mrchipster
Verified Member
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Posts: 49
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Hi Jak B, Congrats on the Sarah!
I don't envy the task of having to decide from a line-up of great speakers, but it certainly is a fantastic and fun position to be in. All of your listed options are nice as are the recommendations of Decware and the Omega SAMs.
You may find that after receiving your Sarah that the KLH's sound great but at 88db (?) efficiency, I also think you're on the right track of possibly going with much higher efficiency speakers to get a much more satisfying sound.
I can only give my opinion on the Zu sound since that is the only experience I have of the speakers listed. (I would love to audition all those speakers as I'm sure you would!) Unfortunately, I can't speak directly of the Union 6's since that is their new line where they have consolidated a family of varied but similar speakers into this one coherent line. Now all with 8 ohm impedance.
I had the Omen MkII-B before upgrading to the Soul Supreme's a few years later. The high efficiency and lower frequency ability (30hz) of the Supreme's allows me to run them with my UFO25 pretty effectively. They tend to have a lot in common with some of what your considering i.e. high efficiency, no crossover, small shop, great build quality, direct to consumer, and great customer service.
I really like the sound I'm getting (but of course the UFO25 and the rest of the chain allows it!) The speakers are able to respond to exactly what they're delivered: accuracy and neutrality at all frequency levels, precision of soundstage, clarity and great imaging, as well as deep bass. I did not want to introduce a sub-woofer into my room, and this was the ticket. In fact, my Zrock2 is only set at roughly the 12:30 position (just barely above unity gain) and that's all I need for now. However, my room is relatively small (12x14x10) with a reasonable amount of treatment, but we all know that small rooms have big bass issues (and I'm unable to treat that properly with diaphragmatic absorbers,etc) so take that for what it's worth.
My best guess with the Union 6's is that they will have a very similar signature as the Soul Supreme's (especially if you can swing the 'supreme' version of the Union 6's which I'd recommend) but with 99db efficiency, an 8 ohm impedance instead of 16 ohm like the Soul's and having the Sarah at 6 watts instead of the UFO25 at 2.3 watts, you'll get a very rich and satisfying sound level. Your larger and somewhat open room will probably benefit from a lower bottom end as well. (although all spaces differ so obviously really hard to know for sure)
Another option that folks rave about are open baffle speakers. They seem to need space from the front wall, but when able to, people report great results. Obviously, all the speakers you and others have mentioned seem to have a lot of the qualities one way or another I just described which doesn't make it any easier to decide. Your personal preference, aesthetics, room (and maybe WAF) will all come into play.
Anyway, good luck on your decision and please keep us posted, always great to hear real world results.
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