This is the only way to go.
25th Anniversary Super Zen.
You can say "Thank you Donnie" after you get yours.

lol....3295.00? That's a lot of mullah. No doubt that it sounds good but damnn.  :)

Thank you. This is more of my speed.  
By the way, I bought the Fast 10 which is 490 including shipping.

I hear ya. Being that this is my first build, if they sound phenomenal with this amp, I'll upgrade to the Crystal and upgrade the amp. I'll probably keep the box Im building too because I'm putting some time into the build and design of the box.

I'll upgrade to the Crystal and upgrade the amp.

Alex, If you are going to upgrade the amp then from one who has had the SE84UFO2, get the UFO25!  You will save yourself a lot of $$$$ in the long run.  The UFO2 is a great amp and it will beat “anything else” but it will not do what the UFO25 does.

You cannot compare the two in terms of percentages as too how close they are because they are completely different, even if they do the Decware house sound in common to some degree.  As for the $3,200.00 price tag... ITS A STEAL at that price!!!  

IMO the UFO25 should sell for well over 2 or 3 times the price and it would still be a phenomenal deal.  However, there are limits to everything especially disposable income.  So if that is the case, then a UFO2 is a no brainer.

So you folks are telling me this amp, UFO26 at 3k plus is better than the Mcintosh 275 which I can find at around 3,150?
Now I’m not implying  the UFO is any less inferior, which I can’t do as I’ve never heard or seen it, butbi have heard the 275 and it sounds good.

True words.

Making this as short as I can... I have had first hand experience with a number of “audiophile” amps over many years including the the Mac 275.  Simply stated.. the 275 is not even close to the UFO25.

I tend to lean towards the mid years of the Audio Research products but in recent years they have left me a little cold with certain exceptions.  If I were to compare the UFO25 to the Audio Research amps I would start with the Reference 75 which, last I looked, was $10,000.00.

For the sake of comparison I do have to add the price tag of the GZ34 Metal Base which cost me $380.00.  Even if I would round off the price of the UFO25 to $4,000.00 with some of the tubes that I have in it, I’m still comparing $4,000.00 amp to A $10,000.00 and preferring the UFO25.

So when I say that the UFO25 is in Reference League Territory it’s because that’s the only type of component that is on the same plane in my experience.

Hi I have the UFO25 and I had the MC275 MK V some years ago. I can honestly say I prefer the UFO25 by far. If you have any chance to get the UFO25 this is the way to go. It really is an amazing amp and in my mind a real bargain !!

Thanks  
Bob

I would submit that it is less about the sound differences and more about the feature differences. All three sound good. Room size and speaker selection will also play a part.

Busterfree, thanks for the response. I have the Lii Audio fast 10. It seems like SE84UFO2 has been, or was the mention of the town as it was all over the internet. Earlier in a post, Donnie mentioned the following, "Ok go with a SE84UFO, 90% of the performance of the Anniversary edition for considerably less."

How much less in percentage would the model SE84UFO2 be if the SE84UFO is 90% of the Anniversary edition?

I know that one cant really gauge sound quality over the net but it would be cool if Decware had soundbites of the different amps. It would help a lot of folks make educated choices on what they would buy/

If you have a source with balanced output, perhaps. Still, I think a preamp and/or ZROCK2 in the future will expand and improve your sound, and you may prefer the single-ended inputs in the SE84UFO then. And to be honest I don't find the meters to be a "plus" at all, I have Taboo amps with them and really don't pay any attention to them, if they weren't there I'd be just as happy. So perhaps the SE84UFO is the better choice. . . and think about doing the 25th Anniversary mods either up front or in the future. They RULE.

You could certainly buy the 25th Anniversary Amp, that would cost more, and you get meters, fancy top plate, voltage regulation tubes etc. You can get the beeswax bypass mod which is the lion's share of the sonic benefits, as you can see on the attached price sheet.

As for the ZROCK2, it will give you more bass and MORE (read the user impression in the ZROCK2 forum here) and improves all the aspects of the sonic experience in my estimation; I have two, one each in two systems. Personally I have never been a fan of subwoofers and don't need the lowest bass they are designed for, the ZROCK2 does a better job in my systems.

I'll see if anyone else pipes in as I don't want to be the only one talking in this thread about the mods. But I will say what they add is what I think Steve rightly refers to as "Density." More information to the signal which means more body and texture as well as detail, without being etched or harsh. More dynamic and real sounding. Once you have a taste. . . you don't easily go back to non-modded sound. You'd want this from the start when you get there eventually.

In the ZROCK2 the mods add even more transparency and influential tuning possibilities. I have both a modded and un-modded one. Both sound very good, both are a benefit to any system I have.

My two cents: it's more important in the amplifier and if you can only do one, do the amplifier and plan for the ZROCK2.

Hi Adam and thank you for your advice and thank you for taking the time to respond.

I tried to respond to your message but my message stayed in my inbox and isn't moving anywhere. I think there may be a problem with decware's ISP provider but I may be wrong.

When you said the following, 'ZROCK2 (stock but type II caps)" are you saying the ZROCK 2 and what it comes with as stock, or are you saying the ZROCK 2 but I should have them add the type 2 caps added?

I'm really stoked about Decware and I think it's the diamond in the rough I have been searching for.

Thanks for the information tone-deaf.

Alex, if the rectifier is actually touching the transformer that's likely not the best long-term situation. But if it's very close it should be fine, I've run rectifiers in the Zen amps that close before and not had any issue.

Also it's common for the input and driver tubes to want a bit of effort put into installing them -- a healthy socket can be that way.

I hope you are really enjoying the sound.

Awesome. Thanks guys. Something else I noticed is the knob for the volume, if turn hard enough goes all the way around. I’m assuming it’s supposed to stop when it gets to its max. Now, it does stop, but with a little more effort, it crosses the max and rotates back to the beginning again.

Anyone else experience this? Perhaps there’s a way I can tighten it or if it’s the knob is worn I can get a new knob.

Eventually, I’m going to put this amp in a wood case... just to case the sides. Does anyone think this is bad for the amp and will prevent the amp from cooling down?