Zu Audio has been making loudspeakers for 22 years and we’ve been fans and customers for over a decade. Sean Casey has never played by the rules in the high-end audio world and that’s perfectly fine on our book. The pandemic has not been kind to our friends in Utah; supply chain issues have led to long delays and the end of the Omen Dirty Weekend project as well. The new Zu Union 6 lineup has been unveiled and we’re very intrigued.
The Zu Union 6 Series
Zu Audio has decided to revamp its speaker product line. Their new Zu Union 6 Series are designed to replace several recent models: Omen Dirty Weekend, Omen 2, Soul Supreme, Omen Bookshelf, Omen Center Channel, and Zu Cube.
Making such a move is a big undertaking. Here is what Zu Audio had in mind:
- Raise resolution, transparency, and tone.
- Make each speaker unfussy with respect to room placement and connected gear.
- Remove 12 ohms and 16-ohm models and go with the mass market 8-ohm standard.
- Eliminate the Zu set-up task of finding the right room floor-to-speaker gap.
The Union 6 is described by Zu Audio as a “full-spectrum, highly resolving and robust floor-standing loudspeaker”.
Features and Specifications
- Design: Floorstanding with North American-made composite wood, skinned with real wood veneer or epoxy.
- Full-Range Driver: ZuCX-ND-8 10.3” coaxial paper/CNT cone, under-hung 2” (50.8 mm) coil on paper/Kapton former.
- Tweeter: Eminence UAPT50-3
- High-Pass Network: Single element mono pole filter (ClarityCap MR 1.0 µF)
- Crossover: None. In addition there are no filter components on the full-range driver
- Frequency Response: 30 – 22k Hz
- Sensitivity: 99 dB-SPL @ 2.8V, 1m
- Impedance: 8 ohms
- Wavefront: Virtual point source
- Max SPL Program: 120 dB-Z
- Max Input Power: 150 W / 300 W (high-pass at 50 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
- Left/Right Pair Matching: 0.5% on drivers and 0.1% on all other components
Input Connections:
- ZuB3 via speakON NL8 (parallel with binding posts).
- Posts that 1/4” (6.3 mm) and oversized spades, bare wire ≤ #4 AWG (5.1 mm), and banana plugs.
Size and Colors:
- Dimensions (WDH): 12 x 12 x 36 inches (30.5 x 30.5 x 91.5 cm) – Each.
- Weight: 60 pounds (27 kg) – Each.
- Available Colors: Hickory Clear, Hickory Black, Black Satin, Mercury (some may require extra charge).
- Driver Ring Color: Silver or Black.
Included Accessories
- Hard plastic slip-fit driver covers
- 1–1/2” (38 mm) adjustable carpet spikes
- Stainless steel adjustable hard surface oval-end footers with 9/16” jam nuts (installed)
Amplifier Power Guidance
- 4 – 10 watts for low to moderate SPL (sound pressure level)
- 10 – 100 watts for moderate to very loud SPLs
- 100 – 500 watts for loud to ear damagingly loud SPLs
Availability and Pricing
The Union 6 Series floorstanding loudspeakers are available direct from Zu Audio with prices starting at $2,899/pair.
Tip: Zu Audio has also indicated that a Union 6 Supreme floorstanding version starting at $3,899 as well as a Bookshelf version starting at $1,799 are expected to become available sometime in July 2022.
