Okay, help me decide?

Should I get the new UFO Mono's or the UFO Rachael?

(Don't get any idea's....my ZMA masterpiece is not for sale. I just need to have Steve's Pentodes run in Triode once again.....as well).

I'm intrigued about the Rachael using KT88's P to T and 6550's too...P to Triode......EL34's to start....then rolling.

.....what is the % off, by the way.....that was not listed in my email...... .


What are you guys (or gals), getting out there?

Good one Lon....."really me you'd be getting nothing."  ;D

Steve's Pentode in Triode will always have a place in my Room.

Now back to pondering the new UFO Mono's or the UFO Rachael........ .

Exactly, you have one of Eddie's and enjoy it when it's in....but it's no Torii.

Ditto here, enjoyed my SE84CS, SuperZen and Torii III (personally owned all three/purchased new)....but they were not my ZMA either. .....But, when in.....to be enjoyed..... .

Eddie V's ~ this paper....I've always enjoyed and shared with other people....what to expect and what the enjoyment factor is of UL vs. Triode..... . Knowing you're aware of it Lon (obviously).... it popped in my head...and I posted for other's to read....and why I enjoy both STEVE'S UL/PP Topology and his Pentode in Triode Topology.
http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

.......but the cool part about Steve's UL/PP....damn thing sounds Triode Real.  But, having said this.....something about Steve's P in T..... = je ne sais quoi....reminds me of how good the ZMA is and why it will be nice to have a Pentode in Triode of his again..... .

Back, to pondering then..........UFO Mono's or UFO Rachael........ .

Monoblocks are $1195 each so, $2390 intro price.  I like how Steve mirrored the amps as a pair.  Very classy design.

I did not get an email, how come.

I guess so.

I notice Steve's E-mails sometimes get filtered...I miss all his personal E-mall responses to me, even though I have him as a trusted contact.  You should reach out to him about the sale, I'd post it here, but I don't want to step on any toes.

And get this, at Decfest I was talking to Steve about the new preamp - and he flat out talked me out of it! LOL  Not that it isn't any good, but he knows me well enough, and knows how I listen. When he was developing the preamp I popped by for some listening, and nothing we put between my DirectStream and ZMA made me happy. Everything we tried "did something good", but I felt it took a slight step back in purity.  

I think maybe that OTL amp ruined me for purity - I honestly think it also changed how I listen to things...I swear I've never been the same since. That's like two or three times Steve has done that to me.

I can't use a Pre anymore with my ZMA. The purity I'm getting with the purposefully designed output stage of the ZDSD is well put.

I'm leaning toward getting the Rachael. I don't need the tubes.... So I get to save there too.

Match,

Isn't the Blue Torii 12w/channel? That is two Rachels I believe before thinking of sound... But then, double the power with a good amp means a lot here in terms of sound. Both my 944s and HR1s just sound better to me with more power. They sound good with lower power, but sing with more power.

More transparency at lower volumes or resolution. Hallmark of Steve's Triode. Simpler power supply.....and UFO Output trannies.

See History of Revisions at the bottom of the Rachael Page.

I had an order in for a SE84UFO but after thinking it over I had it changed to a Rachel.  Fortunately, I did not lose my place in the build order.  WOOHOOO!!!  I did this because I have an SE84CSEX that I will upgrade to the current model.  Steve says he can do it.  So, I don't need two of the same thing.

Next year will be interesting.

Hi Pal. I think I will enjoy the Rachael and tube rolling. It will be nice to have two Decware References again, like you are enjoying with your Torii III and Rachael. I sold my SE84CS and SuperZen last year.

A little more output @ 5.8/ch and using the Hazin Grid (CCE) with EL34's + roll some KT77, 6550 or KT88's non Hazin with her too. I have my nice bevy pairs of input 6922 tube types as well. So, I'll be choosing the no ship tubes savings/option. Of course, it better fits my budget too, to get Decware Pentode's in Triode back in here with a Rachael. I have no doubt the new SE84UFO Mono's are special with tube regulation. However, I think the Rach' is a better fit for me.

With the advent of the UFO output transformer's....the Rach' has the Speaker impedance switches as well. Even though my Adagio's are modded....nice to have the switches. I do use the 8ohm taps from my ZMA; so no worries really....but you never know.


Match, awesome switch to the Rach'.....no duplicating for sure.

Trust me Match. I don't find the ZMA's tubes a burden. I'm coming up on 3 years for the Zen Mystery Amplifier. The best Audio decision I have ever made.

Good one Palomino. I can hear M.B. saying it.

Am i to assume the giant Black Friday Sale ad along with the countdown clock is letting everyone who didn't receive an e-mail know there will be a sale?  Is the Black Friday sale the same as what some received in their In-Box?  Just curious, trying to decide on a ZDSD or ZCD240 and every little bit helps  :)

I am so ruined by the ZMA-nothing else will do................ .

I have decided to get the last pair of NOS Platinum Tubes I want from Kevin.....to complete my 6922 tube type NOS wants'/ALL SO GOOD ROLLING IN THE ZMA + buy a boat load of Music....to keep me busy all Winter.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.   Enjoy.

PS~if you're out there on the fence? Buy a Decware piece that fits you.....discover your Music for real. I own the ZDSD to ZMA and their is no looking back.











Listening Room:


Room Treatments from Michael Green & Home Brew

Sony as Transport (DVP-NS57P)

Illuminati D-60 Digital Coax IC

Shunyata Research Zitron 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 & matched Quad/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

(Russia) 6N23P's ~ 2 pair/came with ZMA.

From what I remember, I felt the monos were too laid back as well...they sounded good, but they weren't projecting sound into the room, the sound was literally laid back. On the other side of the room Zygi setup a pair of Zen Select (I think) bridged, and I thought they crushed the Mono pair. But then Bob flipped the input bias switch and suddenly the bridged selects sounded laid back like the monos and a lightbulb went on; my gut instinct was right again. I brought this up to Steve and he said yeah the monos have only one bias setting and it's more like the laid back setting - I suggested he either change the bias to the more forward bias or put the same bias switch in them, and he did that thing where he nodded sagely with a far-off like he was already changing the design in his head.

Hi guys

Just considering this piece of info, because i was about to pull the trigger on these amps. Can anyone who have heard them comment further? I had the understanding that these monos were a no-nonsense Upgrade from the "old"! Zen amp, and even the Select. I find them really attractive and i have borrowed a Zen Select and reallty liked that amp. So i was kind of sure that they would be an even better amp for my (New) Omega custom alnico 1.5 speakers.

Quote:


Stone, you crack me up!  

Word on the Black Friday Sale?

I was looking for the specifics of the sale from my iPhone. Neither the countdown timer nor the coupon code were rendering in the Chrome browser, using the Safari browser the countdown timer was present but was stuck at 0 00 00 00.

I then visited the site from my PC and everything looks normal with the coupon code at the top of the site.

Using the latest Safari in Yosemite I saw only the countdown, even when I was opening the homepage anew. busterfree's tip of reload/refreshing the page worked here this morning. Now there is a discount amount and a code.

So likely a cache thing for those of us who have been checking out the page to see what would happen before it officially became "black friday."

Always sounded dark and a little scary to me. Black Friday.

Weird. I just opened it in Chrome in Yosemite...works fine, but I had not tried it there before, so maybe no cache problem? Did you try clearing the cache?

Thanks Stone!  Refreshed the page and it appeared!

Yes, Black Friday makes me think of the first Friday the 13th when the Pope covertly managed to have almost all Knights Templar in the world executed on that one day!

True, no pic of the rear of the UFO2?

But, he did write in Blue colored type (addendum) it is there/has it/impedance switch.... Has to be in the back.