Zu's Sean Casey loves 20,000 watt amps, 21 inch woofers, and Dark Side of the Moon 

Thanks Steve for arranging this. Sean is a super guy and his contributions to fun audio are obvious. I've known Sean for several years and always thought of him as a guy who loves music and wants to help others get hooked into engaging sound. It's great to hear that Zu continues to do well during these challenging days. Bravo!

You have to be one of the most down to earth Audiophiliac's I know. I appreciate your candor and your smooth style. True talent through the lens as well.

What a great conversation! Made ma day! Thanks Steve and Sean! Cheers!

Steve, this is an excellent interview-- the timing, the chemistry, the level of interest. Now of course I want to know everything about that 21" woofer. Thanks.

Always a solid interview with Sean. He hit on something that deserves more attention; big amplifiers for transient speed. Fast bass, woofer speed, or a driver's transient capability. There's likely no audio mythology more deeply rooted than the advice and myths surrounding fast bass/driver speed.

He had me at Crown. I've long believed that infinite headroom cures many ills in audio reproduction. That and 15" JBL woofers and big horns. I am on Zu's wavelength. I like it loud.

Bravo! More! More! Gotta love audio people who can gainfully deal with the laws of physics while chasing their passion. And who can express it while chill and not filled with self promotion. Encore!

Fantastic interview, no need for apologies. Can't wait to get my hands on a pair of Zus.

Absolutely delightful interview. Would love more talk with Sean!

Hi Steve most of this is going over my head but I really dig Sean's passion for great sound, many thanks from Rob in England.

This is fun and enlightening and I've saved it watch a few more times, Thanks Sean and Steve!!!

Steve, sound and video was great, man. Occasional blurring but, nothing unusual. Very good interview. Really like the guys from zü. Great company and great speakers.

Great video. I especially like hearing industry experts like Sean talk about stuff beyond their products. I'd love to hear more about their at-home setups. He also made me feel better about my current system with amps I thought had way too much power for my speakers.

Sean is very passionate about speakers and it is evident in the final product: beautiful fit & finish combined with a very musical sounding speaker. The word musical used as a descriptor has become a cliche of sorts, but it truly describes the speakers he built for me in January of this year. As a muscian I have certain qualities that I require. I called ZU and spoke to Sean. He listened carefully and translated my description of what I wanted to hear in a speaker into a finished product that is truly amazing. Sean gets it!!

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate Sean's passion and I'm glad his business is doing well. I've met some of the triode guys with a big barn for huge speakers. I would like to follow in their footsteps but with warehouse in a city. Thanks again!

Thanks for a great interview, Steve.

one day I'll listen to ZU, I love the way they look.

Always good to hear what SC and Zu is up to and great to hear business has maintained. Steve, you should do a video on the big number of speaker manufacturers (and good ones) being based in Utah and why.

The cat says you dont have proper snacks laid out Mr Zu..lol

Always fun when these two guys are together.

This guy is Great! He’s still having fun with his “Epiphany”! Steve, now you’re cooking!

Excellent interview! Thanks.

Don't apologize Steve , We all Appricate your hard work and dedication ! 😆 thank you Steve Zu-Audio is a pretty awesome company i have talked to them about reviewing their dirty weekends Speakers, And the Eminence speaker built in my Home-State ! KY!

Great interview. His passion and drives comes through clear. To be able to make a career out of a passion in life is a precious gift. Now I have to look at Zu speakers more closely. He mentioned his SAE amp. I have one I still listen sometimes. Still sounds great. Thanks Steve. More content like this. Well done.

What a nice down to earth guy who has a genuine love for what he does

I'm not sure what you found wrong with this Steve, it was terrific! I'm sure it's not easy, but as someone else stated, would love to see some longer content like this. Sean is always interesting to listen to and it's good to hear Zu Audio are busy in these troubled times. The DIY and new speaker projects sound very interesting as well as his thoughts on amplification. It's not often you hear about Hafler. I enjoyed my Omen DW's when I had them and really love my Druid V's even more. Zu may not be for everyone, but I'm a big fan. As always, thanks for your hard work putting out this enjoyable and informative content. Oh, and where did you get that t-shirt? Loved it!

That was great. Thanks fellas!

Man, Sean Casey knows his stuff!!! Great listening to him ... would love to hear home audio amplification suggestions from him!

Did anyone else notice Sean Casey's pair of GRADO PS 2000 e headphones?

Sean is a man after my own heart. I too have been a big fan of highly efficient (horn) speakers and high power amplification. It started for me in the 70s when I started working in recording studios in NYC that used the ubiquitous Altec 604 15" coaxial drivers (101dB sensitivity) and the ubiquitous Crown DC300 power amps (150 wpc at 8 ohms). When hearing live instruments, there is nothing like having tons of headroom and low loudspeaker distortion to cleanly reproduce the dynamic peaks. Also back in those days a lot of the music was recorded and mixed at really high levels approaching 120dB peaks or more sometimes and having horn speakers with lots of power is the only way you are going to be able to do that for hours on end. I'm quite sure that many musicians and engineers from those days can't hear very well today if they are even with us today. I wasn't in the studios when they were being used as I did the installation and repairs of the consoles and tape recorders so I managed to save my hearing. I have listened to a lot of loud music over the years but have always paid close attention to the time/intensity of my exposure to keep from permanently damaging my hearing. I would just like to comment on one thing that Sean brought up and that is the speed of the musical transients. It doesn't matter how much power you have but rather the rise time, fall time, and any ringing that the transients cause. The amplifiers especially today are more than adequate to prevent any audible distortion of audio transients except for tube amplifiers that use output transformers. But there are people that prefer the distortion characteristics that come with tube amplifiers and that's fine if that's what they like. But the components that cause audible distortions of transients are the speakers and are more pronounced when the drivers and crossover components are driven with more power. This is why highly efficient speakers can sound so good, not just because of cleaner transients but steady state distortions as well because they are not driven so hard. The only non-horn speakers that can come close or possibly be better than horn speakers in terms of distortion are the large open baffle planar magnetic line array speakers which are efficient enough and quick enough to be competitive with horn speakers. But in terms of cost, there is nothing that can touch the clarity of good horn speakers.

Bought some Omen DW's last year, absolutely love them - looking forward to buying more Zu speakers.

A pleasure to hear about someone like Sean talk about his love for high fidelity in the back to basic sense.I would love to hear these speakers .I bet they would knock my socks off.I bet they would be immediate in really up front no colonization in sound format..in your wau and hold on.

Excellent Steve! Would love to see you talking to more of the fun people in Audio. Have always loved Zu - One day i'll have some Druids in the system : )

Great interview Steve, Sean. I too was changed by Pink Floyd early on, though it was the Ummagumma album.

Audio (and the world) needs more Sean Casey's

Finally someone who can understand my reasoning behind audio. You haven't experienced music until you've experienced real dynamic range.

Finally I have to say Sean's new hairstyle is another move in the right direction. I love that he referenced the folded horn kit from Speaker Lab in Seattle. I bought the plans and hardware back in the day as the folded horn concept intrigued me. As I recall they claimed they equate to a 4' x 3' sized base speaker. Bring on the Wattage!!!

So great! Thx guys!

Great interview. No apology needed! Thanks Steve

Great interview, Steve. Always good to hear a pro’s approach. One thing: you mentioned eyeline issues. Easily solved in edit: just take your frame and move it camera left and take the other frame and move it camera right. Then you will both be looking towards the middle and it will feel less like you’re talking out to space.

Hey Steve, To Sean's point, I bought a pair of Cornwall IV's and drive them with a pair of JC1's. Now, on paper; not a great match. But in practice, they sound stunning! Thanks for the recommendation on the IVs!

What an awesome guy. Cheers Steve

Excellent video, Sean always has an interesting take.

Great interview! Sean is one of my favorite people in the high end audio world. He's got great wide music taste (and likes punk and post rock like myself, besides the usual "audiophile approved" music), the Zu systems are always fun to listen to at shows (always with music I can enjoy, rather than the often used "let me play you pre-selected demo tracks to show off the system", which I can certainly understand why some designers and sales reps do, and it works. But it isn't as much FUN). Plus the parties I've gone to at Zu's rooms at shows have always been a blast. Enjoyed this interview very much! I do remember him mentioning his love of power before (myself, I'm not beholden to any "religion" of low power/single ended vs high power/push pull, etc) And would Dark Side of the Moon be considered the gateway drug into high end audio for rock music listeners? Perhaps. And have not heard the Triode Mafia being mentioned in a while.

Steve, excellent interview and it came off well technically too.

Another great one, Steve!!

Great interview. Love big efficient speakers. And this confirmed what I was thinking for as amplification. I always wanted to build a sub in a box with a 1-1/2to 2 foot port or tube. Coming out of it. If I had the ceiling it would be 8-10 foot tall. I think couple of these with a dsp amp would give a awesome experience with “dark side of the moon” lol

Yay! I put together a Hafler 500 amp kit way back. Still have it!!!

That was a great interview

Always interesting to hear Sean talk about his history and in this case his path forward. It was you, Steve, that eventually sold me on ZUs as a brand to consider when I had some cash in my pocket. I eventually bought a pair of Omen Standards (electric blue) when they had some insane sale where they bundled a set with a Peachtree amp and a pair of their cables. I sold off the amp unopened and I’ve never regretted my decision. I still marvel how music JUMPS out of my speakers. Granted, they’re not everybody’s cup of tea (they don’t necessarily measure well) but if you’re tired of coaxing the music out of inefficient boxes then you owe it to yourself to take advantage of the trial offer that Sean and company have available so you can have a listen and experience the Zu sound.

I grew up in upstate NY ( The Catskills ) and I just about fell out of my chair when Sean talked about the barns because he was telling the absolute truth. Hey Steve I'll meet you at the Red Apple Rest!!!!!

Fantastic show! Just a wonderful interview. Imagine looking in a dumpster and seeing a pair of fn La Scallas!!!

Heard the Zu Druid some 5 or 6 years ago.a truly remarkable and great sound. What I liked so much was the tightness and openness combined with a warmth which I had newer head before. For me most speaks are shrill, electronic and aggressive sounding, and the more openness one strives for the worse it gets. Not so with the Druids, quite remarkable speakers! The only reason I didn’t go for them was that, first Zu, at the time, was a new company for me, secondly I had a fine pair of Sonus Fabre Guarneri Hommage which I didn’t really wouldn’t let go of. Probably I should have done so.

Just got a pair of Soul Superfly speakers off Craigslist and they are AMAZING. Waiting on an Aegir and can't wait to hear how they sound with it.

The Zu Audio Soul is a fine speaker. Highly addictive. I think ill listen to Hans Theessink through mine today. Thanks Steve and Sean!

Taught him everything he knows. It all started with that fancy pants pivot cable.

The video quality may have not been fantastic but the sound quality was! This guy sounds like he has fun. Can totally see where there is little savings on a kit speaker too.

Way back in 1979 , had a house party were we rented Led Zeppelin movie, put the 2 track sound through our band PA . Yep pretty much blew everyone away. So I've been into big systems for a long long time !!

Steve, This was excellent! Heard Mr zu. Speak a few times in other videos and seems like a honestly cool person. I had no idea he was into diy audio and speakers. Sounds intersting what he is doing. Their are variations on higher efficiency speakers using them eminence drivers. Interesting he is doing a design inspired by altec voice of the theater. I have always wanted to play with a pair for a7, a5, etc from a efficiency point of view with small wattage high quality tube/class a amps. Now that the western electric 300b is back in production, it would be intersting powering some of these designs. Anyways I think this zoom format has legs and you should do many more with designers and folks in the industry. Would be fascinating to know how the other companies are doing. Guessing some are not doing as good as Caseys company. But ya never know😀

for work , I'm guy in black (stagehand) ,I also ordered a pair of zu dirty weekends earlier this month , great interview

Fascinating!

Cool interview. Would like to hear some Zu's one day.

Good stuff, Steve! I'm glad you are following the rest of us out of our houses and into the world via Zoom! === P.S. If you would share your strategy, hardware, software, signal path, for recording this interview, maybe some of us could offer useful suggestions for future forays into ZoomWorld... 👍

Great interview with Sean. He's always very entertaining and informative. The Zu Soul Supreme is on my short list for my next speaker purchase this year. Thanks again Steve for your great videos.

Sitting in my office listening to this on... Klipsch LaScalas!

Early on in their careers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis were on a Sun Records tour together and Elvis asked Jerry Lee if he thought Elvis was playing the devil’s music. Jerry Lee thought about it for a moment, having been to one semester of Bible College and said to Elvis “Hell boy, you are the devil.”

Zu guy is awesome.

Excellent!

If you do a horizontal flip on the shot of you it will (to a point) fix the axis awkwardness you mentioned.

Great interview. Please do more zoom interviews from around the country / world. A bigger full screen video would be great if possible. Just think of all the great possibilities....

It was a little weird having Steve look opposite to where Sean was, but I got over it. It could have been I am listening through B&W tower speakers but I found it easy to understand the audio.

I've been watching for this DIY kit to show up, now Dec 21, on the Zu website. The 21" woofer is for sale on the Diy page but nothing else related to that speaker design. I wonder if the plan been scrapped?

Dude, that was fine (and content wise great!). You needn't strive for better production quality than that. BTW, Sean Casey is a colorful and thoroughly entertaining guest, I wish you'd have dug deeper. You should consider doing a Audiophiliac WEEKLY show (I'm sure the thought's crossed your mind) where you do a 1/2 hr to 45 minute in depth interview with various industry luminaries. Please note that the RU-vid 5-7 minute formula is very accurate with average folks but as you probably have noticed we audiophiles are in no way average! Just a thought.

Reminds me of myself as a kid, picking up anything with wires attached, especially speakers .😂😂😂

Very cool.... Where are other pics of system?

omg, I remember the SAE stuff .I had a SAE graphic equalizer back then . Who remembers DBX time delay component .

really great interview both subject and video quality.

Sean I live in Utah can I come listen to some dirty weekends when this thing is over? I'm interested in them but want to hear them before trying to purchase.

I really like Sean. I've talked to him at several audio shows. I just wish I liked his speakers better. It would be nice to throw some business his way, because I like his business model.

Sean Casey supported our groups's June 2019 Speakerfest Event. He delivered his product personally and stayed to talk with attendees.

I'd love to see some hifi kits/diy speakers! As far as I know none exist anymore, but it used to be quite normal from brands like Fisher right?

Hi! Will you ever review Xiaomi Hybrid Pro earphones? They are REALLY cheap, though (me not being even close to be as sensitive to details as you and many others) I think they sound great (a bit too high frequency-focused, maybe). I would like to understand if Tin Hifis are a worthy upgrade to them, because I want to experiment with new headphones, thanks Love the channel!

Cool stuff.

I wish Sean would put out more things ...more conversations about his product

I watched it, I’m not an audio guy in any way. Really good stuff

I'm totally down with 6 foot spheres. I hope it works out.

These kit speakers look fun what did he say the price was $1200 for the kit and what about the other kit that people can't build can I still get that kit?

I was thinking about your interviews and visits that are a REAL SHARING Experience. Oh, I'm not surprised by the Activity that Zu is getting and it's a blessing of course. BUT.. I think there s going to be a LOT OF USED Equipment available soon TON of IT. ... that's good for Zu and others in the New area, and for others like myself who are still breathing and have a couple of bucks we'll see some amazing stuff coming and a market that can't support the used the market making what is available even more affordable. I live in a small town just outside of Portland and I've thought about creating a small 3 day store with used equipment... the people are renting the area to the City, but this summer the people who own the building said that oould change.... ..... we'll - I have very little cash, but I expect a HUGE amount of Great Equipment almost for the Hauling soon. It's a piped dream and I fill my pipe all day long too ;) lol

that t-shirt is a flex!

Do you think that Sean would ever build an Onken style speaker?

Cool video and Steve it’s ok to make hour long videos sometimes. I could have listened to this easily for an hour or more.

Great interview. I wonder if the guy who threw away the Klipsch LaScala in the university dumpster that Sean rebuilt is now buying Zu Audio speakers :)

Great interview and btw vido was fine..

@0:15 "This is by Zoom" Before you use Zoom, know that it is plagued with security and privacy issues: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_Video_Communications Some notable issues from Wikipedia: Zoom's data security and privacy practices have been scrutinized. In March 2020, New York State Attorney General Letitia James launched an inquiry into Zoom's privacy and security practices. Following these inquiries, Zoom was banned from New York City schools by the New York City Department of Education. In March 2020, the company's iOS app was sending device analytics data to Facebook on startup, regardless of whether a Facebook account was being used with the service, and without disclosing it to the user. In the same month, Zoom was sued in U.S. Federal Court for illegally and secretly disclosing personal data to third parties including Facebook, which was not disclosed in its privacy policy. Another vulnerability allowing unprompted access to cameras and microphones was made public. As of April 2020, Zoom has been subject to bans and restrictions by many businesses, schools, and government entities, including among others the Australian Defence Force, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, Google, SpaceX, and the New York City Department of Education. ===== Zoom can watch and record your gathering. Zoom's encryption is between you and Zoom. It is not between you and your other attendees. So on Zoom’s end, they decrypt everything, can see, hear, and record everything. If you are using it for work, it can notify (whoever your company designates) that you are not paying attention in a meeting (it has algorithms that decide when a participant is not paying attention). ===== For an in-depth review of Zoom, watch: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-K1TsmPY1fNI.html I recommend staying away from any and all code that is known to intentionally breach your privacy and trust, which includes Google, Microsoft, Zoom, and many others. Instead, use free, open-source code (which includes operating systems) such a Linux, which has a huge repository of free, open-source applications for 99.99% of everyone's needs. For those that do not know what "open-source" is: It means that the code for the programs (which is compiled so that only a computer can understand it -- it is unreadable gibberish to humans after it is compiled for computers), well that compiled code was written with a keyboard by a human and in human readable text, before being converted into computer mumbo-jumbo. That human-readable text is "source code". Programs that make their source-code available are vetted by the world, so there are no shenanigans buried in the code. Open-source code can almost always be trusted to be safe and privacy friendly, and is why free and open-source Linux OS's are used by many, and the myriad of free and open-source apps that run on Lunix are also widely used. In the Windows, Google, and Zoom world, none of their source code is made public. So you are trusting those companies to not do anything untoward -- and they all do. Cheers!

During this stay-at-home time, my friends and I have virtual listening parties but the audio is pretty bad (it's more about just getting together). At the beginning of the video, Steve talks about the quality (or lack thereof) of the sound over the Zoom connection. It would be nice to share high quality audio. Does anyone out there know of a high quality peer-to-peer/multi-peer real-time audio service?

I can't find the CAD files on the Zu website for the DIY that he was talking about.

11:22 It would be interesting to know what Sean believes are the few good amplifiers.

Nice video

Is the "Druid" some kind of a nod to Altecs "Stonehenge" ? Of all the American audio makers out today, I am most intrigued by Zu. Would love to get a pair some day!

Do you want a speaker that is at another level? In voicing, my home designed speakers KILLED my B&W 706s when I made my latest comparison, hands down. And my reaction was "how would they settle with voicing like that? lol I lent my made speakers to two colleges and they both agreed that they sounded "different" and both liked the difference a lot. How to make some so anyone can experience MUSIC they way I do: Buy some 3" or 4" full range drivers with the STATIONARY (metal) centre phase plug (pointed shape). Not the moving dust cap kind! Put in "OVERSIZED" boxes, like large bookshelf boxes. But this is where it's different and what makes these speakers great. Make the speaker hole a little larger so you can slip a piece of polypipe tight into the speaker hole. Make it flush at the outside and running like 2" into the speaker box. It's a bass vent! Now get some soft thin sprinkler hose and cut 4 (just over) 1 cm long pieces per driver. To fit over the speaker screws as spacers (use longer screws). Mount driver so it is 1 cm above the speaker hole on the top 2 speaker screws...and 7 mm above the speaker hole for the bottom 2 screws. The SOFT rubbery sprinkler hose will squash down easily. Add woofer to complete the speakers, but... If 4 ohm FR drivers resist driver by 2 ohms and a 1 mf cap in parl with the 2 ohm. And use a 100 mf cap in series with the 2ohm resistor but the 1mf is in parl with everything. If not add woofer, forget about the 100 mf. For desk speakers with BIG boxes. But I suggest add woofer! Mine are 10" woofers in vented boxes. A surround vent as well. Best speakers I made so far and beats my $2,000 B&W reference monitors (in tone and spacial sound). Mine have better voice toning that I can EASILY hear. Voices hug me like a teddy bear! The open cone of my speaker extends treble by an "octave" and extends bass with the bass vent. Do not try this without the bass vent modification. With the gap mounting design you get two resonance frequencies instead of one. One is in the box and the other is out of the box resonance. And the acoustic gap between the driver and box blends the two resonances to get the sound you want (like a wah-wha pedal). And the sound from the rear of the cone escapes through the gap to give a more "spacial" sound. Easy and fairly cheap for the best voicing you ever heard.