My TORII arrived today. It has VCAPS, the Sugang Treasures and approximately 400 hours on it, so not even broken in yet. Initial impressions are that it sounds quite a bit different than the vintage tube amp that I've been running for the past 5 years. I'm not running a preamp, so I am playing around with the bass, treble, impedance and bias to find what works best with my Klipsch Forte II's. A little brighter and a bit less warm than I'm use to, but I imagine the sound will change somewhat over the next 500 hours or so.

Hi all, first post on this forum. I received my Torii and ZP3 a couple days ago and I'm also running Forte II's with Crites upgrades. Mine also sound a bit "bright" or harsh. I've been playing with the controls to find a sweet spot. Any others with the same issue with horn speakers?

Mike

I agree with Sam's advice. This sound now will change over the  next month, and then the next months. The controls will be a help now, and then. Congrats!

With the TORII MK III treble control there is virtually no way any speaker should sound bright any longer than it takes to turn the treble control down.

While the MK III treble control is actually a treble CUT (i.e., variable ground shunt) it will behave differently on different speakers.  

Yes, when it's all the way up, there is no cut, but that does not mean the frequency response is then perfectly flat.  Again it depends on the speaker. More specifically, the Zen TORII will tend to put out more current into higher impedances. That means that the treble of most crossover-less speakers and or horn speakers is going to be slightly exaggerated without a certain amount of cut. This is because the speakers impedance rises with frequency and the amplifier's power output tends to follow.

A good way to adjust the treble control is just the opposite of what most people do. Rather than having it all the way up and then turning it down until you think it sounds right, do this:

Turn it all the way down.  Listen for a minute. It will sound completely muffled. Now VERY SLOWLY begin to turn it up until you hear the high frequencies start to develop.  Don't concern yourself with where the control ends up being set - it's better not to know because of the placebo effect of psycho-acoustics.  Besides that, it is impossible to know where the flat setting actually is since it changes for every loudspeaker.

Just trust  your ears.  Using the described method see how little treble you can get away with, especially while things are breaking in.

Steve

Mike,

The Torii may be revealing the signature sound of your cabling. . . .That's how the amp can be.

"Hi all, first post on this forum. I received my Torii and ZP3 a couple days ago and I'm also running Forte II's with Crites upgrades. Mine also sound a bit "bright" or harsh. I've been playing with the controls to find a sweet spot. Any others with the same issue with horn speakers?"

I'm driving Heresy III's with a Mini Torii. The H3's have titanium diaphrams and took a very long time to settle in. Are your upgrades relatively new? If so, be patient. Enjoy your amp!

the insight on treble cut was extremely hlpful Steve, I cut the treble on the Torrii and from My preamp back (rotel rsp-1098), the Torrii besides improving the sonic characteristics has gained alot of headroom, now it's in that 200 watt solid state rivalry type range, even with low efficiency speakers.....