Hi, Nick.

I sent you a PM. I am definitely interested.

The funds are in the mail system as I post this.

I hope they find you early in the coming week.

I can't freeaking wait!!

Thanks, Don. I am SO excited to have another to toy around with. (Well, it's NOT been done yet, but I trust that things will go as prescribed.)

My curiosity is beginning to mound regarding whether or not I should send all three to Steve for any "tune-ups" or balancing acts  that might be needed.

Upgrading would be a second discussion. I am pleased with the native sound and the original functionality suits my uses. The only thing I am really considering is to have Steve's crew set them internally to mono usage.

Bless you, Nick!

OK, I have to relate this to the entire "class."  (scary stuff!)

I just got this amp, yesterday, and of course, even though I knew it would work fine, I wanted to Make Sure that it worked, since I just bought it. I did not want to disassemble any of my existing systems just to test the amp, yet.

So, I grabbed an old set of cheaper Yamaha bookshelf speakers, from the dusty areas of my garage shelves - a pair slated for donation to more needy people, honestly (a set I acquired from an estate auction and, quite frankly, I have better speakers to give away to other people who would appreciate to own a set of speakers). It is a set of speakers that are not even considered good enough for my garage system anymore. (I needed to put a load on the amp and this was something similar to a speaker load.)

I am also out of desirable cabling, so I cut up an extension cord for speaker wires. I scrounged to find some old AudioQuest interconects and hooked it all up to my plain old DVD player (the one in my bedroom - the bedroom system is little more than a night light in reality. I put in a movie turn the sound down and close my eyes - get it?). The speakers were set on my "undresser" about two feet apart -  it is the place where I unload my pockets before I step into the shower.

All I was going for was to determine for certain that my newly acquired amplifier actually works. I got it going and it warmed up as I put the kids down for the evening. The amazing thing is that every time I walked by (bathroom trip, tooth brushing trip, night clothes change trip, etc. etc.) I was forced to pause, due to the incredible sound from this makeshift trial set up.

I HAD TO STOP - I JUST HAD TO STOP - AND EXPERIENCE THE AMAZINGLY DEEP SOUNDSTAGE (speakers are two feet apart, remember), INCREDIBLE FIDELITY (speakers are inefficient junk, remember, and I am using zip cord and terrible low level connectors), THE ENGAGING DRAW OF THIS (worse than minimal) SET-UP AND THE CLARITY THAT I HAD NEVER IMAGINED POSSIBLE FROM THIS SET OF "THROW AWAY, HUNDRED DOLLAR SPEAKERS."  I HAD TO STOP EVERY TIME I WALKED BY, JUST TO EXPERIENCE THE IMPOSSIBLE!!

I have not taken it apart, yet. I wanted to see if I was just high on something new last night and that feeling would go away as I sit quietly and determine if I am more F_O_S than I had previously thought.

NO!

This stupidly inadequate system sounds absolutely amazing! It is one median quality (Pioneer) DVD player, direct to the Zen, with cheapest (consumer grade six inch, two-way Yamaha) speakers I own.  There is no way to describe the unbelievable depth of the sound using BS, thrown-together sCrap for everything but the heart and soul of the system.

I honestly expected the amp to work perfectly, but I was not completely prepared for what I was hearing. This is amazing. It is my third ZenC amp, so I have been impressed by these little guys a number of times in the past, but I have never tried to go so far from ideal, before.

I can't really post adequate superlatives to describe my eye-opening, nearly traumatic audio experience, but I know that I am not alone.

Start another thread DD!  I for one would love to follow your progress.

I will offer this much advice:  if you can, consider seriously using Steve's speaker cable and interconnects.  I've never ever heard speaker cable like Steve's and I've heard quite a few different types and brands and price points.  It's just really honest and direct and responsive.  The interconnects are also the best that I've heard. If you need a longer length or want to save 20 to 40 percent, the silver Audioquest that is sold at HCM Audio (seems they bought a large quantity of wire) is nearly as good I believe (so far, I've had it in use nearly a week and it's great with my dvr, better than all th other cables I've tried except the Decware) and is about one fifth the original (overpriced, yeah) cost.

I really think everything is important and shapes what you hear. If you want to hear EVERYTHING you have to choose amp, speakers and source that will give you EVERYTHING as well as cabling for speakers and components and even power that won't color that everything. (But you know that.)  Anyway with Decware cabling I know that it makes sense to just stop and enjoy unless you win the lottery.

With that amp, you've got a great start.  (I've had to go a different route because I fell in love with a design of speakers that just aren't all they can be with that amp).  And if you get the cabling right, you're one more step in that direction.

But remember: if you hear everything, it can be very unsettling except for a small number of recordings. . . .

Honestly, Shreekant, I have tried to leave things as they are many times in the past. I can tell you that it WILL NOT HAPPEN.

I will be jacking with stuff, no matter what else happens.

I just wanted to relate my renewed interest in what this type of minimalist amplifier can do for/to all who attempt this impassable trek. I have been listening quietly for over two years now, with only altering my speakers (very slightly) and input systems (freaking buttloads, actually).  I am almost ready to just throw in the cards, but I also want to know what the next card is.


BTW, I have been doing nothing but enjoying this little system for two days now. I have done no more tweaks than to install a lighting stand adapter to the backs of the "THROW AWAY SPEAKERS"  so I could get them out some into the room, upon stands (old gear that I used in photography - I chose the steel stands, capable of supporting three hundred pounds each, because of their massive construction and lack of any resonance) using some of my old pro lighting stands  for the task, widening the soundstage to about seven feet.  My sweet spot is about eight feet away from the plane of the two speakers. The speakers are angled in at about thirty degrees for this forward area of sweetness. I am not on axis of the speakers, but about ten or fifteen degrees on each side inside the direct sound. (The speakers face just slightly outward from where I am sitting for the best sound.) Also, I have not listened to anything else but my overblown movie rig, which I accept as over the top with facia blasts, by design. I don't take that system seriously at all. It is intended to hurt people and make them cry. It works for this, but I am immune.

I have experienced a problem due to my haphazard, trusting posting style in this thread.

A person has tried to contact me by Private Means and asked me questions of a revealing nature, making sure reference to this thread, which have nothing to do with this thread's original intent, as it was created. I will not accept any such contact, if I can avoid it. Thinking that I was in a safe place, I posted my thoughts and they came back to haunt me.


I will not answer to this person or any other who tries this method of contact, but for the future of this forum, I would like to see all my responses in this thread that have nothing to do with my acquiring Zen C # 599 or a direct interaction to the original poster, removed. Can someone please remove all my old posts from this thread and protect me from further contact by members who would attempt to contact me in such a way.

Looking at my comments, they do nothing to further the sales of these amazing amplifiers. I apologize for my transgression and plead that my superfluous posts in this thread be removed, please.

I am asking that my posts be removed in this thread that have nothing to do with my acquiring the original posters offering, please.

I have already set my PM options to a more safe setting. No need to worry, I hope.

My advice would be to spend your money on "Master Handbook of Acoustics" by Everest before spending any money on more equipment.  Only costs around 30 bucks and for a technical book is a pretty good read.  It really helped me to understand what was wrong with my listening room and how to try and fix it (atleast hide some of the problems).  You may be able to get better sound from just moving your speakers more away from walls then buying any equipment.  If I had it to over again I would have wanted to start off reading this book.  Would have saved me some $$$, time and aggrevation.      

Hell, maybe that sets it straight. I'm not sure, though.