The correct question I should have asked is:-
If I connect the streamer to the amps via the new rca outs, what do I use as a volume control?

Cheers,

excuse the errors but its hard spending your fe standing on your head

Mark,

Hi. Thanks for the feed back;
i'll give them both a try and get back in a couple of weeks.

The monos just keep on giving.

Cheers
gd

1. Archie, I do not know if Steve is offering any 25th. mods for The Monos.
2. gd, you might find the following interesting.
 I have owned The Monos for about 5 1/2 years.  During most of that time I have rolled various KT-88 tubes through the amps.  The sound was always exceptional, clear and totally un-adorned...there is not a speck of coloration with these two amps... the music recorded is the music that is heard.

 The different KT-88's basically sounded the same, except for one quad.
After a good amount of time searching on the internet, I took a chance and ordered a quad from Russia.  The tubes themselves are marked TESLOVAK, but their white boxes are marked, Czechoslovakia.  Czech. of course has not existed since 1993 and the boxes do not look antique enough to be 26 years old.  I still do not know if these are some type of knockoff but...to my ears they sounded the best out of all of the other KT-88's that I have rolled.

 Finally, 4 months ago, I decided to try a quad of Tung Sol KT-120 tubes.  I will not bore you with the usual, audio-reviewer superlatives, so let me just say that the soundstage and bass increased noticeably  over all of the KT-88's that I had rolled previously.  Two more improvements in amplifiers that I did not think could be improved upon!  They have taken a while to season and seem to season in stages...you know, those nights when all of a sudden there is something more, there, those magical, sonic moments.
 Even though Steve denotes an entire paragraph (in the owner's manual) to the use of Tung Sol KT-120 tubes in these amps, I was surprised at the increased, operating temperature of the KT-120's.  I called him and he told me that the hotter, running temperature would not be a problem.  Just in case, I purchased a quad of Duende Criatura tube dampers that fit over just the top of the tube.  Although I do not think that they have changed the sonic signature of the KT-120 tubes, I believe  that the operating temperature of the tubes has decreased slightly. I think that they might be acting as heat sinks.

So, do you have any "Mono" experiences that you would like to share?
Mark

So,  I've connected the streamer to the amps; I've wound down the amps output to as low as I can go, and I've reduced the streamers output to -20db.
Hit play and wow! way too loud.

Any suggestions.

cheers

I think I have sorted the volume control issue.

The streamer needs to be routed via a pre-amp.

No dramas, just can't sell the pre-amp.

Grunge might be cables, power, speaker cable or speakers or my ears.

Cheers

Quote:


Yes, I have the anniversary mods for the Zen TORII Mono's as well, and they are in the 2nd month of testing.  The results are good enough that we are building the current monos with the anniversary mods as standard fair. Those with existing monos who want the mods can get them for 1/2 price which is $500.00 per amp.  In the Monos the main large filter caps are not changed because in these amps they are in series, and the voltage is well over 100 volts higher than the ZMA.  Using the Nichicon NX series in the monos voiced the amps on the forward side which we did not want.  So that is actually good news, since the large filter caps do not have to be changed.

Interestingly, the reason you never hear much about these, is because A) we don't sell half as many pair of these as we do ZMAs, because in most cases ZMA will easily cover it for about half the money.  B) Decware sells wholesale to the public so our 12K monos would actually sell for closer to twice that retail.  And because we would have to do shows, and have review samples and all the support for reps and dealers, the amps would actually have to be about 5 grand higher still.  Even at those prices I feel confident they would land in the top 5% yet the 5 and 6 digit club of audio consumers the audio shows are so hungry for do not consider Decware as costing enough to be taken seriously.   If our 12K monos were the least expensive amp we made in a line that went to 70 or 100 grand, then the TORII MONO's would sell like hotcakes!  I'm just not into games for profit and that's what that would be because the point of diminishing returns is steep and we are that point.

The monos bring 20 extra watts and 100 extra volts to the signature which translates into more hit, more presence.  The trade-off is that the low level performance is not as good as the ZMA and virtually all the other Decware amps.  Monos like to work, so less efficient speakers, or louder playback levels are why we designed them.  Interestingly the Anniversary mods somewhat diminish this characteristic of the amps by improving low level performance significantly.  Anyway, the mods are highly recommended.

Steve