Zu Audio Dirty Weekend

Faustin

Picked up a pair of Zu DW speakers a couple of weeks ago. Very impressed with these speakers. I am sure they are not for everyone, but paired with 300b monoblocks, the detail is incredible. Acoustic music and vocals are really something. They don't have the wide soundstage or the deep low end that SDA's have, but I am really enjoying them. I have to say that the low end is way better than I was expecting. I have never been into sub woofers and thumping bass, so these fit in well. I need to hook them up to my Rogue Cronus Magnum to see how the sound. Just hate hauling that heavy amp around and messing with everything involved. Anyway, I am looking for some input. The DW's are rated at 12 ohms. My BH 300b's are rated at 8 ohms. Zu sells 25 ohm "snubber" resistors that will bring the DW's down to about 9 ohms. Are they worth messing with? My initial thought is probably not. But I am looking for other opinions and thoughts.

https://www.zuaudio.com/diy/loading25r

TEAforONE

I have no technical advice to give. However,for $18, I’d give it a whirl.

mhardy6647

I'd vote for "probably not" but I'd also vote for "trust but verify" (given the modest price per the previous post)!

No 16 ohm taps on the OPTs, eh? (maybe inside, not hooked up?)

I'll also opine that there is a fine line between detail and ice pick in the ear. The DWs fall on the side of that line that is/was allowed under the Geneva Convention?

maxward

Please give us your opinion after you’ve had them for a while.

delkal

I have never heard about putting a resistor across the speaker terminals to "improve" the impedance specs. I can see some downsides to this. One is that a lot (~30%?) of your amp's power will be wasted as heat thru the resistor. Then, according to the graph in the link, when the speakers impedance is maxed out at 60 and 4000 Hz a lot more energy at those frequencies will go into the resistor. At 60 Hz MOST of the energy will go into the resistor and not be used by the speaker. I have to think this will screw up any linear dB response that the speaker is designed for.

You can experiment if you want to but there is not much difference between one manufacturers rating of 8 ohm and anothers rating of 12 ohm. Rating a speaker for it's ohm rating is not an exact science. They usually give some kind of average but looking at the graph you can see you can draw a line anywhere. Most important, if you don't want to blow up your amp, is the minimum independence number.

Faustin

Thanks for the replies. I really don't think they are needed, but for $18 I thought I would get some opinions. The Bottlehead 300B's can be wired for 4 ohm or 8 ohm. They are currently wired for 8 ohm. As for the sound, they are not harsh or fatiguing at all. I messed around with a pair of DYI single driver full range speakers, and those have a tendency to be harsh. The Dirty Weekends have surprisingly tight, full bass. They are revealing though, if a recording is of poor quality, that is what you get. They don't have the wide soundstage that SDA's have, but I like the detail they offer. Vocals and acoustic music is surreal. They are not for everyone, but what speakers etc are?