will
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Dom,
Audio stuff is a weird language needing to bridge technical stuff while attempting to express in language impressions of sound qualities. But finally I think it can get pretty simple once the basics are understood more.
We are talking about a couple ways of looking at gain here. One relates to volume output and how that influences the overall sound, and one relates to source output in terms of voltage output and how that influences the overall sound.
A tube stage between the source and the amp without gain effects the overall sound by interjecting the influences from its signal path. This is what the Zbox is about. Its design, materials and tube choice influence the sound based on the signature Steve liked best for introducing "tube magic," and our choice of tube and cables refines this signature to our tastes. A big part of this as I hear it is due to an increase of even order harmonics, smoothing, sweetening and evening the playing field between how we hear music naturally and how we hear it from gear.
Then, if we add clean gain to the same Zbox, we can increase volume if needed, but the really interesting part to me is this....With gain, we can adjust the sound by introducing more or less of the stage signature into the balance, but as importantly, based upon the recording deficiencies, by adjusting the output voltage of the source up or down, this can have relatively powerful effects in terms of refinement of dynamics, weight, body, clarity, and so on. Push the voltage up and the same basic signature has more weight and push....reduce it, and it will lean, flatten, and clarify.
This is a different consideration altogether than volume, and we can do this by "riding the gains" between the gain stage and the amp to increase or decrease the influence of the Stage while retaining the same basic volume.
With my Zstage and Tranquility DAC, using the gain values of 12AU7 tubes in the Zstage, my base Zstage "volume" knob is usually set at about 1-2 o'clock for my favorite overall sound. This interjects beauty of the tube being used and just the right amount of voltage gain to sound right to me with the Torii volume being my primary volume adjustor. With the the Zstage left at this basic setting, this would be more like the Zbox if we were able to electronically adjust its output voltage to our taste.
Riding the gain is a matter of using the the gain knobs on the Zstage and the Torii to adjust the sound quality without notably changing the volume. If we want more Zstage sound influence, turn the Torii down while riding the Zstage up leaving the volume roughly the same, or visa versa.
Generally speaking, more gain on the Zstage will increase the weight, body, and dynamics which in turn, gives a sense of less upper mids and highs, the fuller sound offsetting the balance toward a richer, bigger, more driving sound. So this interjects more of the sound influence of the Zstage signature between source and amp, but also, by increasing the output voltage, we generally get more density, dynamics, body and push.
So for me, in the current system/room, 1:30 or so on the Zstage knob gives a really good sound balance for most recordings, and a good starting point for those I would like to adjust. This base setting is variable depending on the tube choice too, as the tube signature itself has similar variations within the 12AU7 family...some more or less dynamic, some warmer and more dense, some leaner and more clarified and everywhere in between.
Whatever the base adjustment though, if I pick and album that sounds a little heavy in the low mids and bass, muddling the sound a bit by overwhelming the upper mids and highs, I can ride down the Zstage knob, reducing the output voltage and the quantity of influence from the Zstage signal path (including the tube), while increasing that of the Torii. This will lean and open the sound by reducing weight and body a bit, in turn giving more sense of open clarity to the recording. Or if the recording is too lean/clear sounding, lacking weight and body, I can ride up the Zstage and down the Torii, increasing the punch, push, richness etc of the recording. This would be the same with the CSP2+, but perhaps more so since it has more gain and potentially more sound influence with its three tube types that can be rolled to taste.
For my current setup and tastes, with the Torii and music, I never need the Zstage for volume gain...not even close. But I do use it occasionally for volume where a DVD is very quiet.
This introduces another system balance variable. Speaker efficiency. If your system/room presents DVDs in a borderline volume on rare occasions like my balance does, the speaker efficiency plays a big roll in volume. My speakers are roughly 93dB efficient. All things tested and measured equally, if I had speakers that were 96dB efficient, I probably would not need the Zstage for volume gain ever, but I would still want it for adjusting the sound quality. If I had speakers that were 90 dB in this same setting, and with the same output of my DVD player I would want the Zstage for volume on a lot more DVDs (since they tend to be mixed quieter than music) but not likely for music.
As to the long cable run, within limits, it is generally acknowledged that less is better as the signal is less influenced by the materials and design of the cable the shorter it is, while also having less opportunity to pick up and interject electromagnetic noise on the way. I would guess the thing you are referring to is that that gain of the Zstage could amplify the noise if it were there.
Edit: Beowulf, hope this answers your question too.
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Building a system....ZBOX or ZSTAGE for starters. (Read 11401 times)
