System i built over the years on a budget. Love the sound that comes from the Zu druid. All the interconnects are DYI made from VH audio recipes. Haven't upgraded in a while since i haven't seen a need to. The only thing i find annoying is not having a remote for the integrated amp. 18 watts from the Dared amp is plenty enough to drive the Zu speakers to high volume without any compression. I use to have high powered solid state amps with low efficiency speakers. Those have moved down to my home theater room consisting of Nohr Marble 9 speakers matched with Emotiva Amp and preamp.
Mjcmt i live in Denver the humidity is never a problem here. The tank is a 20 gallon so it doesn't pose a threat, if it did the system would be nowhere near the tank.
These are the amps i have heard in my system with the druids from best to worse.
Yamamoto A08S: Vocals are excellent, has a lit up nature that suits the druids very well. Can go loud but not concert level loud. Bass isn't as deep compared to other amps. Very good with jazz, ambient, vocal pop.
Dared 845: Can get very loud, vocals are good with almost any type of music. Has probably the best bass out of all the amps i used.
Primaluna prologue one: Good all around integrated amp. Vocals have presence, noticed that if your source is good then it makes this amp even better
Emotiva ss amp: Wouldn't recommend this amp at all on the druids. Volume can go loud but the sound is sterile compared to the other amps.
Im a big believer in system synergy. An amp that sounds good in one system might sound bad in another. Its a balancing act when trying to mate amps with speakers. If your speakers are efficient 99db/w then watt matter most is the quality of the watts instead of the quantity. I never thought that my yamamoto 2 watter could sound so much better then the Dared 845 amp but it does. This is in the highs and mids, the Dared definitely beats it in the bass department. So its a matter of what type of sound your looking for and how you want to achieve it.
Sorry for the late response, this new audiogon system has alot of bugs thought my system was deleted until i did a search for it.
Lew and Charles as long as you don't need concert volume levels the 2 watts from the yamamoto is more than enough. The sound is lovely, more intimate and organic. There is something about the Yamamoto 45 that makes vocals sound so real. A lot of tube amps have an overly warm tone that causes the music to sound a little sterile. It may be pleasing to the ears but loses some of its dynamics. With the Yamamoto you can still tell its a tube based amp but it has a lit up nature that matches the dynamics the Zu's are known for. If you have a large room or like to play music super loud than i would go with something with at least 6 watts, if your speakers have the high efficiency like the druids.
Im in the process of combining my 2 channel with my home theatre. I want a system that is excellent at 2 channel and good at surround. What i do know is im gonna keep my Yamamoto and build around that. As you can tell i love the amp.
System edited: Just added a Yamamoto A08S amplifier after the Dared 845 needed repair. Only has 2.5 watts per channel but man are they glorious watts. This upgrade has taken the system to another level. I need to get a preamp now since the Dared was an integrated. I connect directly to my Shanling CD player since it has volume controls and wow!! Can't wait to get a decent preamp to mate with this one of a kind amplifier.
Mdegeorgis i totally see where your coming from, hopefully no disasters happen with the reef tank. Love listening to music while looking at the tank, very soothing. I love the zu druids my Dared VP845 int amp just broke found out it was the transformer and a new one would cost $500 to replace so decided to sell the amp for someone else to fix. Just purchased a used primaluna one, hopefully it isn't too much of a downgrade. I loved VP845 amp with the druids, in 4 years never felt the need to upgrade and in this hobby that is hard to do. But the upgrade bug is finally hitting me i just saw a Zu Omen Def speakers for sale here on audiogon for 1.75k makes me want to try those out.
Thanks for the nice response guys!! The saltwater tank hobby is just as addictive as buying stereo equipment. I have some damsels and anthias for fish in the tank. I was planning just to do a coral only tank but decided to get some fish. I have florida ricordeas and chalice corals in the tank now. Very soothing to listen to music with the tank glowing in the background.
As far as the stereo goes I've noticed after going to the low power tube equipment music sounds more natural. I noticed a huge difference in how the speaker/amp combo make the human voice sound so real. If you listen to music with a lot of vocals then these speakers and amp sound really nice. I still like my SS gear but for strictly music i will always stick with tube amps. Don't get me wrong i have heard some really good SS gear but they were super expensive also. For me right now im satisfied!!
