Upgradeable speakers!

[sleepysurf]

There's been some chatter about ML considering a Summit "upgrade path" to the new and improved crossover. A lot of us think that's a GREAT idea, and hope it comes to fruition.

However, Zu Audio has beaten ML to the punch! Check out this C/Net Audiophiliac blog about Zu Druid upgrades!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-9991523-47.html

I sure hope ML follows suit!

 

[DTB300]

Zu Audio is a great company. I love their cable products and hope to one day hear their speakers.

 

[Craig]

It would be nice if ML offered an upgrade package for the Summits but wouldn't it be cool if they offered an upgrade package for their older models like the Odysseys, Requests, CLS line, Monoliths, SL3 etc...? They do provide panels for the older models and even replacement woofers but why not sell new and improved cross-overs and power supplies too?

By the way, I believe the Ascents are at least one model that you can easiliy upgrade to the "i" model. It's just a matter of buying and replacing the panel and woofer.

 

[Audiophiliac]

I was very intrigued by the Zu speakers, so last year on one of my vacations to Denver/Moab, I spent the drive home stopping in at Wilson Audio and Zu. We are a Wilson dealer so I got the grand tour from Daryl and met Dave. AWESOME!!!!

I had been in contact with Sean at Zu and he agreed to meet me at the "shop"....and thats essentially what they have there...and show me around for a bit. I ended up running some errands with him and stopped in at Kimber Kable and met Ray Kimber and sat down in his IsoMike demo setup with the "wall" of Sound Lab speakers around me. WOW!!!

Anyway, we ended up at Sean's new house in his basement listening to the Druid MKIV speakers. 2 hours later, I am on my way home trying to find some way to buy some Zu speakers! They really deserve a listen. There seems to be a fence between those who love them and those who absolutely loathe them. Most on the loathing side have likely never even heard them, so take their comments with a grain of salt.

For me, I think the Zu speakers brought me closer to the music than anything I have heard. The only similar experiences I can remember having were with a Prodigy system with Musical Fidelity hybrid gear and a nice TT I cant remember which one. Another was when the WATT/PUPPY 7s were first setup in our showroom by the Wilson dude. And the price of the Zu speakers, even though it was recently raised substantially, is no where near exhorbent. Plus you can get by with very low powered amps..tubes or SS stuff. Of course they will handle boatloads of power and not show any signs of quitting at earsplitting levels.

End of my sales pitch for Zu. I plan on a set of Puritys one day...and maybe some Definition MK2 in another room?

 

[JonFo]

...

I sure hope ML follows suit!

While it would be nice for the factory to offer this option, it has been there all along for those willing to do a bit of DIY.

My Monoliths are pretty "upgradable", the only thing left from the 1993 original unit is the wood frame and the step-up electronics, otherwise: new panels, new woofer, new crossover.


My next step is to upgrade the step-up transformers.

And I ‘upgraded’ an SL3 pretty seriously too, it even involved a saw :haha1:

So, ML's are pretty upgradable in my view

 

[TrumpetDoug]

By the way, I believe you can upgrade Ascents is one model you can upgrade to the "i" model.

This has been talked about before on this site. According to some, they called ML and was told that the only dif. was the looks of the woofer. Changing these out would have no audible effect. I have Ascents myself and was considering the upgrade but..........................................

Doug - out

 

[OldMonolith]

The Zu Druid's are a wonderful speaker. I own both ML's and Druid's. It's easy to enjoy both for what they do!!

I just did the upgrade and a review I wrote for friends wound up being posted on the Zu site blog. Very nicely done upgrade.

Having spent almost 20 years with Logans, I wasn't thinking of buying any "normal" speaker when I ran into the Druid's. And while different in every way than an electrostatic, they are really fun musically!

While my Monolith's require the big wattage to run, the Druid runs happily with nothing more than a 2A3 but can get up and move if you hook more watts to them. So the Krell stays with the big boy rig...but the Druid's don't cower a bit!!

I seriously need to upgrade the Monolith's..they've earned it after about 25 years of service!

OldMonolith

 

[mrmike]

I would definately be interested in upgrading the crossover of my Vantages if would provide significant improvement. How hard would this be and where would you find out what to use and how to do it? Of course if this voids the factory warranty I would leave it alone.