These are currently installed on the monoblocks.

I picked up a rather unique find and with relatively low cost *(shipping cost from the Ukraine only), a bulk purchase of N.O.S. Russian military 5U3C rectifiers that date back some time before 1960 if I am correct on the vintage. These were manufactured at the Svetlana factory. They are BUILT about as heavy duty as it gets! These are the same size as the Ruby ST types that ship with the amp.




I was offered these from a guy that built amps and used these in his designs. He no longer needed them and offered the entire stock of TEN pristine (never used) tubes in total for only $1.00 plus the shipping which really cost a good bit. All in all, I invested about six dollars each per tube. These are Russian versions of the Western 5U4G designation. This of course makes them fully compatable for experimentation as direct drop-ins.

Here are the American counterparts. I just recieved this N.O.S. set of RCA 5U4G rectifiers in pristine condition. These are my referance standard along with the British military Mullards. I believe that it is going to be very difficult to top these in overall performance.

Hello Rap,

Thanks! Oh yes, I am definitly listening to that well built Teres vinyl rig with the Decware phono stage.

Just swapping in tube variations at the same time and kicking back to enjoy the results. After this post, I am back to listen to that golden vinyl machine and spin some live Sarah McLachlan performance which is recorded on premium 200 gram vinyl by Classic records. I have the British Mullards in now with the KT88's.

Be back soon.

Paul

This is my Hickok 6000A Mutual Conductance tube tester which is approximately forty-five years old and is in wonderful condition. Line calibration is steady and everything works great. At the least, I plan to replace the capacitors as I doubt they are operating at peak performance levels. They are cheap to replace and this would insure better accuracy under load. This is one of the latter post 1961 models revised for later model tubes and will test just about any tube that we use in our equipment. Tube adapters can always be integrated. I also have two pre 1961 Hickok units for testing older tubes. One being the model 6000 and the other is a model 600A in very nice condition. The Hickok 6000A will be my primary tester which will come in handy to insure proper tube integrity.

TORII MK2 evaluations underway.......

.......Update.........

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Hello Terry,

Not a problem. This is exactly my intention with the speakers in question. The whole point of this extensive evaluation process is to provide others such as yourself with some impressions derived from a seasoned Decware listener with as honest and accurate information as one can give without getting overly technical. I realize that what you want to know is how this equipment interacts with each other and the resulting musical satisfaction. That is what really counts and I believe that you will discover my findings to be very straightforward and of the same perception if you choose to acquire any of these combinations. This I would expect if a top-notch source mated with the TORII MK2 kept in minimalist form were used with any of these speakers. The huge factor is of course within your room parameters and the acoustical effect that the room presents to the music. You will find that a select set of premium tubes along with high quality cables weigh heavily upon the total perception of sound quality.  As far as source recordings are concerned, I have music titles that really do not do justice to this system, but when great titles are played back, the system is allowed to breath and the magic distinguishes itself in a seemingly infinite manner.

As you know, I have gone to great lengths for providing the information posted so far and I am only in the first stages of the complete process. My time is limited so it may be awhile before all of this is sorted out, but I am making progress. I am at the stage of comparing notes with the RL-2’s versus the characteristics offered by the upgrade RL-3’s. I have been well accustomed to the RL-2’s for several years and I will make this brief and basic observation from my initial response to the RL-3’s.

The RL-3’s are definitely a cut above with far superior low-end extension. These speakers are a superb choice for the TORII MK2 and make for an excellent match for which is sure to please the most demanding listener.

These are of a completely different signature for which a volume of words could not justify the instant acknowledgement obtained with an actual demonstration. Bass extension is simply wonderful with a level of detail that usually would be associated with the augmentation of a quality subwoofer. I have had the WO32 at my disposal for quite some time now. To create the full-bodied presence of the music that I expect to hear while using the RL-2’s; I have always included the sub for that total satisfaction. With the RL-3’s, you would swear that the WO32 is engaged when in fact it is not even hooked up!

I really do not see the need for additional augmentation with these, as they are that good. When you have been accustomed to having a good quality subwoofer for some time, these factors become readily apparent. As I stated in past posts, I have excluded the use of any subwoofer augmentation, as I do not want to distract from the qualities of the speakers in question. The whole point is to know what the main speakers are capable of in their purest form. If you go back to some previous posts in the reviews section, you will find that the owners of the RL-3’s have stated very close similarities as to what I have concluded about this model. If you read the review that was printed in a major audio rag, it states that the reviewer liked them so much that he purchased the review models rather than send them back!

I have so much more to say about my findings but I shall save that for the final review.  If there is something specific that you would like me to analyze with these speakers and I can accommodate your request, I would be pleased to do so for you.

I will be extensively reviewing the entire line-up of the Decware offerings, starting with the lowest priced models and advancing on to the higher priced models, providing my take on how each one of these designs sound with the TORII MK2.

As a bonus, the evaluations are to be repeated with the Single Ended Triode approach as this will show just how responsive these speakers are to low powered purest amplifiers.

I am pleased that you have expressed interest in this matter. I only hope that I can provide the answers that you seek.

Take care.

Paul.

Hello Terry,

That was interesting to hear about your past leading up to your current philosophy about audio in general. You have expressed your intentions very well and I believe that this provides me with a clear picture as to what your focus is and what will satisfy your goals. Realistically, I can only give you my perspective as to how I perceive these components but it should give you a good lead as to what may be a more proper fit for your application. There is zero risk associated with buying Decware products anyway and the designer himself always best serves final recommendations. Steve goes out of his way to give each customer the kind of personal attention that is usually unheard of with any company that I have dealt with for any product.  

I believe that most customers past and present can relate to that statement and I have yet to hear any negative feedback regarding his personal advice for which to select the appropriate gear. To add to this, you have Zygi’s personal consultation that I will without reserve, state wholeheartedly, that his word comes from that of true experience and wisdom.  Steve and Bob make for an outstanding design team and it is of my experience that their word is as good as gold. As far as I am concerned, any direction given by them can be “set in stone” as audio gospel.

When I was in my youth back in the sixties and into the seventies, I was never really exposed to any real Hi- Fidelity products (except for those being hyped by the boutique audio dealers) and there was no involvement with any serious audio direction within my family. I never knew what tube based equipment sounded like back in that era. It is no wonder since all of that was considered obsolete by the mainstream and the push was on for big mega watt solid-state components and speakers so large that it took two men to move them. You needed the big SS amps just to drive the majority of these designs due to the low sensitivity factors. Since I lacked experience with any refined tube based gear during those years, I based the current “state -of- the-art” (as it was referred to by the  promotional peddlers) type of monstrosities, for which to gauge what was supposed to be the most refined sound quality ever offered in  audio.  Looking back to that period, hindsight has given me 20-20 vision. Today, I am finally confident with how to put this all into perspective.

I fell victim as many did, to the premise that high-powered SS amps mated with oversize speakers were the only way to go if one was serious about audio. With the money that I spent chasing that goal in the eighties, I can only look back at my ill-advised delusions of audio grandeur and find it amusing at best.  We live and learn and sometimes life sends you down a rocky road when you were convinced it was the super highway.

One fortunate aspect of my youth was that vinyl records were the source of ultimate fidelity and aside from a turntable, open-reel decks were absolute “state of the art” devices for rendering music as reference grade quality. I still would not dispute that today when you take into consideration that technological advancement by dedicated designers has brought us such refined analog offerings available today that simply was not offered back then. This is not to say that good quality turntables were non-existent, but to merely convey the fact that the level of standard has advanced significantly. With the recent and steady upsurge in analog interest, and the fact that hard-core purists refuse to give up that aspect of audio reproduction, the resulting formulation has brought us some of the greatest designs ever imagined in analog playback.

To make things worse, I hastily made the transition to the CD format during the early to mid eighties and that only compounded my misdirection into audio disenchantment. One of the greatest analog components that I ever owned was that of a studio grade Akai 747 open reel deck with the type 1 dbx circuitry. Back in 1983, this was truly a work of art when it came to open reel machines and it had a hefty price tag as well. I ended up making a severe mistake by selling it, as it seemed that open reel decks were becoming obsolete with the “great” digital domain that was promised on the horizon.

Do not get me wrong here, there are some decent sounding digital components on the market but it has only been within recent years that this has come about. After hearing the modified Sony unit with the much-improved SACD format, I have found that digital can be an acceptable means to enjoy audio if done right. Once I actually had the chance to truly focus on the benefits of a well-designed hybrid offering, I find myself getting more involved with the digital format once again. This has a great deal to do with the benefits of a quality tube based output stage which renders the tonal balance to a closer facsimile of well regarded vinyl offerings.  I am still adamant as to the sound of properly produced vinyl and it shall remain as my reference grade standard until something comes along that will change my perspective towards analog playback. With the direction that things are going in the audio world, I have my doubts!

Now as far as music selection goes, I can easily accommodate your artist category. I have a huge collection of vinyl and digital offerings, which cover the majority of well-known “Classic Rock” releases with many that are substantially improved upon with refined remastering. Although my musical direction has changed dramatically over the past few years, I still resort to these timeless classics for a trip down memory lane on occasion.

I have every L.Z. album released except for CODA and The Song Remains the Same “live”, all remastered and released by Classic Records on premium 200-gram vinyl. These are by far the best sounding releases that I have heard to date and a huge improvement over the digital format. I have “Who’s Next” and “Who are You” on vinyl plus a nice European double album which was an import offering with a complete span of their career hits.  I have the entire Pink Floyd catalog on vinyl with some vinyl that were original pressings and some remastered versions as well. Plus I have all titles by Roger Waters (except for “Amused To Death” which is very rare and quite expensive) and David Gilmour on vinyl to include “The Wall” Live In Berlin by R.W. The “Amused” title by Waters was mastered by a technique called “Q” sound and  provides a very unique and surrealistic sound quality to the soundstage. I have a collectors edition from Sony Music with this remastered from the original studio tapes onto standard CD format gold disc. It is a bit reminiscent of the quadraphonic sound that always made their live performances so special.

There will be more on this. Thanks for your confidence!

Paul.