Zu DWX video review

byJohnAugust 7, 2023, 11:21

Zu Audio calls it ‘medium format’. I call it ‘large format’; because, by modern standards, the DWX is a super-sized standmount loudspeaker. Its 10″ driver simply wouldn’t fit into the more slender cabinets demanded by the modern consumer where 5″ and 6″ mid/bass drivers are more typical. The DWX measures 12″ x 12″ on the base and stacks 23″ high to put 19kg on the scales.

Also running against the grain is how the 10″ driver – designed by Zu – is allowed to run its entire natural range without any crossover intervention. Only the neighbouring tweeter is high-passed and with a 1st-order slope. And yet even that takes place at a higher-than-usual 12kHz handover point. Perhaps this is why we refer to it as a super-tweeter. Most modern two-way standmounts see the mid/bass driver hand off to a tweeter somewhere in the 2 – 3kHz range.

And the trend-bucking keeps on trucking: the DWX aren’t made in China like many of their similarly-priced rivals (Nǐ hǎo PSB, Wharfedale and B&W) but at Zu Audio’s factory in Ogden, Utah where they are sold directly to the customer with a time-limited satisfaction guarantee.

The standard DWX heads out the door for US$1400. The Superfly version upgrades the internal wiring to Zu’s own Mission, better matches the drivers, puts a Clarity capacitor on the super-tweeter’s filter and adds 100 hours on extra burn-in for an extra US$399. The top flight Supreme version pushes the internal cabling to Event MKII level, gets more granular with driver matching, puts a Jupiter Copper capacitor on super-tweeter’s filter and doubles the additional burn-in time for a US$699 premium. The Ruby Red hickory finish adds another US$300 to bring the total price of the DWX Supreme seen in this video to US$2400.

We’re not done with Zu’s DWX quite yet. 6moons’ Srajan Ebaen also has a pair — and he and I will be discussing our experiences with this large format standmount in an upcoming episode of the Darko.Audio podcast.

🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss🎬 Editor: John Darko🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko💰 Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

🎵 Song IDs? Playlists of all music heard in this video – and other videos – can be found on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/johndarko

Further information: Zu Audio

👉 As seen in this video…

Zu DWX intro video📺 https://youtu.be/8lqUg8nTTPA

Zu Audio factory tour (2016)📺 https://darko.audio/2016/01/fifteen-feet-of-pure-white-snow-a-zu-audio-factory-tour/

Srajan Ebaen’s DWX review📖 https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/zu-audio-dwx/

B&W 705 S3🛒 https://howl.me/ckghPkPKp80

Wharfedale Linton🛒 https://howl.me/cjSVVjMuQX0

PSB Passif 50🛒 https://howl.me/cisaDsEiObo

Audiolab 6000A Play🛒 https://howl.me/ckanjd3sVPi

Cables and power products by AudioQuest🛒 https://howl.me/ckbW8ZBoZAg

Hi-fi furniture and speaker stands by Solid Steel🛒 https://howl.me/ckbW9947Hdi

Room treatment by Vicoustic📖 https://vicoustic.com/

Darko.Audio may earn a small commission from items purchased via affiliate links, which are indicated with a ‘🛒’.

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John currently lives in Berlin where he creates videos and podcasts for Darko.Audio. He has previously contributed to 6moons, TONEAudio, AudioStream and Stereophile.

Darko.Audio is a member of EISA.

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