will
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Nice Scott....this puzzle should offer some really great sound, especially as you discover optimal synergy! Lots to get to know at once though, including speaker placement and room treatment tuning...
Hopefully, to help simplify, and gain changes not being as big as expected with the efficient ZUs, a few things come to mind.
Sounds like you started gain level adjustments with the DAC, and though yours sounds like it has an analog pre which may be good....unless there is a distortion issue from too much voltage into your gear, the most transparent sound may well be with the DAC pre at 0dB. And though it may be well worth exploring as a pre, if the remote is not critical to you, using the DAC at 0dB could be the best reference point as you learn, tune, and burn in the rest of your system. A thought anyway.
Then, as I understand the Zbit, wide open it puts out the voltage of your DAC's balanced outs, which might be 3-7 volts give or take. Mine is 4 I think. Using the Zbit "volume control" is therefore all attenuation. But I think of its effects based upon voltage out rather than volume out, more about tuning the balance of sound with more or less of the Zbit influence. Generally having a relatively narrow voltage range between no sound and full open, a 1/4 turn may not show in a big way volume-wise, but can be sonically quite notable for fine-tuning the Zbit effects into your over-all sound.
So I think of the Zbit as a signal clarifier and tuning device, its "volume" adjustment defining how much of the traits it offers....clarity, dynamics, density, etc. This makes it a great "gain riding" tool, using more or less of its influence at a given volume as you balance its attenuator levels with the Torii's.
My Zbit use range for optimizing different recordings is typically between 2 o'clock to maybe 4:30. But I am running my DAC wide open>Zbit>CSP3>Torii, so balancing the overall tone, density and dynamics with both the ZBit influences, and the CSP3 influences to pull the best from recordings into the Torii. It is possible that without the CSP3 in the blend I might use a different range on the Zbit. Everyone finds a favorite zone for their setup, sometimes wide open.
Also related to volume, compared to a lot of solid state amps with a lot of wattage, the Torii is powerful, but ~25W nicely spread over a wide volume range. In my setup, (tubes used, speaker efficiency, etc) I can use most of the Torii range without clipping, even 100% with quieter DVDs. I think this is a really nice design factor Steve gives us...no hyper volume issues from touching the knob.
Also on the Torii, your bass switch effects more than just bass, so worth exploring. The impedance switch makes a pretty big difference too, creating more or less push to the speakers. And the reconstructive feedback switches are another really nice tuning tool for space and fine detail in particular. It takes a while for the amp to burnin enough to show the full tonal potential of the reconstructive circuit though.
I would expect there are software volume adjustments in your setup too, and like in-DAC adjustments, computer/software volumes are variable in quality, some really good, some not so. But the Zbit and Torii can do volume/signal power adjustments quite transparently, and using them at first may help in getting to know the influence of each part of your system during burnin, and as you uncover the full potential of your sound.
Hope this helps some.
Will
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