What's Outgoing, What's New? Get Omen II & Soul Supreme While You Can.
This started late last year with the announcement that Zu would cease production of Omen Dirty Weekend in 2022, and it in fact has now ended. We sold out of the final 71 new pairs of ODW in our recent sale. That's all that will be produced, though we will put up on our Ready-to-Ship page speakers that come available through order cancellations or trade-ins.
Now we are announcing the final production of Omen II and Soul Supreme. Quantities left of cabinets for those two speakers are small, so if you want either, order now. More on that in a moment. First we want to explain why we are ending production on these models, and what will replace them.
Over half a year ago, we wrote in this newsletter that Zu intended to hold the line on our then-existing prices. We did that willingly, though at some hit to our finances, and in fact did substantial business in the 4th Quarter of 2021 by reducing prices on Soul Supreme and Omen Def Supreme, for promotional purposes. Since then, the upward cost pressures we've experienced have been eye-popping, particularly in some mundane goods like packaging and internal speaker foam. Wood cost inflation has calmed down though it remains volatile, but machined aluminum parts prices remain a significant problem (along with availability). The cost of drivers also escalated. So, we came to the reluctant conclusion earlier in Q1 that price increases became inevitable.
Now, that raised a question: Did we really want to raise the price of a $2349/pair Omen II to, say, $2899/pair and not make it any better? Nope, we really didn't. Fortunately, some of the engineering work for the upcoming Definition VI pointed the way to making replacement models that will be significant improvements over existing speakers. We also can clean up some of the shopper confusion over speaker impedances that vex customers and put friction into a sale. Yes, prices are going up, but performance will be enhanced to maintain or increase relative value. What's coming? A revival of an older Zu name: Union. Union speakers will be built around the Zu Soul VI full range driver + concentric supertweeter, with some differences in cabinets, tweeters, cable harnesses, and high-pass filter capacitors. Three more traits tie them all together -- "Griewe Out-the-Back" supplemented by our new, internal "cheesegrater" innovation that eliminates the hassle of setting the speaker-to-floor gap for the Griewe scheme to work for your room, and all the Union speakers will have 8 ohms nominal impedance with 99db efficiency.
From entry level up to Soul VI, the bottom half of Zu's speaker line will consist of:
DWX Bookshelf. DWX Bookshelf replaces the older Omen Bookshelf, Zu Cube and Omen Center Channel. One model, three applications. You can place horizontally or vertically with no change in performance. The supertweeter will be the ASD:1001 from the DW6. Bass response is solid to 38 Hz. The DWX is our most affordable "onramp" speaker, prices starting at $1398/pr.
Union. This has the Soul VI driver with a supertweeter based on the composite-dome APT driver mounted concentrically, all in a Dirty Weekend or Omen II size floor standing cabinet. ClarityCap MR is standard on the high-pass filter. Again, no worries about setting the Griewe Gap. We expect to have the order button on Union live by May 15th. Prices start at $2899/pair.
Union Supreme. Looking just like Union, the Supreme version upgrades the concentric supertweeter to the Ring Radiator used in Soul VI. Again, Griewe out-the-back eliminates the floor gap. This speaker is the replacement for Soul Supreme. When we ran a special on Soul Supreme last autumn at $3799/pair, demand exploded. It was clear buyers really wanted that speaker to sell for under $4,000. Now we'll make it happen in a different form. Abandoning the Soul truncated pyramid in favor of the Omen/Union column cabinet allows us to build an equivalent speaker for less and hit the price point without giving up any performance relative to Soul Supreme. Jupiter is the standard high-pass filter capacitor on Union Supreme. Prices start at $3899/pair and we expect orders can go live by May 15th.
Soul VI will stand alone as the singular Soul form factor model, which will help to dispel the recurrent confusion about whether to buy Soul Supreme or Soul VI. Omen Def Supreme will remain in the line for those people whose room or tastes favor the larger wavefront of the Definition dual-drivers configuration, with its accompanying benefits of limiting floor and ceiling effects as well as larger soundstaging for highly scaled music and movies.
These new Union speakers are made possible by a combination of the economies of scale we get from applying the Soul VI driver across the Zu line, and Definition VI innovations associated with reorienting the Griewe exits to the back of the loudspeakers, which removes some costs in other areas. For the floor standing Unions, you can expect bass response to 32 Hz. All the Union models will have metal-to-metal interfaces on all mounting hardware, as well as the full Zu input plate with both Speakon B3 connector and 5-way binding posts.
Standard finishes for the new Unions are Clear Hickory, which is whiter and less grainy than the Rustic Hickory that has been the base-price finish for Omen and Dirty Weekend, and Black Satin, a "camera-body" style alternative. All three of the Union speakers are economically viable for Zu and they are designed to streamline production and reduce inventory complexity while further boosting the convincing musicality you expect from Zu.
Let's recap how this lineup stacks up and what's for whom.
DWX Bookshelf: For smaller rooms, multi-channel systems and for anyone who needs to get Zu sound for under $2,000. Starts @ $1398.
Union: The full-Zu-sound, workhorse floorstander for economy-minded buyers with ambitious listening objectives. Starts @ $2899.
Union Supreme: The most refined and articulate Union, able to leverage the very best sources and amplifiers, but not needing to. Starts @ $3899.
Soul VI: Our "architectural speaker" ideal for design-intensive interiors plus its Okoume construction delivers more snap, agility and projection than Union Supreme, along with a bit deeper bass response. Compact, works anywhere. Starts @ $5999.
Omen Def Supreme: For the "Big-Speaker Sound" customer whose listening preferences tilt to highly scaled music and / or 2-channel home theater. Also for people who need a universally amp-friendly speaker requiring little thought for pairing. Oh, and Omen Def Supreme is a superlative party speaker! Starts @ $5999.
Soul VI is the hinge point that transitions the Zu speakers line from mainstream models to specialist, custom-builds. For now, the top of the line is the nearly-here Definition VI, and our forever-iconic obelisk model, Druid VI, starting at $19,999 and $11,500, respectively.
What About Remaining Omen II and Soul Supreme Deals?
We can only make a few more pairs of Omen II before the changeover to Union, so its starting price remains $2349/pair. When they are gone, the starting price for a Zu floorstander will become $2899/pair.
For Soul Supreme, we can make just 13 more pairs in finishes already in stock, before the changeover to Union Supreme. Get 10% off final, new Soul Supreme orders until they're gone. Why would you buy Soul Supreme now instead of waiting for Union Supreme? With the easygoing Zu 103FRD main driver and Radian 850 used as the supertweeter, this Druid V in a smaller package requires no thought about amplifier pairing, nicely cleans up the sound of some older solid state amps and if you use an OTL (Output-Transformer-Less) tube amp, it is a more affordable way to get a high-impedance Zu speaker than buying Druid VI.
Again, Union and Union Supreme Add-to-Cart buttons will go live by May 15th. Union Bookshelf orders will go live on or about June 15th. Then Sean and Rick can get to working on the product agenda for the back half of the year!
Watch this space. More to come!
The Zu Crew