There’s a lot in information already on this forum on the subject. Between this forum’s search bar and a google search starting with “decware forum” you should get several results.

Sorry Steihl, I think I should have said Welcome to the forum!

I’m sure there are some folks here that will give you their impressions. I think the consensus is favorable. But you might need to biamp if you are looking for earth shaking bass.

Hi Stiehl!

I have had PAP speakers in my system for nearly eight years now, and have owned a pair of Lii Song’s big ZF15L speakers for a year and a half.  I know that I would be far happier pairing the 2 watt Zen with the ZF15Ls.  

The Lii Songs are more efficient, they are one-third the cost of the Duets, and there is no crossover to muddy up the signal and steal precious power from your amp.  They are also a stunningly beautiful speaker.

Lii Song will have them on your door step in a matter of weeks for around $2500 including shipping.  Or, you can buy a pair of Steve’s original hardwood version for the same cost as a pair of PAP Duets.

My vote is for Lii Song ZF15Ls!

Dear Stiehl,

My vote is for the Lii ZF15L...but I wish you or any other Decware/Lii fan would design and build a proper front loaded horn enclosure for the Lii Fast15. I have built Steve's Headwrecker's using the Lii P-10' and am very pleased with the outcome and performance. Many people speak highly of the ZF15L open baffle but imagine what the fast 15 would be in a well designed box. I would hope the Fast 15 enclosure would be not as massive as the Headwreckers, that size would put a lot of people off.

Please, I ask of someone much smarter than me, design this perfect box for the amazing Lii 15" drives.

Hi sthiel,
I never listened to the Duets. I would expect that Doug's experience and reasoning applies well in a comparison of the Duets and ZF15L.

I have listened to Steve's ZF15L at Decware. His are made of glued up hardwood. Lii Song's ZF15L's are made of composite materials. Composites mostly center around a single resonance while natural hardwood will be excited by many. I have not had the pleasure to audition Lii's version but think it would be a bit dull as compared to a hardwood baffle. Something that could be detected over prolonged time.

I can only imagine what a wood pecker would sound like in the woods pecking on a composite hollow tube planted in the ground as compared to an insect hollowed out tree.

Needless to say, I would go with Steve's offering. It will present some unforgettable lively music. I would have a pair if my room permitted.

The Lii Songs will surprise you, At first they were real paint peelers but after about 6 months of break in we became good friends.
I have the P-10's in the Headwreckers and the S-10's in a soapstone open baffle. The S-10's are the perfect midrange. I use a 300B Douk for them that is pretty nice.
I've always wanted the F-15's and may yet build a front loaded horn with a stone front. You know when an audio thing gets in your head, you've got to do something about it.
Let us know how you proceed.

After looking some more, it seems like Lii upgraded the F-15 with the Fast-15 to improve the low end bass. Seems like a valid option. I am a bit confused on whether this speaker would be better paired with the solid wood from Decware or the MDF/Veneer/Lacquer from Lii audio. Anyone know about the differences with the Fast-15s?

My Lii Song ZF15Ls have Fast 15 drivers.  I have never found them lacking in any area except possibly one, and that area is sound stage.  In all fairness though, I’m comparing them to my seven feet tall PAP Quintets.  The Quintets have, by a very large margin, the deepest, widest, tallest sound stage I’ve ever experienced.  And it’s not an exaggerated sound stage; it’s a life size, realistic sound stage.  I don’t believe that the Lii Song ZF15Ls are capable of this kind of sound stage in any room.

The bass capability of the ZF15Ls is quite good, especially if you have a ZROCK in the signal path.  Can they dive down into the lowest octave?  Not with the authority of a big subwoofer, but there’s not a lot of music that goes that low anyway.  Without the ZROCK, I would not be completely satisfied with the ZF15Ls playing every type of music, but with the ZROCK, I’m happy with all music genres.  The bass is very fast and detailed as well.

Vocal reproduction is better with ZF15Ls than any speaker I’ve ever heard.  I’ve personally owned and extensively used several well known speakers that now retail between $19,000 and $36,000 a pair, and none of them do vocals as well as ZF15Ls.  Even though the Quintets are a superior speaker overall, they are also slightly inferior in vocal performance compared to the ZF15Ls. These Fast 15 drivers on a large thick 150 pound baffle simply can’t be beat when it comes to vocal performance.

Treble is exceptional……possibly the best cymbal reproduction I’ve heard.  Do the Lii Songs lack the the “twinkle” and the “fizz” that speakers with a tweeter have?  Maybe above 15k hertz, but is all that fizz needed?  Does it make music sound more realistic? I don’t think so.  Do the ZF15Ls leave out all the important overtones?  No, as almost all of the important, and very audible, overtones are below 4k hertz.  Most of the rest of the audible overtones are below 8k hertz. On decent recordings, I’ve never felt as if any part of the frequency spectrum is missing.

Regarding differences between the F-15 and the Fast 15drivers, there is extensive discussion in these very forums in the not-too-distant past.  Interestingly, Steve uses both of these drivers—the F-15 in his ZF15L and the Fast 15 in the ZROB.  

The MDF that Lii Song uses is the same ultra high quality MDF used in many six figure grand pianos, and the real wood veneer they use is stunning.  Do Steve’s ZF15Ls look better and sound better?  Maybe….probably…..

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt, as these are my personal experiences, in my listening room, with my ears, with my electronics, etc., etc., etc.

Hi Doug. Thank you so much for the reply. Your experience gives me a lot to think about the mull over. I appreciate it!

Your confusion got me searching. It is my understanding that Lii Song formed around 2016 after some sort of split up with Lii Audio. Lii Song has most of the drivers used in Steve's creations.

In my search it was found that the 10" Crystals are on the Lii Audio site. I have a pair of those in my system which was a "flagship" driver back in 2018/19. It was popular here with many threads. I also wondered why there was no reference to the Crystals on Lii Song's site. Your confusion led to mine being cleared up. Thank you for that!

As far as counterfeits, stay away from any claims on any of the Chinese resellers that advertise Lii Song or Lii Audio. Buy from the companies direct using PayPal services. Lii Song has warehouses in USA so delivery is expendided and may have no tariffs if it is pre Trump tariff stock.

Stiehl, I just realized that a couple of your questions from your last post have not been answered.  Sorry about that oversight.
1)  Decware sources drivers from Lii Song.
2)  My Fast 15 drivers have the green Lii Song labeling.

Thinking about my recent comments on the ZF15Ls, I thought it might be a good idea to slide them back into the system to see if I still feel the same way about them as I did nearly a year ago when I last heard them.  In the signal path are my CDT/DAC, a ZROCK2, my Cary Audio 300 SEI, and the Lii Songs.  

The first day they sounded horrible…….shrill on the top and very congested in the mid-bass and lower midrange.  I attribute the bad sound to the speakers having been stored in a room that stays at 65 degrees year round.  Sunday saw a nice improvement, but they still sounded nothing like I remembered from the past.  By yesterday evening they were again sounding quite good.

The one recording I listened to last night was the XRCD version of 88 Basie Street.  This is a Basie Big Band recording from ‘83, late in Basie’s career, but it is a really great one, especially the XRCD version.  When you sit in close proximity to, and in front of, a big band, it is extremely loud.  So, of course, I cranked the volume, meaning that the 300Bs were delivering around 1 watt to each of the Lii Song speakers.  WOW!  It was so loud—like being in the front row at a live concert!  The ZF15s produced one of the most convincing live concert sounds imaginable.  I’m certain that with the horns blaring, speaker output was peaking well into 110 to 120 decibel range.  It all sounded so real!  No distortion at all! Big rich full sound with tons of detail and a sound stage that would impress the most hardened critics.  The $2000 Lii Songs are incredible speakers, and they are far better than I remembered them being.

The one and only caveat is this; the ZROCK2 is playing a big role in this.  I have the ZF15Ls 7 feet from the front wall, so front wall bass support is quite limited due to their positioning.  The bass is still ok without the ZROCK2, but with it in place, the Lii Songs become different speakers.  

I’ve said this before, but I must say it again.  I know of no other speaker anywhere near the $2000 price point that can hold a candle to the Lii Song ZF15Ls.  They are fantastic!