Tube rolling the DECWARE Zen Tori (Integrated amplifier)*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by TONEPUB, Mar 8, 2011.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. scrubjay

    scrubjay New Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    The Decware guys are music heads from way back and determined to make amazing sound affordable. Good ears, good minds, lots of experience, and determination go a long way, but it is the Art part that really makes things pull together. The specs are there....but good specs don't necessarily make good sound! And no middlemen makes it good for everyone (except the middleman.)
     
  2. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    Seems like the owners are shy :winkgrin:
     
  3. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Well, I don't have any of my stuff yet that is on order, but I do have my Taboo:
    [​IMG]
    I am planning on nicer pics when the other stuff arrives.
     
  4. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Well, I don't have any of my stuff yet that is on order, but I do have my Taboo, that I have been enjoying for several months now:
    [​IMG]
    I am planning on nicer pics when the other stuff arrives.I believe the Ultra preamp has a different plate finish, a kind of deep bronze, while the Toriis and the SE84ZS have a similar white finish.
     
  5. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    Hey, it's a start and it looks nice. Thanks for the picture. Did that vibration ring thing come with the amp?
     
  6. scrubjay

    scrubjay New Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Inperson, I think those tube dampers are like mine.....from HerbiesAudioLab.... The Decware amps come standard with tubes only, that is unless you order them without tubes, or order cables as well.

    I had a hard time getting around to taking a picture of my amp because it is hidden away in a dark, old teak cabinet, so hard to photograph. Not great, but here you go. The feet under it are also from Herbies. Steve, the guy who runs it, is a really accessible and knowledgable resource. I think his stuff is really good and also inexpensive for the performance it offers. Inner detail and smoothness across the sound field....90 day return to boot!
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Sorry for the duplicate post. Not sure how I did that. inperson, scrubjay is right: the tube dampeners are the Ultrasonic Rx version from Herbie's Audio Labs. I echo scrubjay's assessment: Steve Herblein is great to work, knows his stuff, and offers excellent value.

    scrubjay, I see you have Iso-Cups under your Torii. I have them under my Taboo as well, and will also have them under my Toriis.
     
  8. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    +2 on Herbie's Audio Lab. Great stuff.
     
  9. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    What's the price on those vibration rings and the Iso-cups?
     
  10. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

  11. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Here are a few pics of some of new Decware equipment. Here is a Torii Mk III with stock tubes, sitting next to the Taboo:
     

    Attached Files:

  12. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    And here are the six ERRs still wrapped in cellophane, without their grille caps:
     

    Attached Files:

  13. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Glad to see a lot of your order has shown up! Thanks for posting the pics!
     
  14. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    An interesting post from the Decware board showing the Torii Mk III as a giant-killer:

    Yesterday at 1:13pm
    Started by Pale Rider | Post by dpod4
    I borrowed a Torii mk iii (vcap upgrade and volume attenuator) this weekend placed on a wall mounted symposium ultra shelf. Fed it signals thru a 25k analog rig and top shelf Dac and tubed cd player with my reference vinyl and cds and high rez downloads using reference cabling (cardas golden reference, harmonic tech, tara labs zero etc). Speakers (Esoteric MG20) have nominal impedance of 6 ohms dipping to 3.7 with 89 efficiency rating. I found Torii to sound best with 8 ohm selected (facing rear of unit) since it seemed to open everything up (more kick and taller/wider/deeper) with treble dial at 1pm and bass dial at 10am. Treble dial proved super useful esp changing from recording/format. I ran Torii alone and via my VAC Ren mkiii preamp.

    This is a giant killer and amazingly combines best attributes and features into one component. I think I will be buying one. For the price it is insane.

    It is very very very special. Very musical. Gives sweet, pleasant energy. Shockingly dynamic with lower register heft. Midband and just above is probably best i have heard ....I heard details didnt know were there (eg, exactly how soft and where an instrument or stroke or note is played). Front to back spatial imaging is sublime. Certain sweet notes hung in space.

    Compared to my 19k VAC amp, the Torii mk iii had more weight and heft and sounded more musical on certain pieces. VAC had better articulation, transparency/air, speed. Faster starts and stops especially with lower registers. VAC had more seamless left to right soundstage and made speakers dissapear better. VAC lacked heft of Torii and was tilted to upper registers but had better grip of 50-70hz. VAC sounded a little dry and analytical compared to Torii which was smoother and more organic. Torii was quieter than VAC. No tube rush or hum whatsoever. Only had one area where I wish Decware performed better in my system -- the lower registers could sound a bit "one-note" undefined and flabby/wooly/loose. This was consistent across most formats/songs. Not sure because I was hearing so much heft and was trying to make sense of it, but bass sounded a bit loose and smeared compared to my (more lean) VAC. I played with impedance and bass control but couldn't crack the code. Maybe tube swapping would impact this. I'd give up some of the heft (and consequential "thickness") for tighter more articulate bass. When I switched from Zu Mother power cable into dedicated outlet TO Audience powerchord "e" to Audience Adept 12 conditioner, that added punchier dynamics.

    So many times the past 24 hours I was thinking if I knew about the Torii mk iii before buying the VAC I might have bought the Decware instead. A 19k 150 wpc tube amp versus a 3k 25 wpc amp. Amazing. Many thanks to Jeff Dorgay and TONEAudio for highlighting this amp. I'm thinking TONEAudio is rocking it with products covered and what they choose to bring to readers' attention. Nice!
     
  15. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Wow, in the last week I received five pairs of NOS rectifier tubes to roll, two OA3, two OB3, and a pair of OC3. Three pairs are GE, two are RCA.

    These tube types really do change the character of the amp considerably. All the tubes are of excellent quality and construction. I think I'm most comfortable with the sound of the OA3, of which I prefer the straight example I have (GE) to the coke bottle type (RCA) by just a hair. All the others are coke bottle type; I got all five pairs for forty dollars total, which was a bargain.

    I'm listening to RCA OC3s right now, and enjoying the mellowness of the overall sound, and trying to see if I can live with the slight lack of clarity in comparison with the OA3 type. Probably can, it's a very pleasant presentation.
     
  16. Pale Rider

    Pale Rider Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Lon, as you know, my Toriis are still breaking in, but I have also tried different regulator tubes in both the Ultra and my front Torii. In the Ultra, I definitely prefer the 0A3 (NOS Sylvania) so far, though in my case, it's the bottle shape. On the Torii, I have tried 0B3, 0C3, and 0D3, mostly Raytheon and RCA, mostly straight-sided. The 0D3 has a nice sound to it, not quite as forward, and slightly leaner bass. I expect the amp, especially with V-cap break-in to change yet quite a bit, so this is mostly just playing around, listening for the ability of the amp to reveal tube differences, not so much a commitment to a particular tue output or sound just yet.
     
  17. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I just received a huge cache of different NOS regulator tubes, so I'm anxious to give them a try this weekend....
     
  18. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    And we're anxious to hear your impressions on the amp.
     
  19. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Review should be done soon. I took Steve Deckert's advice and put a lot of hours on it. I did end up buying the amp, I really enjoyed it.
     
  20. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Good to hear! I can't wait for many to learn about this fantastic amp.
     
  21. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

  22. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Just lent it to a friend for a few days and I think he's going to buy one as well. It does what it does incredibly well!
     
  23. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Amen! Such a valuable musical tool, and a real bargain in the audio world.
     
  24. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Been tube-rolling OA3, OB3 and OC3 tubes, and have straight and coke bottle versions of most. I prefer the OA3, straight shoulder. By a noticeable margin.
     
  25. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Trying out new output tubes, the ones that the Torii now ships with, JJ 6CA7s. I believe these are pictured above in the amp in Pale Rider's posted pictures.

    These are replacing a pair of SED Winged C tubes (the favorite of all those I've used before, and these used to ship with the amp). So far the JJs sound very nice. Muscular.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine