I'm having a hard time gathering my thoughts about this years Zenfest.  Maybe because I had to leave early.  I didn't get to listen to the whole product line, or the mix and matches my fellow attendees put together.

Julie and I arrived early Saturday. People were sleeping in the listening room.  We spent some time with DeVon and a couple of earlier risers. Met the new cat, a very handsome and friendly Bengal.  Everybody else eventually got up and left for breakfast.  The listening room was mine!

I am one of those people who can tell right away about a piece of equipment. Give me a few seconds, and I know if I like it; give me a couple of minutes, and I can identify strengths and weaknesses of most systems. After that I either sit back and enjoy the music or go into audio shutdown.

I started with the mini-torii, the radials, and then changed amps to what has become my Decware fave amp, the good old SE84C+. I now prefer it to the mini which kind of surprised me.  A caveat here though, I had a preamp in the system. I brought Buzz' Greenvalve Grounded Grid amp with me for show and tell....  Since it was plugged in early, few got to hear it. Grids & 84C's just simply 'love' each other and form a synergistic amplification chain that has tone and image and depth that few systems match.
 
The Radials remain my favorite Decware speaker.  They are room friendly, meaning that you would have to search pretty hard to find a listening room they wouldn't work well in.  (Since I design custom, usually one pair off, loudspeakers, I've grown quite picky, perhaps jaded, about speakers. I don't like many, so the radials join a group where many high end designs fail to make the grade.)

A revelation for me, was the Torii.  Steve switched from EL34 output tubes to, correct me if I get this wrong, JJ 6CA7 tubes. I thought this brought an improvement.  Steve and I both tend to prefer a neutral voicing.  I noticed a stronger bass, and a just a bit crisper highs. Well done.

There is a lot more to comment on.  I hope the rest of the attendees type a few lines about the fest. Remember in this shrinking economy, we need to support those companies that go out of their way to build good products and personal attention to their clients.

Lastly, thanks to the entire Decware clan, I always enjoy my visit. Thanks to my fellow attendees.  I learned new things from you too.  I'll add more later.

Steve F

Lon,
I don't want to go there on this thread. Let's keep it to Zenfest.  Please start a new thread about your tube choices of the Torii support page.  I was surprised at the change though.
Steve

Okay Lon, I'll stop writing.

Lon,
No apology needed.  Sometimes I explain things way too abruptly.  I really hate to type, and I hate misspelled words in my messages. Therefore, I don't always explain myself as well as I should. Sometimes people take it the wrong way. I should have written that for the first time ever I liked what I heard out of the Torii. Steve Deckert and I had a short conversation about the tube set. Since I don't know enough about tube operating points, I forgot to ask if he made any small changes to the most recent run of amps. I really think that bears further discussion. Of course current Torii owners such as yourself would and should comment. I just didn't want to hijack my own thread, like I just did.  :). I've been reading a bit about tube operating points, transformer windings, etc and as a guy who has never built an amp other than a kit, I have a lot to learn. Heck, there are manufacturers of tube amps who aren't experts.  I would love to get into a discussion about what to look for in tube choices, matching, and loading. That's what I was thinking about when Isaid it should go in a different thread.  
I really want to support Steve and also the beautiful cabinetry of Bob. I was trying to talk more about equipment impressions from the Zenfest.  They have been working hard at getting good product out.  I can only think ot a handful of audio companies tha really care about their customers enough that they want them to be happy with their purchases, and also enjoy this audio hobby even if they buy from someone else.  I enjoy writing and reading what my friends here have to say. One of the things I enjoy most about Zenfest is watching everyone and how they approach listening to the gear.  Censorship from me? Never.  We are all friends here.

Steve