

Overall, this setup provided a fairly different presentation vs. what I am used to.    



Next up was a trek back to my buddies place to listen to the Torii mk4 on his Zu Omen Definition speakers.  We listened to a variety of music including Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dire Straights, Michael Jackson, Melody Gardot, Cassandra Wilson.

The sound was detailed and very musical.  Not as detailed as what we heard at the audio shop, but there was plenty of detail to hear deep into the music.  In addition, the soundstage was more 3-Dimensional vs. what we had just heard at the audio shop.

I did notice some hotness/beaming with the Eminence tweeter on the Zu’s.  For instance, some of the percussion on Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough from Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall was slightly bothersome.  The treble cut helped take the edge off, but I noticed some air disappear from the music.  

The overall presentation of the Torii/Zu combo was less forward than the system at the audio shop.  The speakers disappear well and the scale is nice and big (MTM with two 10 inch drivers makes for a fairly large speaker).  Interestingly the Zu’s didn’t seem to have quite the dynamic jump of the Focal speakers.  Maybe a pre-amp would solve for this.

The other thing that’s nice about the Torii/Zu combo is that my buddy never really gets above 12 o’clock on the volume control (I think he is more typically between 9-11 o’clock), which means there is good headroom for peaks (the Omen Def’s are 101 dB).

I had the Omen Def’s at my place for a couple weeks with the ZMA and the same magic wasn’t there.  We plan to have a couple more listening sessions to investigate further, but as of right now the Torii is the better amp for these speakers.  

Overall, the Torii mk4/Zu combo is excellent.

In the past 2 weeks I have heard 3 different systems (not including my own).  All sounded very different and each had attributes that were great.  It has been fun exploring.  

Have fun and enjoy the music!

Thanks RJR.  Not sure about Dire Straights, but Dire Straits sure is a good band.  Glad you are enjoying your Torii/Zu combo!

Hi Beowulf.  I currently have Decware MG944’s.  I have been exploring potential upgrades, including the HR-1’s, and am in process of listening to as much as possible to get a sense for what is out there.

My buddy is also bothered by the high frequencies on his Zu Omen Defs.  We also experienced brightness with the Zu’s in my system, but not with the MG944’s.  

Zu uses a few different types of tweeters in their speakers.  I have heard the Omen Defs and Druids side by side with very similar amplification and I hear a noticeable difference between the Eminence and Radian 850 tweeters. For me, the Radian 850 tweeter (in the Druid) is smoother, more refined, less edgy and overall a noticeable upgrade vs. the Eminence.  Unfortunately, the 850 upgrade for the Omen Defs isn’t cheap--it adds about $1000 to the cost of the speakers (~25% the cost of the Omen Defs).  

The Zu Soul speakers Mark has are a different design overall (coaxial) vs. the speakers referenced above, so in theory should sound different than most of the other speakers in the Zu lineup.  I have seen the Soul’s in person, but have never heard them.  I have also not heard any Omega speakers, so I don’t have a reference point.

I think I can say that equipment matters since my experience suggests that the Omen Defs are capable of excellent sound (just not in my system).  I’m sure the Omegas can sound bright in some setups and not in others.  

Hi Dave,

I recently purchased the Zu Soul Supremes and have been enjoying them for almost 6 weeks now. I've owned a few Decware speakers in the past along with the Omega Super3XRS and have also been to 2 audio shows over the last few years and imho, the Zu Supremes are dollar for dollar, the finest all-around speaker that I've heard. Its essentialy the new Druid mkV in a much more elegant and eye-pleasing cabinet for me. The Radian 850 tweeter is maybe one of the most beautiful tweeters that I've ever heard. It is so open, natural, and detailed and it blends with their nano full-range driver so seamlessly. This speaker along with their Druid being 16ohm is tailor made for tube amps ( SET and OTL). What is so special for me is the fact that at 101db and my preference for not listening too loud, I can happily live with the flea power SET amps like my Zen Select.

If you really like the Zu Omen Def but can't stand the Eminence tweeter, upgrading to the Radian is the way to go. The Radian was the deciding factor for me when deciding from their floorstanding speakers. If the cost is too much like you said, talk to Sean or Gerrit and ask if they have any b-stock ( new drivers with minor cosmetic blemished cabinets). This was how I got my Supremes. In addition, their customer service is second to none. I couldn't be happier.

Dave,

Thanks for your impressions. I've owned a number of large floor standing speakers over the years. Most recently the Klipsch RF7's. None were at their best (particularly engaging) at lower volumes. I found adding Mid Bass Modules to reinforce the lower end helped a lot at lower volumes.

The RF7's had a lot of Bass at higher volumes but not necessarily the cleanest and most articulate. I think with larger speaker cabinets it's almost impossible to avoid cabinet noise. Decware full range speaker cabinets tend to be smaller resulting in a sturdier cabinet. At last years Decfest it was interesting that even the HR-1's and Monoliths Loaded-Up Steve's listen room a couple of times. Not sure if this was just the speaker cabinet becoming excited, just the room becoming excited or a combination of both. I was surprised to hear this in Steve's highly treated room.

My Omega Super Alnico monitors have really tight Bass. I used my Mid Bass Modules to reinforce the lower frequencies with great success (bigger sound). More recently I've been using Low Frequency Open Baffles (LoFOB's) that I built and they have been quite impressive (much bigger sound and much cleaner).

When doing an A/B comparison between the Mid Bass Module's and LoFOB's the difference is stark. Cabinet noise from the Mid Bass Modules masks much of the delicate Bass Lines in some music killing a lot of the rhythm & pace. I'll try to post some pic's of my latest generation LoFOB's soon.

I had considered the Zu Omen Def's. However since purchasing the Omegas I've become a big Single Driver (no crossover) fan. I also think the Monitors do everything better than my floor standers of the past. For my taste the only thing the monitors lack are a bit more Mid Bass Presence which the LoFOB's provide in abundance. I should note my RF7's lacked Mid Bass Presence a moderate volumes also.

My thinking has evolved more in favor of Monitors. Just seems more difficult integrating a large full range speaker into a room. With my RF7's for instance, placing them for best Bass reproduction and the Sound-stage suffered. Best Sound-stage placement and the Bass reproduction Suffered. So in the end I placed them for best Sound-stage and filled in the low end with Mid Bass Modules. So in the end the RF7's weren't' really full range in my room.

One thing about the Omega Monitors is they produce a very big engaging sound at low to moderate volume levels. Much of this is due to their resolution and the cohesion of a single driver. I've noticed the last few times I've demoed systems at dealers they just aren't that engaging at low to moderate volumes which is where I spend a lot of listening these days.

beowulf, sent you a PM.

DBC

The below Omega omni with 2 AlNiCo drivers looks interesting…

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=142029.0

Comments from Louis on the omni...

"Omni's like these pictured are a bit easier to place in the room and don't require the large distance that a Bipole/Dipole needs from the wall behind the speakers.

Both drivers are run full range and can be wired in either 4 ohm (parallel) or 16 ohm (series). Same as the bipole/dipole speakers. I can add dual binding posts and jumpers so it can be changed form 4 or 16 ohm.

Compaired to a single driver, the dual driver models will work half as hard as one driver, will be more sensitive and efficient and have more mid bass fill. Dynamics goes up a lot and the ability to play more complex music.

Omnis do have the excellent imaging and huge sense of space. It's excellent with classical music as well. They fill a large room easily."

Interesting read going on here. I had the house to myself last weekend and moved my Omega XRS7Mkll and Deep 8 sub and just about spent the whole weekend listening to records (a couple of cd and videos fell into the mix) and I know Steve make great speakers, so do not think I am dissing them at all, but the reaction to my Decware Rachael/ZP3 will just lay you out. I have not listened from 7pm until 2 am ever. I had to boot my buddy out Saturday night. Amazing amps these Decware amps. Happy listening.