I would love to hear your opinions of the Zu dirty weekends verse the Betsy baffles. I mostly listen to jazz and acoustic in a room over my garage that is approximately 14x30. I use a Peachtree Decco and stream through a Chromecast hockey puck into the built-in DAC.

thank you in advance

Andy

I've had both speakers, and I personally didn't care for the Zu that much. I love their design ideas, the simplicity, and I really loved the electric blue stain with aluminum accents...but to me they sounded pretty bla. I get why they have a reputation for being "party speakers"...meaning, something to project a playlist loudly while you're having a lot of friends over for beer pong and playing pool.

Now, I've never owned their higher end speakers, but even at Axpona and RMAF I felt their speakers were...OK.

The Betsy on the other hand have always been musical and involving. They might not play as loud or deep as the Zu, but everything they do is enjoyable. They punch above their weight class for sure.  

Another I've owned and really enjoyed in the sub-$1000 price range was the Omega speakers. I had some of their older Alnico Monitors and really enjoyed them. I sold them expecting to get a newer pair of his speakers but funds needed to be diverted to house projects and I never got around to another pair. So yeah, if you can find some used Omega, they are worth a try.

And of course, the Decware MG-944 speakers that are unfortunately no longer made are great if you can find a pair used.

I’m an equipment hoarder and have all 3 speakers.  Here’s a quick rundown of the highs and lows of each.

ZU Dirty Weekend.  I like em.  They seem to do nothing bad, they didn’t have any glaring deficiencies to me and yes, they really can rock out if you like your music loud.  Interestingly enough I found them pretty good with both tubes and solid state.  You must pay attention to how much off the floor they are.  They are super picky about that floor to port distance.  So much so that what works for one amp may not work for another.  Get it wrong and they can sound weird.  Fun speakers and I could live with them.

Caintuck Betsy.  Boy when you can get these set up right and in a good room, AND with the right kind of music, they can sing and throw a beautifully deep and layered soundstage.  You really need the right kind of room with these and even then, at their best, there still is a sometimes too noticeable suck out in the lower midrange upper bass.  The highs beam with these.  I can’t listen to them without a slight tilt upwards towards my ears.  I raise them up with 2x4’s so the baffle remains solid to the floor.

Omega 3’s.  Omegas are my favorite speakers.  They are my main go to speakers and what I listen to in my primary listening room.  Currently I have the 3’s, the 8’s and Alnicos.  Don’t ask me what’s the best because their isn’t a best model.  Each model has strengths and weaknesses.

The 3’s are very fast efficient speakers.  Across their frequency range, they seem to me to have the flattest most even response compared to the 8’s and Alnicos.  Seriously, these speakers sound like electrostatics.  They image beautifully and just LOVE tube amps.  You can run them with SS but for me, the difference is such that I say why bother.  The bass is a little more even down to about 65hz than with the Betsys but the Betsys seem to go lower after that.  The weakness is that the highs can get a bit wispy for lack of a better word.  If you are looking at the 3i’s, I’d suggest getting some small lower to the ground Angled stands rather than a typical bookshelf type stand.  It’ll help flesh out the lower midrange and bass.

Really at the end of the day, your tolerance for bass, or really lack of bass is going to be the biggest factor.  If you do do like bass and listening louder, you might only like the Zus.  Otherwise, all are nice speakers when set up properly with good equipment.

Good luck.

No I was referencing the 3i Monitor,but the 3xrs floorstanders are very similar to the 3i with A touch more bass and warmth.

The Lii15 are the real deal .!!!

Not 3i's but I have Lii 15's and Omega XRS SAHO's with 6.5" alnico drivers.  These speakers have a very similar tonal quality. The Lii 15's sound a bit faster to my ears, are very engaging, with a very "you are there" presence. Incredible soundstage width and voicing. These speakers are very dynamic.

The SAHO's have a deeper soundstage. Vocals sound a bit more recessed, like a mid-hall listening position. A very satisfying soulful sound, particularly on vocals, strings, and and acoustic music. They go a bit deeper in frequency response than the Lii 15's.

Both speakers can be played at very high listening levels without breaking up, but I generally listen at lower levels ~80dB or so.  I imagine with the smaller drivers the 3i's sound faster than the SAHO's and give up some bass response to the Lii 15's.  If you listen to a lot of orchestral or heavy rock music with deeper bass, the Lii 15's should have the edge.

Keep in mind the Lii 15's (or any open baffle speaker) need to be pulled out from the rear walls about 3' to sound best.  If you speaker positions are limited, a box speaker like the 3i's would likely be a better choice.

HK

I have a pair of Coherent model 10's and I have owned DW's (and still own other Zus).  Love them both.  The Coherents have better detail and clarity than the Zus, more open and transparent.  The DW's dig deeper in the bass, better dynamics, tighter bass, and better focus/tone density.  Despite having lower sensitivity by a couple db, I think the Coherents play better with low power tube amps than the DW's, which IMO shine more with 10+ watts, not that you can't enjoy them with a fleawatt amp, just that my preference with them was more power.  That said, I use a 3 watt amp with my Zu Defheads in my bedroom system, but that's a smaller room.

I also have a pair of F15's on order from Randy.

Oh, and I will add that DW's with a ZROCK2 strapped into the system is an absolute party.