Zu Audio Expands, Enriching Ogden's Audio History

He was just a kid with a wild streak, an unquenchable love for loud music, and a mind for tinkering. If it wasn't old speed boats, Sean Casey was reengineering speakers for the best sound experience. If it couldn't be live, then it needed to sound as close to it as possible. He was going to wire and build that experience for himself. Big speakers were his passion and at 16, Casey knew just where he wanted to set up his workspace. It had to be a place where decibels and time didn't matter-The Swift Building. "I was building things I wanted to use, home as well as big systems for the parties and live shows I was occasionally putting on." He carved out a space for himself on one of the old building's floors, constructing an eight-square-foot table to make his passion reality.

It was the 80s and Casey knew how to make it count. He parlayed his passion into throwing parties using his ability to wire speakers in a way that made the vibrations amplify the soul. Here he designed, engineered and started molding his passion into a business that produces state-of-the-art loudspeakers through his family-owned business, Zu Audio. "Once you have a formula for your art and design you can mass produce it, using science to make it repeatable, to ensure consistency, to ensure quality," says Casey. "The team at Zu really does care about doing the right thing by those who use our products."

It was on his quest to find this homeostatic formula he met Ray Kimber, a bona fide innovator of cabling. Back in 1955, a five-year-old Kimber built a crystal radio kit on his folks' kitchen table in the farmlands of Delta. He continued to experiment, to build, even working for Ogden's Hi-Fi Shop wiring radio kits for their customers until he had the opportunity to work for Spectra Sonics with its headquarters right here in Ogden City, across the street from the Ogden Airport.

While it may not be a household name, in the 1960s it was on the tongue of every music studio producer. Spectra Sonics owner, William G. Dilley, designed the mixing boards used by numerous big production houses and artists including Michael Jackson, The Carpenters, even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Syndney Opera House. Dilley flew in many of his clients so they could hear the science of his work firsthand, all they had to do was walk across the street. "Their stuff was just rock-solid reliable, it didn't fail. Even now, their sound is state-of-the-art," explains Kimber.

Kimber moved from Ogden to run the Hollywood store for Spectra Sonics, eventually hiring on to a sound and lighting company in Los Angles. It was this combination that led Kimber to his cable innovations still used today in electronics around the world. Disco was starting to heat up, pairing lights with music. The strobes and flashes of neon lights created the frenetic atmosphere, but it also added noise and distortion to the music. "It would put the most ridiculous noise and pops and sizzles into the sound. If you counter rotate the braid; this cancelled the incoming noise." Kimber solved a serious problem in the cable and transmission domain, creating peace between the audio and electrical visual arts.

Kimber credits his years of boondoggling. "I was an Eagle Scout, so I did a lot of boondoggling. I thought, well that's counter rotating. I literally bought some hookup wire, some light gauge wire, and sat in my apartment in Hollywood. I braided a ten-foot-length to test. Took a couple of days." A few more jobs, cable designs and a move back to Utah, Kimber was ready to start his company. He's operated out of Ogden for more than 30 years, eventually buying his old boss, William Dilley's Spectra Sonics building.

With Kimber Kable now solidly established, working with companies like Broadway Music, he also got plenty of local calls. like fixing the lighting at a Logan dance club. Impressed by the speaker cable work at the club, he spotted a combination wrench engraved with the name "Sean Casey". The two audiophiles met up and eventually Casey went to work for Ray Kimber. At least for a little while.

Casey had his own innovations to accomplish, using his cable and loudspeaker ideals to create loudspeakers and sleek designs customers can enjoy in their own home. Zu Audio is the culmination of Casey's decades of work in the industry, eventually becoming a family-owned company, now in its 25^th year. "Zu didn't start as a family business, but Stef, my wife is talented in so many ways. When I needed help, she was right there managing the cable termination side of the business. She helps with trade shows, organization, and keeping me focused" His son, Ian, handles the visuals and vibe of Zu, Casey's youngest daughter, Anne, is involved with almost every facet of the manufacturing. Casey laughs as he says, "Ivy, my middle daughter, escaped." Zu Audio loudspeakers and components are found all over the world in homes, venues, even being featured in the magazine Stereophile.

Ogden City has a rich history in the world of audio starting with Dilley's Spectra Sonics, Kimber's cables, and now Casey's Zu speakers. After Kimber bought the Spectra Sonics building to preserve that history, it seemed right when he was looking to sell, and Zu was looking to expand-The Spectra Sonic building was destined. Now Zu operates out of both Ogden facilities where decibels don't matter. Casey explains, "I love Ogden, Stef and I grew up here. It's where we raised our family. It's a smallish town with big city resources for manufacturing. Ogden has a rich history of high tech and innovation."