Hi All,

i am a big fan of Roger Sanders and for quite sometime I have been longing to purchase one of his Magtech amplifiers. First to power my Acoustats model twos and secondly to power my Proacs Response Threes.
Each time I attempt to go ahead with the purchase a piece of Decware amplification ends up changing my mind.
The first time was a pair of SV83 driving my Acoustats. Not very much volume but the richness of tone and the organic bass and the realism of sound coupled with a review I had read where a decware user said he had sold his Magtech because of the quality of sound from his little decware amp simply caused me to put a plug in that purchase.
The second time was when I heard the se84 playing my Proacs. Again two watts and the realism of the female voice the tone and control of the bass, the refinement in the top, what else could i do but put a plug in that purchase.
I am now thinking of purchasing another se84 but, not to mono block but to use one for the bass and one for the mid and top.
Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Stephanie

Nice to read Stephanie. I had a SE84CS for 14 years and was always worth keeping the SPL's slightly down to enjoy what you clearly stated ("richness of tone and the organic bass and the realism of sound") out of my CS. I think you should go for it and get the SE84 for bass lower and the other kept for mid on top. The man himself suggested.

For me though? I had to create two separate System's. Plus, increasing the power with a ZMA in my separate Listening Room. My ZMA is my CS with power. Plus, with tube rolling (Cabling too)....I've really hit the jackpot on truly pulling the most out of the Zen Mystery Amp....that I had with my CS....but with the SPL's I crave, when I want it.

My second Rig is solid state HT and two channel with Polk SRS SDA 1.2's. As fun, dynamic, and huge scale as this System is......it can't match my Listening Room DECWARE System....as you know from your experience too.

My point is: the upper and lower Amping might be just the ticket for you ~or~ "you can't have everything in one System wisdom"....and build two that satisfy.  Enjoy.






Listening Room:


Room Treatments from Michael Green & Home Brew

Sony as Transport (DVP-NS57P)

Illuminati D-60 Digital Coax IC

Shunyata Research Ztron Alpha Digital Power Cord to ZDSD
{Extremely Significant}

Decware ZDSD DAC / Recorder ++
***************************************************************
W/Steve's Output Transformer's/kicking to the curb quite a few superb DAC'S!
***************************************************************
(@ -20 Ref Level, 0.0 Input volume and @ 16/192)


WBT-0102Ag RCA Kimber Select KS1030


Decware Zen Mystery Amplifier
~BIASED at *60* mA~
(NOS/Platinum/Mullard E188CC/7308's in my A12 an B12 Input positions Cryogenic~NOS/Platinum/Telefunken E88CC for Inverter Tubes~NOS RCA 0A3's & New Quad of Tube Depot Stealth/Tung-Sol KT66's)
ZMA adjusted at 20% to 30-40% max ~ from 0 Gain


***************************************************
Kimber Select KS6063 Speaker Cable 8ft WBT-0681-Ag Spades
***************************************************


Acoustic Zen Adagio - Black Pearl (Modified)
.....from 8ohm Taps.






Acoustic Zen Adagio's x-over's Modified/Full Range with Mundorf MCap Supremes-single Cap to each Tweeter/4.5k cross
(Gutted: 3kHz/18dB/Octave, Linkwitz/Riley Crossovers....with all crappy parts = gone)


XLO Pro Power Cord to ZMA
PS Audio P3 Power Plant / Pangea AC-9SE from wall to P3
(Transport and ZDSD, Regenerated/*120*~ Multiwave off...ZMA on High Current Output)

++ ZDSD DAC, kicked to the Curb: Auralic Vega, PS Audio PWT & PWD, PS Audio Direct Stream DAC, Chord Qute, NAD M51 (twice) & Schiit Yggdrasil.


~NOS Platinum Tubes from Upscale Audio/Kevin:

(Great Britain) Mullard 7308/E188CC ~  2 pair (both pair Cryogenic)
(Germany) Telefunken E88CC ~ 1 pair
(US/Great Britain) Ediswan CV2492/6922 ~ 2 pair (one pair Cryogenic)
(Hungary) Tungsram 6922/E88CC ~ 1 pair
(Hungary) Tungsram PCC88/7DJ8 ~ 1 pair.

From Cryoset:
(Russia) 6N23N/P-EB ~ 2 pair

(2 pair from Steve ~ stock).

PS ~ Stephanie, you might want to consider single capping your Proac's. I did for my Adagio's.....and the results are stellar. I have the original x-over's extracted from my Adagio's on the shelf next to me. I like to glance at them and laugh............ .


Sweet Match! You be UFO'in!

Plenty of info out there for your question. A flow chart or two also. Steve might chime in on it too.

deuce, what kind of preamp do you have?
I've never checked. does the CSP3 have dual outputs and if they do, do they operate at the same time or one at a time?

A whole preamp sounds like overkill.  Possibly just a signal splitter is needed but won't that degrade the signal?

I have CSP2 with dual outputs. I had Steve add the second output for me and they are both on at the same time.
The downside to just splitting the signal is if you want to turn up the sound you have to do it to both amps and then make sure its the same level to each other as before. With the pre-amp you have just one volume knob to turn and it goes up the same level for both amps.
But for testing purposes just to see if it would work for you, you can do what you mentioned. Then if you like it save up for a pre-amp. The pre-amp will make your life easier.

deuce, have your tried using an active crossover?

Adding a second identical amp for passive biamping does not increase power.

"Its got to have an effect on handling difficult music.  No?"

Maybe through placebo.
You are far better off buying an amp with enough power to handle said difficult music with the current speakers or buying more appropriate speakers for current power.

One thing to note about audio forum threads; not all comments are directed to the original post, some address questions or thoughts brought up by other members.

Steve's and deucekazoo's posts cover the only benefit that I'm aware of.
My suggestion for a more powerful amp applies to amps cut from the same cloth, not completely different amps.

What are you hoping to achieve by doubling the amp cost?

Hi Lin,

Your comments are Noted and appreciated.
My response wasn't one of defense or attack. I was simply sharing the joys of what I am hearing.
One reason for the addition of another amp is to hopefully give my system some more headroom.

Regards

"My response wasn't one of defense or attack."

I didn't take it that way.


"One reason for the addition of another amp is to hopefully give my system some more headroom."

I don't believe you will achieve that using them as stereo amps because your speakers will still be getting only 2 watts.
Now if you use 2 amps as paralleled mono amps (=more watts), that is a different story.

Another reason for me wanting/needing to go with another Zen is affordability.
I can't afford  anything more expensive than a used Zen at this time so, i'm trying to make the most out f what I can afford.

Thanks Stone_of_Tone

Cheers All