I have a small room, about 14 x 18 feet (estimated). It’s actually a bedroom but I use it as my reading and music room. I’m very interested in the Decware Zen Triode amp (The DECWARE Zen Triode Single-Ended Amplifier model SE84UFO ) my speakers are Zu Omens with Jupiter capacitors. turntable is a Rega P6 and Rega phono preamp Does anyone have this amp? How do you like it? I know it’s 2watts per channel but my speakers have a high sensitivity rating and my room is small. I’d be very interested if anyone has this amp with Zu speakers and your thoughts. I listen to old jazz and some 70s rock. But nearly all the time it’s jazz. This amp is about a grand and fits in my budget of under 2 grand. david
Do it! I love my zen. Your speakers and space sound ideal. Jazz sounds fantastic on it. If you don't like it, it'll be very easy to sell. But get on the list now because the wait is about 6 months I think.
Decware has a pretty rabid following. They make incredible stuff at very reasonable prices. The wait list is insane; 5-6 months maybe? I LOVE my ZP3 phono pre-amp, and dream of being able to buy their Torii Mk4 or perhaps Torii Junior amplifier. Awesome warranty and customer service. Everything feels bespoke when dealing with Steve and his family. Upgrades are available as he tinkers and changes his designs every so often. I have read on their forums that the Zu Omen speakers are a fantastic match for Decware amps. Check out their forums. I am sure you will hear a bit from some users here as well.
Love my SE84UFO. I've had mine for about 3 years now and have it paired with Omega monitors/sub. The Omega's are a tad less efficient than your Omen's and my room size is similar to yours. I listen to Jazz 90% of the time and volume is never an issue. If you go for it don't expect old school tube-y/syrupy/slow/etc. sound .. it's fast, articulate, and highly resolving.
thanks for the info. have you thought about experimenting with different tubes? Happy with tubes it comes with?
Have you read the March 2021 Stereophile article? He used Zu Soul Supremes. They are about the same sensitivity as my dirty weekends. Get your order in so you'll get it by Christmas. Maybe you can search this user group on Facebook. You'll have to wade through all the slow delivery post. Facebook Groups
I replaced the stock output tubes with TAD EL84-STR tubes. I like the change. That said, the stock tubes sound great.
Steve does a good job choosing the tubes he includes with his amps. The only tube that really needs to be replaced in the Zen is the rectifier, as new production Russian and Chinese 5u4g's tend to fail pretty quickly (NOS RCAs are cheap and plentiful and sound great). And regarding the 6p15p power tubes, it's actually best to get these from Decware because good sounding NOS are hard to find in the wild in my experience, but Steve weeds out the bad ones from his stock. YMMV
Thanks for all the information. I’m pondering buying two and running as mono blocks. 5w per channel (or is it 6) would be a good deal too. seems I’d need to run a preamp.. either that or control volume on each amp and try to match vol
There is a short review in Tone Audio No. 28 (page 9) with the entry level Zen amp and Zu Essence. I'm not sure what the specs are for your speakers in comparison to the Essence, but Jeff Dorgay (Tone Audio publisher) has been a fan of Decware for a while now ~ even giving the Decware Mystery amp "Product of The Year" a few years back. I don't think you will have any issues driving the Omens with a Zen amp from low to moderately loud volumes.
found the specs: Efficiency: 97 dB-SPL 1W, 1m Impedance: 12 ohm Power Amp Range: 4 ~ 300 watt My concern is power amp range.. Zen Triode is 2.3 wpc. But technically it should drive them to close to 100db .. which is loud for me
It depends how loud you like your 70's rock. I had a 2 wpc 45SET Amp and Klipsch Cornwalls, combo that was stellar IMO. Holographic sound, detail, musical, it had it all. Never needed more volume for jazz, bluegrass or even classical, but when I wanted my rock loud it just couldn't get there. I miss that wonderful sound, but would only go that route again if it were a second system, perhaps in my home office.
Thats good to know. Every now and then I’ll crank my Zep LPs pretty loud. LoL. But Its so infrequently it would be kinda low on my checklist. I do have a second amp , so maybe I could have that nearby for the occasional high DB moments
so if i wanted to use my ATLP120 without the internal preamp id have to buy the SE84UFO and ZP3 phono stage and id be good?
I guess, if that is your only source, the amp does have a level control on the input. I haven't looked at the input sensitivity and things like that to know how well it would work fed from the ZP3. Also note that you need very efficient speakers.
Worth noting the waitlist is almost 800 orders long and the current wait is nearly one year. At least. More techs are being hired in the winter which will hopefully move things along. But that’s to deal with the crush of orders from April and May. Decware makes fabulous gear, just be prepared for a long, unspecified wait.
yes im planning on getting some Tektons, still deciding, but leaning towards Perfect SET. But i guess that comes down to what i need to buy. My current AV Receiver system is old and starting to go, so trying to start planning for 6 months down the road. id love to go all tube but when i do and dont need pre amps, phono stages, etc is confusing.
i have noticed that so thats im why trying to figure out what I need exactly. I plan to get speakers and amp next year and then replace turntable the following year and that table probably wont have an internal preamp.
While you ponder the rest, it’s a good idea to get your Decware order in right now. If you pay with a credit card instead of PayPal, they only take a 10% deposit which is 100% refundable up until the point they pull parts, which is approximately 6 weeks before shipping. Giving you plenty of time to decide. Can cancel the order prior to parts pulling and get all your money back. Nice folks, easy to deal with.
“DEPOSITS: We will charge a 10% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit on all orders at the time of sale. Balance due will be billed when the order ships.“ also i pulled up the owners manual for the SE84UFO and this is the first paragraph: “If you're familiar with our product line you already know our amplifiers have volume controls and that using a preamp with these amps is optional. In fact most of our customers who've purchased an amplifier from us were advised not to use a preamp with it.” and that is precisely why im confused on exactly what i need, sigh.
Some guy on the Decware forum did the math on how many they build vs. how many pending orders and it sounds like its more than a year wait....
Yes, I know. I have a current order in with Decware. Sarah, the office manager, assured me that the order can be cancelled at any time prior to parts being pulled. They understand the astronomical wait and will refund the money. Once the parts have been pulled, then yes, the 10% is not refundable. Feel free to call them, I’m confident Sarah will tell you the same she told me as I have no special connection to the company.
I am that guy from the Decware forum That was calculated prior to Steve Deckert’s post explaining they will be hiring extra techs in the winter to expedite the crush of orders from April/ May 2020. It’s currently running at about an 11 months wait (+/-). It is hoped the new winter techs will help keep that pace. But it’s not for certain, just a guess.
