Напольная акустика — Zu Audio DW 6

The DW6, or Dirty Weekend Six, is a Zu Audio tower assembled by hand in Ogden, Utah, with more than 95 percent of its content of USA origin. It pairs a single 10 inch full-range driver with a supertweeter and runs the big driver with no filter at all. A matched pair in standard trim is listed at USD 1,899.

Key specs that matter

The full-range driver is the Zu260FRD-ND, a design whose cone combines paper with carbon nanotubes, and a centre-hung 2 inch voice coil. Above it, an Eminence ASD-1001 compression tweeter carries a custom machined billet lens. Zu quotes an in-room average bandwidth of 30 Hz to 22 kHz, sensitivity of 95 dB SPL at 2.8 V measured about 1 m from the driver face, and a 12 ohm nominal impedance with an 8 ohm minimum. Maximum input is 200 W program, C-weighted, and maximum output is 118 dB-Z on slow weighting. The cabinet has a 30.5 x 30.5 cm footprint and stands 91.5 cm tall, and a standard speaker weighs 29.5 kg, or 34.5 kg packed, while the Superfly and Supreme versions weigh 30.5 kg. The driver protrudes 16 mm from the baffle and the binding posts 29 mm from the rear.

Engineering and use context

The only crossover element is a single mono-pole filter on the tweeter, nominally at 18 kHz and realised at 12 kHz, so from 12 kHz downward the speaker acts as a virtual point source. The enclosure is North American composite wood with a rear-exit port lined in felt, a black epoxy bottom and 3/8-16 threaded inserts for feet or spikes. Buyers can pick satin paint in black or white, or a range of hickory, walnut and specialty veneers. Two upgrade packages exist - Superfly adds tighter driver matching, Mission Mk.II internal wiring and ClarityCap MR capacitors, while Supreme adds Event Mk.II wiring and Jupiter copper foil capacitors, with factory burn-in rising from 100 hours to 200 or 300 hours. Zu gives a 5-year limited warranty and a 60-day return guarantee, and it states a life expectancy of 100 years at about 1,000 hours of indoor use per year. Build time is three to four weeks for satin paint and up to six weeks for specialty finishes.

Pairing

Zu gives a graded amplifier guide - 5 to 20 W for low and moderate levels, 20 to 100 W for moderate to loud playback and 100 to 500 W for very loud listening. The high impedance and efficiency make low-power valve amplifiers, including single-ended designs, workable in a room of about 20 m2, while a solid state amplifier covers the upper tiers.

Alternatives

The Union 6 is another floorstanding loudspeaker in the Zu Audio range that uses one wideband driver.