Carried over from the What's Spinning thread - I didn't want some of this ZMA discussion lost in that more quickly moving thread when it could benefit future users more here.
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Quote:Eric, the sort of difference you are describing between the mysery amp and the Zen amp are just the sort of differences I hear between the modded C amp here in Dad's system and the Toriis I have at home (and more harmonic density and detail yet due to the PS Audio power base I have). So I know how much of a disctinct difference there is and how enjoyable it is.
Thank you for that! I was starting to get worried that I was hyping up the ZMA too much. As you can tell from my first post about it, right out of the box I wasn't exactly gushing - those "fresh" caps were surely holding it back. But what you're saying makes me feel like instead, I'm on the right track.
But now this really makes me question what I thought was good on the old Zen amp! I really think I may have to plug the old Zen in and give it a listen with new perspective.
Taking a quiet morning as I'm still not 100% recovered from being sick this week. Dogs had me up at 8am after listening till 3am last night...
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Eric, I firmly believe from my own experience that there are a few things the little SET amps do better than any of the others, just as there are things the others do better than they can.
I think there's a "solidity," not sure how else to say it, to the sound with the SETs, an integrated holistic oneness that I think of as being due to the fact that the signal is not split and then amplified. And if you can work within the power limitations you can really get connected deep inside the music, it draws you IN. The larger amps though. . . they can really realistically bring the music TO YOU with scale and rock 'em sock 'em dynamic reality, and with Steve's designs he more and more gets that SET oneness out of the push-pull as well as the scale and drive. (The more I understand about the Mystery Amp the more I see how it is a step even further forward in that regard).
I would advise this: don't put the little guy in yet. Wait a month or so til the Mystery amp is that farther along to blooming. I wonder how much longer those huge caps take to seat and bloom compared to the smaller ones? Your little Zen is so seasoned I would wait until the Mystery is more of all it can be.
Question: is there ANY treble attenuation available at all on the amp? I just can't live without the treble cut circuit any longer. If I were ever to get this amp it would probably only be if there was a treble cut circuit.
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Quote: (The more I understand about the Mystery Amp the more I see how it is a step even further forward in that regard).
I agree with this, and it's part of why I think I leaned more towards the ZMA than the Torii, not that the Torii is any slouch! I just thought this represented something that was familiar, but with more grunt and texture.
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I would advise this: don't put the little guy in yet. Wait a month or so til the Mystery amp is that farther along to blooming. I wonder how much longer those huge caps take to seat and bloom compared to the smaller ones? Your little Zen is so seasoned I would wait until the Mystery is more of all it can be.
I will hold off, but I'm already hearing the caps seat well. I knew it was on track when I described the amp like a horse going from a trot to a gallop. I also feel it has a long way to go!
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Question: is there ANY treble attenuation available at all on the amp? I just can't live without the treble cut circuit any longer. If I were ever to get this amp it would probably only be if there was a treble cut circuit.
Steve and I discussed the controls. I think he and I are of the same mind here - the point of the amp, is very K.I.S.S. - I told him I didn't want to futz with settings, I just wanted to connect an amp to a source, and let it do it's job. If it wasn't good straight up, then it probably wasn't the amp I wanted. I like that I can set/check the idle (bias) and just go listen all night. Check it again the next morning and it's still right there, or needs a 5 second tweak. I'm tired of messing/tweaking gear, I want to spend my time listening.
I wouldn't discount or dismiss the ZMA due to not having the treble tweak, if it's not there, it probably simply doesn't need it.