Reviewed by: Lucas , Audio
Enthusiast, from Eagan,MN
Dec 2001
Product Model Year:
2001
Summary:
Wow!!! What a journey for an audio enthusiast's first
venture into tube power. I was at a high end audio store in Minneapolis (Audio
Perfection) listening to all kinds of speakers searching for a "perfect sound."
Of course, what sounds perfect to my ears, may sound daunting to another.
I
have a pair of Klipsch KG 5.5's. They are a large floor standing horn loaded
speaker made by Klipsch of Hope, Arkansas. They are about six years old, sold
for $1,000 new and I believe them to be one of best Klipsch ever made. What I
like about these speakers beside their beautiful medium oak finish is their
open, lively, and powerful sound. Hooked up to my ES Sony Reciever they provide
loud in your face dynamics, while giving the sweet spot listener a run for their
money. I use them as my fronts in a Klipsch Home Theatre surround sound system.
I also use these speakers for two channel audio.
What I don't like about the
Klipsch's is their harsh sounding highs and un-natural "blare." For movie
viewing I could care less, the Klipsch's are wonderful. But for music, hours per
day of listening, my ears were getting "sore" and sometimes I was turning up the
reciever volume too much to acheive better clarity. Headache, hear I
come!
Back to the high end store. Another customer asked what speakers I had
at home and what I was "listening" for. When I told him of my dislikes with the
Klipssh, he wrote down a website for me. He said this little, but amazing amp
will absolutely take care of your problem; and so it did.
The Decware.com
site has been updated since the last time I've visited. Decware is constantly
coming up with new and better products. After talking with Steve Deckert on the
phone several times, I was convinced this was it! I ordered my SE84C over the
telephone from the lovely manager DeVon Pierson. When the package arrived, I was
completely amazed by the weight and looks.
A heavy, but small amp. I
personally like the shiny silver look, with the uncovered tubes on top. Once you
put in the tubes and plug in the cord, hook up the speaker wires, and turn on
the unit, poof, magic happens! The tubes began to glow and get hot, and after
several minutes of warm up, you are ready for a truly new musical expierence. I
connected the unit directly to the line output on my Sony ES cd player using a
M-series Monster interconnect. This is the best way to use the ZEN; hooking up
to the pre-amp out of my reciever provided very distasteful, results due to the
poor pre-amp quality of my reciever. The ZEN has a (ground shunt?) pot on it,
and can be used to control volume levels.
At 3.5W per channel, I was
extremely skeptical, but providing my electronics background, I knew it was
possible.
At first I didn't care for the sound. I thought it to be very
lacking in punch and dynamics. Then as the tubes get warmer and you get some
decent amount of playing time on them, the tubes work their magic and the sound
becomes pure joy!
Sitting in the sweet spot of my Klipsch KG 5.5's for most
of my listening, this is what I noted of the ZEN. Unreal and unbelievable
imaging and clarity! I mean that in the postive way. I was astonished that the
soundstage was deeper, wider (even beyond my speakers), and more realistic than
I've ever heard in any speaker setup. The only thing that comes close that I've
listen to, without side by side comparison, is the Revel F30's or Magnepans. The
speed of this little baby is simply mind-blowing! I kept looking at my cd player
to confirm that it wasn't playing any faster than normal. I could have sworn the
amp was literally pulling out the music faster from my cd player. Hence, it was
not. What I imagine was happening is that the short signal path and simple but
elegant wiring of the ZEN was acheiving new hieghts in my listening expierence.
It took me awhile to get used to this, but once I did, I did not want to listen
to anything else. The ZEN smoothes out the rough/harsh sound of the horns and
provides you with a warm open sound that is extremely pleasing.
I popped in
one album and then another. At first I was extremely critical and a negative
biased listener. Then after several hours of listening, I relaxed and enjoyed. I
found I could not turn the unit off. Not even to go to bed. I'd rather stay up
and listen than sleep! I dug out some Cd's I had not listened to in awhile and
some of them I simple thought were bad recordings. Man, this amp can bring new
life to those albums. I was up til four in the morn' reliving the joys of these
recordings. The ZEN truly sings!
Bass isn't overbearing, nor very loud, but
it is much more accurate than most amps. It also goes much lower on this amp. I
could hear details of drums, timpani's and organs with style I had never heard
before.
Unfortunately, I had to send the amp back because I couldn't find a
way to properly and conveniently integrate it with my home theatre system. Some
day I'd like to get one or two ZEN's (or possibly the new integrated) and hook
them directly up to a high-end cd player. Then get another pair of high
efficiency speakers to match the amps; audio nirvana will be within my reach!!
Keep up the good work Decware!!!
Strengths:
1) Imaging
2) Clarity
3)Speed
4) Quality
5)
Cost
Weaknesses:
Must have efficient speakers! Will play at lower
levels
on less efficient speakers
Similar Products Used:
None, First Tube Amp |
