I have just begun exploiting the potential of my new (12/12) SE84CKC a/k/a SUPERZEN I have at my office. The former amplifier in this position was a white SE84C+ that was connected to a Z-STAGE. With this former setup I found I could push the SE84C+ harder without going into clipping.

I used the SUPERZEN briefly with the Z-STAGE. Now the SUPERZEN is being used without the Z-STAGE. I find that the amp can fend for itself.  I can turn this amp all the way up without the sound going into clipping around 3/4 volume like the SE84C+ did. I am unsure what benefit the Z-STAGE lends to this setup. The SUPERZEN plays louder than the SE84C+ did and it has some nice characteristics in the overall sound that its predecessor did not have. The re-working of this design was a master stroke, freeing up the amp, which climbs to the top without the crutch of basically a separate gain stage.

It is hard to say how many hours I have run the amp. It arrived the second week of December, 2012. However I was not in the office very much before I went out from 12/14/12 - 1/7/13. During this time I did not use the amp. Since 1/7 I have used it anywhere from 4-8 hours per day. I sense that it is beginning to break in nicely.

My sources there are CD and AM/FM radio. They come through sweet and clear. The holographic presentation is all there. I hope that with time it will "sweeten" like its predecessors.      

Rivieraranch,

I have had my Super Zen for about the same length of time as you. I have at least a couple hundred hours on mine and it seems to have settled in nicely. My CKC replaced a 12 year old Zen Select with no mods (no hazen grid mod).

I have been running my Oppo BDP-83SE player directly into the CKC and from there directly to my Klipsch RF-7's and Stereo HSU subwoofer setup. The subs are connected to the CKC via speaker level connection. Since I have stereo 15" subs any changes in the low frequency range are readily audible.

One thing I noticed was that the volume settings on my subs are now much lower with the CKC then compared to the Select while achieving the same perceived output. Bass with the CKC seems much cleaner as does the entire frequency range. Just seems like there is a lot more separation between bass, vocals and other instruments.

Some recordings where the bass sounded a little muddy at times with the Select are clean with the CKC. In the past I thought these were problems with specific recordings. Seems like the CKC just has more resolution and dynamics.

I have a SE84CSP preamp that I used on and off with my Select over the years. It gave the Select a bit more punch but I always thought it caused mid and upper clarity to suffer just a tad. This being the case I really did not consider using it with the CKC until I reviewed Steve's White Paper below.

PRE AMPLIFIERS - do they help or hurt the sound? https://www.decware.com/paper50.htm

My impressions of the CSP with the Super Zen is completely different now that I have been playing the two together for a week. I have not found any negatives, in fact it seems to enhance everything just a tad. In particular it seems to help resolve the low end even further.

I'm not sure how your Z-stage compares to my CSP ?? but I am enjoying the CSP / CKC combo right now.

I suggest you listen without the Z-stage for a couple weeks to get very familiar with that sound. One day in the middle of your listening install the Z-stage and let us know what your impressions are.

Stone,

You might have seen my post in the "General Discussion" section where I provided my impressions / experience with the HSU MBM-12 MK2 (Mid Bass Module) I will try to post some additional thoughts on that thread that may be helpful to you.

I am really looking forward to your evaluation of the CKC / Union combination.

I connected my ZSTAGE to my SUPERZEN again. This time I placed a Dutch Phillips 7062 (E180CC) tube in the STAGE. I did not get the chance to listen to it a lot but I will in the coming days.