Hey Jaco to just let you know ,you've made an excellent choice . I have several Decware pieces  including the 2 you've ordered ,and I can tell you ,you won't be disappointed. allow for a lot of  breakin ,however.

hi river ranch and jamesskk -- compliments of the season.
i finally last month managed to hook up the super zen to the zen cd player -- i didn't have my speakers in the house so hooked some long in the tooth technics speakers up --- and even then i could tell just how good the little amp had become.
-- a bit of background here -- more than a few years ago, my ultimate combination was the little zen amp i bought from steve in 2001, then came a pair of klipsch la scalas and finally a vintage california audio labs aria cd player. that gave me a sound to die for -- pinpoint imaging as tall and wide as the back wall and depth way behind my listening seat with sounds from each track clear as a bell. The aged aria died and that was that. But it had showed some of my disbelieving friend just how good the SE84 is at extracting and delivering information. if good stuff goes in, great stuff comes out!!!
Well, when my current speakers, klipsch klf-20s arrived, I knew i had something -- it is very close to that previous combination -- out of the box. I am now looking at tweaking the klf20s -- i already have bob crites crossover upgrade caps, made a start on the cabinet bracing (which have made some amazing changes in the delivery of the sound) and am awaiting crites' ti tweeter upgrade for the klf20s to arrive. I am truly happy i decided to buy the super zen. and the zen cd player will in time i am sure equal, if not better the aria. Then there is also a bit of tube rolling to do. I guess i will be busy in the new year, back listening to music the Zen way!!! thanks steve.

aside from the variable output controls which are now standard, i opted for the tube regulated power supply. I previously built steve's tube output kit for cd players with the tube regulated supply in 2009, so had a good idea what the built in hot-rodded version for the tascam could do. I think the CAL aria had an output of 4 volts or so, instead of the usual 2v for the majority of cd players. I always thought that this was part of the reason for the great sound when the aria's signals  passed through the zenamp. So when i read that the output of steve's CD was adjustable to 5v, it was a no brainer.
Anyway I have had to set up the gear in a little room and was practically nearfield listening. So I found that the less aggressive bias mode from the zenamp was best. I am sure the switch will be flicked the other way once i get it into the lounge. playing around with the CD output, i found that one step from maximum output was best for my environment. Radio gaga by queen has a bit in it that had my wife exclaiming i never heard/felt that bit before! she also reckoned she had never heard guitars acoustic or electric sound so realistic. Eric clapton's river of tears has the kick drum felt out in the room as did parts of aaron neville's warm your heart album which has a suprising amount of tastefully played bass and kick drum rhythms.
I also used the ipod extensively and once i got the hang of playing with its equaliser settings, it was pretty close to CD reproduction.

Hi dbc
I will go have a read of the hsu thread rite now. It really is hard to describe just how special the little amp is. You listen to music you have heard since your teens and it's like hearing things for the first time. I have also the mark two integrated but always come back to the little legend.

Quote:


Why do you feel a modern sub couldn't pull this off?

Yeah, looking at the specs on both units (the 15 and the 12 midbass) I can see how they fill in that upper bass frequency up to 250.

I have a 21" dual coil sub with about 2000 watts running through it, and its measured down to 10hz pretty flat, so I typically cross it over from 80hz on down to fill in the bottom end. Well, I was playing with the crossover on the Oppo 105, and decided to see what setting up the sub at 250Hz would do, and I got that powerful mid-bass thump that a live electric bass player would have (I had just seen Mannheim Steamroller and thought their bass player sounded fantastic and used that as my yard stick).

I'm betting a good, modern subwoofer could get me where you are with fewer drivers, but I see how unloading that 50-150 or 50-250 frequency to dedicated drivers could help the subs to their Ultra-low and the mains do everything above.

Hi dbc
The mbm looks very interesting. And sounds like you have a very good setup. You are in a privileged position to have visited Steve. I aim to do that one day and check out his treasure cave.
There are no hsu dealers in New Zealand so it is unlikely I will hav the opportunity to hear what it can do. For the moment I will content my self with tweaking the klf20 s. When I first got the la scalas, like you, I thought there was not enough bass but I had a mid and upper range to die for. And you are right. Some of the recordings of the 60s so undead thin on CDs Hendrix, Joplin, Dylan. Then a second hand hi fi dealer who knew my taste and gear handed me the aria. It's got the best bass he said. And boy he was right. And not just the best bass. Imaging, depth, instrument tone, rhythm and swing, detail, the interplay between the musicians, the improvisation in their phrasing, I could even hear if a piano player was hitting the sustain pedal on a live recording. And to top it off, no hint of sibilance . I could have Eva Cassidy right in my living room. I could tell if joe zawinul was playing electric piano with his right hand and non electric with his left. I could hear where peter earskine  was hitting the crown on the cymbal. First thought was who says la scalas have no bass. Because it was an unsettled time in my life the la scalas were sold some years ago and I truly regret letting them go. The klf20 s have buried potential though and as an inveterate tinkerer I am trying out the mods reccomnded by James moray. So far he has not been wrong.
This is not to say I won't try subs out. I know the zen amp has everything inside it. I think this current combination has the potential to reach what I had before so I will stay on this track. I still have tube rolling to do, cable rolling and so on. Then there,s also the legendary breakin period of the zen amp and the CD player. Lol. At the moment for instance with supertramp   I get a great soundstage. Bass and kickdrum are excellent. I can feel them. What i am not getting is separation of instruments and at the very top, cymbals are still too sizzling. Some of it can be solved with the right cabling and so on, isolation from vibration and the fact I haven't spiked the speakers yet! So still a lot of set up to go!
As an aside, you r so right. The bass players of the 60s and 70 s, they could really swing, improvise, provide the foundation, innovate and be melodic. The more modern ones,  sound too by the dots .  If u don't have it yet, the Clarke, did meola, ponty album is good. Cheers