OVERVIEW
The Mini Torii is a 6V6 BASED
SINGLE-ENDED CLASS A dual mono amplifier. It features 6X4
tube rectified power supplies, OA3 tube voltage regulated output tube
grids, OC2 tube voltage regulated input stages and dual stepped volume
controls. It's a self
biasing
design where the 6V6 compatible equivelents are plug in compatible, the
ideal platform for tube rolling. Tube life is extended and therefor
inexpensive to operate.
In addition to
it's small size (8-1/2 x 11 inches) it also runs extremely cool making
it friendly on your desk top or on hot summer days. No stress involved
in leaving this amp on for days at a time... it doesn't care.
Preamps are
optional. The amp has stepped volume controls for each side and enough
gain to work with even the lower output sources such as an IPOD.
A special preamp output
is also provided should you like to drive a slave amplifier such as is
common when bi-amping speakers. This output is tied to the amps volume
controls and retains the amplifiers full signature including the tubes
you may have rolled so that your slave amp blends better.
Finally there is
a treble control that has been carefully crafted to take edge off the
top end, from barely detectible to substantial so that you can enjoy
listening to sub-par recordings or internet streams without going nuts
as well as trim the shout right out of your single driver crossoverless
speakers in bright rooms.
WHY DOES THIS AMP SOUND SO GOOD?
Well,
it's the real deal. It's not mass
produced. It is hand-built, point-to-point wiring using only part leads
to
limit the solder nodes. We
affectionately named this amp after it's big brother, the TORII MK III
which is a 25 watt push-pull. If you've experienced both good
single-ended and good push-pull you know the push-pull typically has
more hit and authority in the low end.
On the flip side
single ended amps have a transparency and midrange to die for so we're
always left wanting both. The Mini Torii SE, thanks in part to the tube
regulated input stage has a signature and a hit that makes you think
your listening to a much larger amplifier, making classic and hard rock
sound good on a small single ended amp - rare.
FEATURES
- Small size - built on an 8-1/2" x
11-1/2 " thick aluminum plate. Same size as a piece of paper,
great for desktops.
- Light weight - easy to grab and move
around with one hand - making trips to the listening room painless.
- Low heat - no internal parts get hot,
only the output tubes create significant heat. The 6X4 rectifier
tubes generate only a fraction of the heat of bigger 5U4, 5Y3GT
rectifiers. With 6V6 tubes the power transformers run cool even
with 24/7 operation.
- Long life - all internals are way
overbuilt, there's just nothing inside to fail. Expect 50 years of use
out of it without problems.
- Hand built - point to point wired and
silver soldered the old school way here in the USA.
- Non-magnetic - T6 aluminum chassis
with a single point ground buss eliminating any signal from passing
through the chassis.
- Lasting good looks - The amp features
a white high gloss powder coat finish that always looks great and
clean. Finger prints and small scratches are very hard to see.
- Solid hardwood - bases available in
Walnut and Black. Custom woods including most exotics are
available for an extra charge. Bases are user interchangeable.
- Low cost of ownership - tubes last
almost forever in this thing, and they are easily found and
typically inexpensive.
- Ease of ownership - the amp is
self-biasing and completely dual mono so you never have to worry about
constantly SETTING the bias or matching the tubes. There is nothing to
adjust or maintain, just plug the tubes in and enjoy.
- Ergonomic - the controls, including
on/off switch for each channel are located at the front for easy access
when it's on your desk or in your rack.
- Low power - the amplifier can't blow
itself up if the speakers are unhooked, nor can it blow up a speaker if
a tube shorts or fails. There is really nothing you can do to
hurt it or your speakers.
- Big sound - don't let the low power
fool you. It's called the mini-Torii for a reason since it sounds
and carries itself the same way. (The Torii is
our 25 watt amp)
- Adjustable sound - designed with high
efficiency single drivers as a likely paring by many customers, a
defeatable treble control was incorporated that works perfectly to take
any hotness out of the top end, be it the speaker or recording.
- Hi-end jacks - with removable IEC
power cord ensure it's right at home in the main listening room with
other high dollar boutique amplifiers.
- Built-in preamp - this amp has twice
the gain of all of our other amps coming to full power at about the
half-way point on the volume control, so no preamp is needed even with
lower output sources like those from your computer or ipod.
- Preamp outputs and bi-amping -
for open baffle (and other) speakers. A special pair of output
jacks was implemented to feed a second amplifier of your choice with a
strong line level signal that matches your volume control and treble
control settings. This output is transformer driven so that the
even order harmonic signature of the amp is embedded into the output
signal to insure the second amp has a matching sound.
- Woofer control - higher dampening
than our Triode amps for better driver control and tighter bass.
- Adjustable regulation - tube
regulation of output tubes uses your choice of VR75~VR150 tubes.
- Defeatable regulation - tube
regulation of the input tubes can be turned on or off.
- Dual Mono - it's two separate
amplifiers each with their own power switch and volume control.
You can use one side or both.
- Proprietary Iron - Decware output
transformers are a big factor in the fidelity of our amplifiers.
They are USA made from the best grain oriented silicon steel
cores and best sounding copper magnet wire with careful interleaving
for wide bandwidth.
IDEAL SPEAKERS
We have
successfully driven hundreds of different
loudspeakers ranging in efficiency from 90 to 100dB 1w/1m. On 90dB
speakers it works nicely in smaller rooms or for late night out of body
experiences. 94 to 96 dB speakers are almost ideal in that they let you
play beyond a normal listening level and preserving the dynamic
headroom. When these amplifiers were first released in 1997 there were
a minimal number of "high efficiency" speakers to choose from. Today
that is no longer the case - they are everywhere. We also offer several
different types of loudspeakers that will work with this amp. If you
own speakers that
you love and are afraid this may not drive them understand two things:
A) It will drive them louder then you're expecting and B) you can
bridge these amps into mono blocks. Because of the power increase
into lower ohms, you will net 6dB of additional power. Same thing as
doubling your power... twice.
TUBES
Everything
needs a center, so the stock tube compliment that ships with the
amplifier is a pair of 6V6 output tubes with a pair
of OA3 regulators. If you plan to try and find out which
tubes from all these options sound best, understand that results are
subjective for each listener as well as being synergy driven against
the other components in your system. We have designed the amp so that
regardless of the tubes you choose to use in it, the amplifier will
never sound bad.
 SPECIAL NOTE:
We will be shipping the first 50 Mini
Torii SE amplifiers with a pair of rare and fabulous sounding Russian
6V6 output tubes! Also known as 6P6S(6n6c) these were made in the
Reflector plant in Russia as a high grade military spec tube. These are
N.O.S. tubes that have never been used. They'll come to life for the
first time after their 30 year nap in our tube tester and take their
first breath in the Mini Torii SE. These are long life tubes and
promise many years of enjoyment.
TUBE ROLLING
If you
decide to change the way this amp sounds despite the fact that we ship
it with hand picked top quality tubes that we like, that's ok. The
truth is that a great single ended amp is the amp you can't hear
leaving you the rather empowering opportunity to experience the unique
and delicate signatures of a large variety of tubes. In other words, it
becomes an experience of listening to the tubes and about the tubes...
not the amplifier.
To that effect...
Here are just a few reasons to own this single-ended tube amplifier...
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1944 RCA Gray Glass 6Y6G
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1949 Raytheon 6V6GT
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1951 National Union 6V6GT
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1950 Sylvania Gray Glass 6Y6G
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1950 National Union 6V6GT
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1955 Sylvania JAN-CHS-6V6GTY
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1959 Tung-Sol 6L6WGB
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1960 Canada G.E. 6L6-GB
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1961 Raytheon 6V6GT
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1962 Ken-Rad 6V6GT
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1964 Sylvania 6V6GT
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1970 Sylvania 6L6G
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1972 RCA / Amperex 5881
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1979 Philips JAN-6L6-WGB
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1961 CBS-Hytron 6L6WGB
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CEI 6L6GB
5881
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International
6V6GTA
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Ken-Rad Black Top 6Y6G
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Sylvania Gray Glass 6Y6G
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Westinghouse
6V6GTA
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Tung-Sol Type41 6K6
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RCA
6K6GT
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G.E.
6K6GT
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1940 RCA
Type 41 6K6
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Sylvania
6F6GT
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1961 G. E.
6F6 Metal
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USSR
6F6M-1
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Ken-Rad
6F6 Metal
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6L6 Black Plates
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Shuguang
6L6
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RCA
Metal 6L6
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RCA-Tung-Sol
6L6
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Amperex EL37-6L6
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Ken-Rad
6L6 Metal
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USSR
6L6
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1957 G.E. Black Plate 6L6-HP
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G.E. Double "00" Getter 6L6GC
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Tung-Sol
6L6
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G.E.
5881
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Sylvania JAN-CHS 5932 Black Plate
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GET THE POINT?
There are
huge sonic differences between the 6V6, 6Y6, 6K6, 6F6 and 6L6 output
tubes in the Mini Torii SE amplifier. The differences are not unlike
owning a completely different amplifier with every change.
All are
compatible with the Mini Torii SE. These are just the output tubes, of
which the amplifier uses only two, one for each channel. These are only
a sample of some of the really good sounding N.O.S. tubes you can enjoy
in this amplifier. Of course there are also lots of 6V6 and 6L6 tubes
in current production that also sound pretty sweet.
Voltage regulators can be ignored, or used to take the tube rolling
experience to a deeper level. The four voltage regulator tubes below
all modify the operating points of the output tubes they regulate. This
in turn changes the way the output tube sounds.
CABLES
This
amplifier is so transparent that
differences between cables will now become big differences. If you
don't have good interconnects or speaker cables or just not sure how
good yours are... we offer reference quality cables that will let you
hear its full potential. It is important to us that
you hear what your new amp is capable of and most customers, even
those with expensive cables, find that ours sound better.
SUPPORT
This
amplifier is hand built in the USA by
DECWARE / High Fidelity Engineering C0. It comes with a lifetime
warranty to the original owner. If you purchase one second hand and
ever have questions or technical problems we WILL be happy to check it
out for you and service it if needed for a very reasonable rate.
We also
have a support forum
with
many people who own this amplifier who's experiences you may benefit
from.
REVIEWS
You may
read reviews
on
our
amps going back 11 years.
Since this amp is new, the best place to find reviews on it will be in
our support forums.
HISTORY of
REVISIONS
None. This amplifier is new in Fall of 2009
OWNERS MANUAL
Minitoriimanual.pdf
SPECIFICATIONS
This amplifier requires no adjustments
or maintenance other than changing tubes every couple years. It is a
self biasing design and dual mono - meaning tube matching is not
required.
| Weight |
|
14 lbs. ea.
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| Dimensions
|
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6.50" H x
12.125"
W x 9.125" D |
| Circuit type
|
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Single ended
Class A Pentode |
| Power output
|
|
3.3 watts RMS
into 4 ohms |
| Input voltage
|
|
1.0 volts for
full output w/ 12AT7 |
| Noise / Hum
|
|
Less
than 0.5 millivolts |
| Response |
|
20 Hz ~ 20 kHz
|
| Regulation
|
|
OA3 and OC2 /
tube voltage regulation |
| Rectification
|
|
5U4G / tube
rectification |
| Output tubes
|
|
6V6 |
| Signal tube
|
|
12AU7 or 12AT7
or 12AX7 |
| Transformers
|
|
Decware
|
| Biasing
|
|
Self-Biasing
|
| Resistors |
|
precision WW/MF
by DALE, VISHAY |
| Signal Cap
|
|
Polyurethane
Film |
| AC cord |
|
Removable power
cord |
| Consumption
|
|
75 watts at
full power |
| Input jacks
|
|
RCA type 24K
Gold / Teflon |
| Output
jacks |
|
5-way
binding
posts
accept 12 gauge |
| Speaker
dB/1w |
|
89
dB
minimum
/ 96 dB is ideal |
| Warranty
|
|
Lifetime
to
original
owner |
POPULAR CUSTOM OPTIONS
Extra set of input jacks and selector for a second source - $70.00
Balance control instead of dual volume controls - $20.00
Replace Walnut base with Cherry, Oak, or Maple - $20.00
Replace Walnut base with Rare Exotic woods - $call (usually adds
$100.00)
If you are interested in one of these custom options just mention it in
the comments section when you place your order online.
RELATED
INFO
 STEVE'S
DESIGN
NOTES on
this amplifier.
Some favorite loudspeakers to
match
with your Zens
Some of our loudspeakers
to match with your Zens
Steve's
papers for audiophiles
Shown with an IPod to give you a sense of scale.
The Mini Torii is small enough to fit on your desk.
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