Hello Steve-
I got your message, thanks for calling back. No
real questions, everything is hooked up and working perfectly.
You may want to add the Def Techs to your speakers
that work list...maybe not the end-all, but possessing imaging finesse along
with perfectly integrated, tight, deep bass that plumbs down into the 20's, it's
a compromise I can live with. They seem to offer a different balance
of qualities than most of the high-efficiency single driver designs,
particularly the ability to rumble the rafters in the lower registers with
effortless grace (the model I own has 6 8-inch drivers, 3 per speaker, w/ 600
watts total pushing them; they seem quick enough to hang with the Zens, musical
and powerful). Plus, from your business' point of view, I'm sure Ultimate
Electronics has sold Def Techs to a ton of folks who would benefit from
augmenting them with a Zen or two!
The Zen's are just adequate enough for achieving
the listening levels I was hoping to get (going with two was definitely the
right choice), and holy crap they rock! The 3-D thing never ceases to amaze
me. Here's the correspondence I've had w/ a Def Tech rep for your amusement,
thought you might like it...enjoy.
Best Regards,
Dave
Hello again-
Thought I would drop a line and let you know how
the 7006's fare when driven by the Zen amps.
My worries regarding compatibility were unfounded.
The Decware amps provide a huge dose of bona fide audiophile-grade hard drugs.
Their only, and I mean only, limitation is absolute output (which is why I am
using two of them, bridged as monoblocks). I am still getting 96-98db hits out
in the room, which only lacks for volume after I've had a few malty beverages.
Under normal circumstances, these amps are just powerful enough; one is simply
not enough to attain the volumes I like. Such is life, the 7006's are only
92db, the Zens are inexpensive enough to get two, and the results are just
right; the amps start to clip right about where my desire to not increase the
volume intersect.
Within their envelopes, the Zens simply crush the
other amps I have used with the 7006s, which up to now have been ss gear from
cheap to way more expensive than the Zens.
The Zen/7006 combo is really quite fantastic. I'm
getting crazy-kooky-almost supernatural 3-D sounstaging, where the image is not
only not contained where you would expect, but envelops the entire room. The
Zen/7006 combo actually does provide that experience where your walls seem to
vanish and you are suddenly live, in concert, with whoever you're listening to.
Truly amazing. Localization of individual instruments and voices is pinpoint
accurate, with tremendous separation and dynamic contrasts. It's difficult to
describe unless you're familiar, but fidelity that is hyper-realistic and
absolutely engrossing. My ss amps could never do this, not by a long shot. The
7006's, when driven with ss amps, certainly do provide a more expansive and deep
image than most conventional speakers and are certainly very respectable in that
regard; the tubes just allow them to be erased from the soundscape, where you
are surrounded by almost disturbingly life-like images of musicians playing
right there. Freakishly good.
The Zen/7006 combo may be missing out on some of
the micro-dynamic detail you only seem to get with hyper-efficient and/or full
range, single driver, crossover-less designs, but I've never heard such speakers
in my own home so I can't really say. The 7006s, however, seem pretty cohesive
to my ears, and they do provide the effortless, deep bass that those other
designs simply cannot replicate (unless they are huge, room filling horn
monstrosities, and who wants that?). The Zens have no problem pushing low
impedances, unlike most SET amps, and are a good match even if the 7006's
impedance drops into the 3 ohm range. Perhaps not purist, in the view of the
typical SET hermit, but the DT's just thrive when driven by the Zens; the match
is most certainly highly complementary.
So if anyone else inquires about tube amps powering
their DT Supertowers, tell them that with Zens driving, they will be simply
blown away, and to do it without hesitation. (This of course only applies to
the Decware Zen SE84C+...haven't tried any others, and given how phenomenal
these are I have no strong inclination to.) The Zen's are under $700, too, if
you can believe that. I'm having a hard time believing my ears right
now...think extendo euphonic ephiphany. Wow! How is this even
possible?
Regards,
DS