dvl
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i have had my system now for about three months. i don't listen to it every day. i will go three or four days without turning it on, but every single time i have the opportunity to sit down and listen, i am amazed all over again. i leave my listening room shaking my head, not really believing what i have heard and what i paid to get it. Torii Jr., Monoliths, Zcd240, Scout turntable, ZP3, assorted Zu and Decware cables. i was starting to think i had lost a sense of perspective. i mean this stuff is great, but i've owned good stuff in the past and i never really marveled at my system the same way. Maybe i had been away from the high end too long to really know what was good, what was great, and what was sublime. Maybe i needed a reality check to put this Decware gear in proper perspective.
So, i took some time to visit a high-end audio store nearby that has been around for decades. It sells some of the best, most expensive, audio and video equipment you can buy. i found the audio room with the most expensive set up they had. They sell more expensive gear, but this was set up for auditioning purposes. $14000 speakers with built-in subwoofers, $13000 CD player, $10000 amp, and an $8000 preamp. All tied together with cables that cost much more than my car. Now this system would put my cheap little system in its place! Just for reference, i paid around $5500 for my Torii Jr., Monoliths, and ZCD240. Good timing got me the amp and speakers on sale. Cables and power cords for those three components probably cost another $500.
i played a mixed disc that someone had put together at the store. It had a lot of the typical audiophile stuff, some of it was very familiar to me. The sound of the system was beautiful, detailed, warm, big, lots of bass, amazingly coherent and very easy to listen to. Wow, this is great, i thought. i kept listening and an interesting thing started to happen. i got a little bored with the music. Nothing unpleasant, it just didn't hold my attention, and it sounded just a wee bit hifi to me. i also started to notice on the songs that were familiar, i wasn't hearing the same things i heard on my system. The store's system had much more bass with those powered subwoofers. The sound was a touch more dynamic and more refined than mine. i certainly understand why people would want that sound and pay a hefty price for it. But mine had more detail, much, MUCH more speed, and with some types of music sounded more real and interesting. There are nuances in the music that the Torii Jr. seems to capture that i wasn't hearing in that megabuck system. i think i remember reading in the Tone Audio review of the ZMA how the reviewer found that to be a strength of the ZMA. The store's system was beautiful, it made luscious and wonderful music, but the Torii/Monolith combination does something that it doesn't, i just can't quite seem to put it into words. That expensive system started to sound polite and finally, a little dull. That's not how i would characterize the Torii Jr./Monoliths at all. So i walked out of that store again marveling at my system! No, it's not perfect, i could get some better cables in certain places that might help me refine the sound a bit, my room is a tough room, and i could certainly work more on that. There are times i wish i had a bit more low end grunt. The bass is there, it is tuneful and agile, you hear individual notes, not just a generic rumble or thump. But there are still times i wish for just a touch more weight behind those notes. The store's system had great bass without it being overbearing, that is one characteristic i came away wishing i had. Might need to check into a subwoofer or bumping up to Torii Monos! i could and want to at some point, upgrade the turntable as well.
My system certainly has it's limitations, i know that. i've written so many positive words about this gear i don't want people to think i don't realize that. But given the price of this gear and what it would take to match it out there in the "mainstream" high-end world, i just continue to be slackjawed by what i am hearing. i know i'm preaching to the choir, but i wanted to be on record about this gear. Decware gear is stupidly good for the price you pay. My goodness...
Usual qualification: All these opinions are mine, made with my ears, my gear, set up in my room, my sweatshirt of choice with acoustically correct holes in it, my choice of beverage to properly lubricate my auditory nerves, you know what i'm saying...
David
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