I'm very interested in Decware products and have some questions. It's been weeks since I've emailed three different people and left a voice mail message, but nobody has gotten back to me. Nobody ever picks up the phone no matter when I call. Is anyone even there? Customer service is non-existent, which is very disappointing. It makes me wonder how warranty and other issues will be handled if you can never get a hold of anyone. I decided to try one more time before I move on. Is there anyone who can help me?

I hear you. It's intensely frustrating to be supplied contact info. and getting no response.
Even a good reason for no response leaves the (potential) customer no less frustrated---
don

I have a lot of questions, and I prefer to speak with somebody at Decware. However, I do have one question for you guys. I'm interested in the zen mini torii 2. It says that it can be used without a preamp. Has anyone used it this way? What are your thoughts? I have sensitive speakers and don't need a lot of power. They're Tekton Lore-S speakers.

BTW, I originally wanted to purchase Decware speakers, but nobody ever responded to my questions. Has anyone had better luck contacting Decware? How do current owners get in touch with anyone? I'm hesitant to give my business to a company with such poor customer service.  

I agree with dla, I find their customer service to be excellent when I reach them, but it can take time and be a bit frustrating to reach them. Calling is best, which is not my favorite way, but it works. Usually when I write to Steve I get a response, and that is also the case with DeVon and Sarah, but it can take time.

As for the Mini-Torri and a preamp:  I haven't owned the Mini-Torii but I have owned six other Decware amps and all can be used quite successfully without a preamp. A very good preamp  can bring an additional somethng special to the sound, but they are very satisfying without a preamp.

The illustrious builder of the speakers Bob Zeigler has had serious health issues in the past month and is on the mend and so speaker waiting is long and perhaps communication is slow. But the speakers are well worth the effort, I can't imagine not having a few pairs!

Best of luck and welcome.

Rose, Decware is in my estimation worth the effort, and regulars here can help a lot with questions and information. Buying my first Zen amp launched me into a whole new realm of listening enjoyment and involvement. If I examine it closely and objectively, it appears their products have really become an important part of my daily life. I love music, they get me to the music.

I honestly don't know which amp is the most suitable for my speakers. I am so new to all of this, which is why I wanted help from Decware. I just bought my first speakers. Until recently I didn't even know what a preamp was. I've been researching and learning, but I am still confused about a lot of things.

Beowulf,

1. My listening room is my great room, which in an open area. My kitchen flows into this space, and the dining area is next to it as well. So it's a pretty large space. But the great room itself is 17' W, 15' D, and 14' H (vaulted ceiling).

2. I don't like loud music. I guess I listen moderately.

3. I have a TV, Blu-ray player, Roku box, and I'd like to add a CD player later.

4. I'm about 8 feet from my speakers.

Here are some additional information that might help. I mainly listen to classical music. This set up is mostly for music and some video. I only have 2 speakers and don't want surround sound. I don't need a DAC. Sound quality is the most important factor for me.

I plan to use an Oppo Blu-ray player as my source.

I'd like to add a preamp, but I'm not sure if I should buy one from Decware or buy an integrated amp elsewhere. Can I use an integrated amp as just a preamp? How about an integrated tube amp? What would be ideal? I don't want to buy an A/V receiver.

All the additional options on Decware amps are so confusing. It seems like the more I learn, the more confused I get. Thank you for trying to help me. I really appreciate it.

I have also had trouble getting replies to Emails and I think it's because they get tons. I call when I need to and the response there has always been great, but remember the hours are 10 to 4, Tues thru Fri. I use the Rachel and the Mini without preamps with ERRs and they work great. I tried adding a preamp to the Rachel and found it didn't really add anything for me. I highly recommend not giving up on contacting them, the after service is also first rate and very fast, if you need to use  the warranty!

In my opinion (and everyone has one ), I would start with the Super Zen Triode. This has the lowest price and has fewest 'options' to get confused about. It sounds really good. You may even be able to get an earlier version used or borrow/listen to one from someone in your area.

My second choice would be the Zen Triode Integrated. This is only my second choice because of price and factoring in all the choices. (I don't know your budget.) I also don't think you will use the extra power since you listen moderately, but on the other hand you may want the extra power with classical music. I do not know because I have very little classical music.

I have the Super Zen, Mini Torii, and the Zen Triode Integrated. I use the Super Zen the most and that is probably factoring into my statements above. I listen nearfield in a small space.

Lon,
There are a lot of options/upgrades on the Zen Triode Integrated. I'm not sure if I need any of them. I'm trying to compare Zen Triode Integrated, Super Zen Triode (not the mono), and Mini Torii. I don't want something that would be overkill for my needs/speakers.

I do not use a preamp. I do not own a preamp. The volume control on my amps fit my need. I have a rotary switch box in the closet if I want to connect more than two sources.

I"ll throw my two cents here. . . the main differences are that the Mini Torii has two inputs (right>?) and a higher gain preamp section that will work better with sources such as an iPod, iPad, etc. (Roku?) Technically the Integrated is an SET and the Mini-Torii is an SEP, and the Integrated may sound just a tad more forgiving than the Mini-Torii (emphasis on MAY as I haven't heard it). And the Mini-Torii gives you many more "tube-rolling" options which is important to some.

You've ruled out the MINI TORII by now.

You probably need 6 watts for classical music, which often goes from dead silent to a full orchestral crescendo at a moment's notice.

A 2-4 watt amplifier would not be able to handle that as well as one with more juice.

To have 6 watts you have either The Rachel or a pair of SUPER ZENS strapped in mono. The Rachel is more laid back sounding than the SUPER ZEN.  I have had both. However the ZEN has a bias switch that goes from laid back to a hotter sound, which you can use on the fly.

You could purchase two SUPER ZENS and run each in a mono configuration. You will get 6 watts per block from that combination. You can get a switch box to route the sources.  You can modify the volume for each side individually as well. If you go the SUPER ZEN route, don't get the EX (6-16 ohm) transformers. Your speakers are sensitive enough that the regular transformer (2-8 ohms) would do fine. You lose some transparency with the higher OHM transformer.

How do you get a treble cut circuit added (BTW, I don't even know what this is)? I didn't see it as an upgrade. I'm assuming this isn't free, right?

I apologize beforehand for yet more rudimentary questions I am about to ask. These are based on what some people have told me.

1. Do I need a DAC? I was told that I do since I'll use my speakers to listen to CDs. Apparently I either need a separate DAC or a preamp with an internal DAC even though the Oppo has a DAC.

2. I was told that I need an active preamp. Why?

As you can see, I'm still confused about a lot of things, and I have a long way to go and learn. If I don't buy an amp from Decware, I'd like to at least buy a preamp to use with another amp.

Quote:


RR, this is good to know ... I always suspected that the regular 2-6 ohms transformer would be best even though a persons speakers would fall into the 6-16 ohm range.  How would you feel with a pair of 16 ohm speakers such as the Zu Soul Superfly ... would you still go with the 2-6?

Rose and anyone else who wants background info about DAC's
This tries to answer "what is a DAC and why would anyone want one?"

DAC: Digital to Analog Converter - converts a digital signal to an analog signal.

Digital signal: music represented as 1's and 0's, similar to Morse code.  It can be bits in a computer.  hi and low voltage on a wire.  The microscopic pits or lack of pits on the surface of a CD, which reflect or don't reflect a laser passing by. A digital signal is any information stored/transmitted in 2 states (binary), kind of similar to Morse code.  I'll say "1's and 0's" from here on.

Analog signal: the air vibrations that hit your eardrums are analog pressure waves.  you feel analog vibrations with your hands on the speaker or a nearby wall or window, or in your lungs when loud enough. These are the real musical vibrations as they came from the originating musical instruments. less frequent vibrations are bass notes. more frequent vibrations are treble notes, etc.   An Analog electrical signal on a wire, if you could see it visually, would "vibrate" exactly the way you feel with your hand on the speaker.  The electricity on the wire would oscillate exactly like the window does.  I'll use "vibrations" from here on.


Here's picture showing gray analog wave and red digital samples
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Digital.signal.discret....

the red digital signal has discrete values: 0,4,5,4,3,4,6,7,5 and so on. A sequence of 1's and 0's represents code, similar to Morse code. (ex: 0000 is 0, 0100 is 4, 0101 is 5, so the coded sequence is 000001000101 (0,4,5) Anyway, not necessary to remember this part. Just know that 1's and 0's represent the discrete red value's, which approximate the original vibration.  the DAC tries to reconstruct the vibrations from the discrete values/pulses)

The analog signal is: the gray wave form or vibration.

The DAC coverts the red discrete values into a continuous wave (vibration). converts electrical pulses (codes) into a continuous electrical vibration

The quality of the DAC determines how accurately this gray vibration is produced.

A small digital mp3 player has music in 1's and 0's.  but it has to go through a DAC before it goes out to the headphone jack(speakers), because speakers need the electrical vibration, not the 1's and 0's. (If you've heard the old sound a computer modem makes when it dials and connects to a service provider, that's the sound of pure 1's and 0's. Fax machine is doing the same thing.  digital noise)

DAC quality differences (are multidimensional) and audible to us all. There's lots of DAC quality debate.   The DAC in an mp3 player is cheap and relatively inaccurate. (it's just good enough)

There are many many separate DAC's on the market from $hundreds to many $thousands.  and as many opinions of their quality and value per dollar.

A CD player take's 1's and 0's off a disc (the sequence of pits), and outputs small vibrations (thus an internal DAC had to have been involved).  The quality of the DAC has a lot to do with the price of the CD player.

People who play music files straight from a computer...usually buy an external DAC of their choice.  they feed 1's and 0's from their music files to the dac.  The dac feeds small vibrations to an amplifier.  the amplifier amplifies the vibrations to the needs of the speakers and then you hear those vibrations.  (Decware amps do this will least alteration to those vibrations, so you hear what was originally there)


So, a DAC is a very fundamental device in modern music playback.  most people don't realize they are there or what they do.  People who care to control the quality of their music from source to ears, choose which dac they use. (or buy an excellent CD player, same thing).

to contrast: The only analog sources I can think of that don't need a DAC are cassette tape, reel to reel tape, vinyl records.  The vinyl physically records the vibrations in the grooves.  The magnetic tapes record the vibrations in the magnetic media instead of recording 1'0 and 0's into the magnetic media (There's is a device, a DAT (digital audio tape) that does exactly this, records 1's and 0's into the tape, and must use a DAC for playback))

Steve,
Thank you for your reply. You're right, everybody on the forum has been very helpful. I completely understand that things happen in life. I'm glad I waited it out.  :)