Hello,

At the moment I have a pair of Kef Q11 speakers that are connected to a Marantz PM6002 integrated amp. For movies the sound is quite satisfying, but when listening to stereo music the combination has disappointed me in high extend. The music sounds mostly flat without much detail and the low is very subdued.

I'm now looking for an amp which will be a better combination for my Kef Q11 speakers. I've allready been thinking of the Emotiva XPA-2 in combination with a DAC, but now my eye has also fallen on the Decware Zen Torii Mk III Amplifier which beautiful appearence has struck me quite a bit.

I'm wondering if anyone could tell me if my Kef Q11 speakers and the Decware Zen Torii Mk III would form a good combination and if the Decware Zen Torii Mk III is powerful enough to drive my Kef Q11 speakers?

And maybe could anyone tell me about the average costs for replacing the tubes when needed (once every 5 years or so?) This is because unfortunately I don't have a real big budget and this amp will take me a bit over my max at this moment. I'm actually hoping a bit for a sale at Decware in the near future

Specs of my Q11 speakers are as follows:

http://www.kef.com/history/en/2000/q/qseries11.asp

Design                            Four way bass reflex
Drive units                  9” x 6” (228 x 152 mm) Racetrack woofer
                               6.5” (165 mm) lower mid
                               6.5” (165 mm) Uni-Q® with
                               3/4” (19 mm) aluminium dome HF
Frequency response at 15°      35 Hz - 27 kHz
horizontally off axis ±3 dB      
LF Corner -6 dB                    35 Hz
Crossover frequencies      120 Hz - 500 Hz - 2.8 kHz
Amplifier requirements      15 - 200W
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m)      91 dB
Maximum output            114 dB
Impedance                  8 Ohms
Magnetic shielding            Yes
Weight                        18.3 kg (40.2 lbs)
Dimensions                  1050 x 258 x 366 mm
(H x W x D)                  41.3 x 10.1 x 14.4 in.

Your power tubes would probably begin to go limp before any of the others. The 6922 input tubes could last indefinitely, as could the 5Y3, 5U4 rectifier and gas discharge glow tubes such as the 0C2; 0A3. Therefore, you might not ever need to replace these.

If you had to replace the power tubes today, I saw a quad of Winged "C" EL34 tubes for $109.00 on ebay. That is not much every few years.