Hello everyone.  Another total newbie here.  I've never owned any tube equipment before.  I've dabbled on the entry-level of hi-fi a bit over the years but never went beyond that.  

I have an okay home theater system but now I want to build a dedicated music system.  I found Decware through Caintuck & Audio Circle open baffle threads, and proceeded to read through the entire 30-page Big Betsy saga, which was fascinating.

So, no specific questions yet, though I'm sure those will be coming soon.  Mainly just wanted to say hello and establish a first post!

Oh and my room is roughly 24x24x8.5 but is asymmetrical, to include a couple of 45-degree ceiling sections.  A fun acoustic challenge!

Welcome.  

Even with your room being a square it’s large so you have a lot to work with.

A well designed tube circuit brings a magic to music playback that I got seduced by many years ago.  

Worth your time to read the threads here and ask questions.  This is the best high end audio forum on the internet.

Okay, so I'm planning to build DIY ZF15M open baffle speakers soon (with help from a veteran wood worker).

Essentially, I'm building the chain backwards, substituting out older hardware for newer as I obtain each piece.  I want to "do it right the first time" with each purchase as much as possible.

All that being said, would 2x SE84UFO25 mono for the amplifiers be  "doing it right" here?  For now, input will come from an Oppo UDP-205 which I already own.  I could insert a ZSTAGE inbetween those, if needed.  Any thoughts here?  Thanks!

From my understanding (in the SS world) and posts on here, you'd be *much* better served sonically going with a ZMA and pocketing the change, instead of going for a monoblock. You won't need the power, and it will come at a cost in dynamics. Also a literal cost as well  ;D

Or you can try any of the other amps and see how you fare, I'm betting one SE84UFO25 will satisfy you just as well too!

One thing to consider.  If you get two SE84UFO25ths and one is enough power. You could most likely sell the second at very close to what you paid for it.  

How far away you sit from your speakers and how loud you like to play will also be a factor.  

If you want to change or modify your order shoot Sarah a message and she will get it sorted.  

The wait time can be brutal, it’s all worth it in the end.  

What are you running as a source?

Hey Richard,

Well I suggested the ZMA as the top king in sonics if you are concerned about wattage. Though I haven't heard one, I too was worried if 2 watts could be enough. Depending on the recording, it can be. But it can run out of steam unless you have very efficient speakers. The sound quality can't be beat if you work within its envelope though.

I went with a cheaper 20w SS amp to see if 20 watts could do it for me, and it totally does. So I went with the Torii Jr. Remember when you double wattage, you only get 3db more gain. So a lot of bang for the buck is lost as you start getting way higher in the wattage department.

I'd also suggest reading on how tube amps differ from SS amps in regards to "watts". The watts aren't bigger per se, but since they're voltage devices versus current devices, the apparent loudness is in the tube amps favor. There's a lot to read and ponder.

If you can afford to do a SE84UFO25 monoblock setup, then do it! Only you can answer if you're happy, as Groovy said, you can likely get back the asking price (since you got it 10% off right now) or very close.

If you aren't too far into the DigiOne, I'd suggest looking at the pi2aes, cheaper and it sounds like it wins in that department.

Man, it's a tough call.  Archie -- When you play loud, have you ever measured the sound level?  Just curious how loud we're talking

The only reference I have is a few days ago I was listening to the White Stripes and I had a db meter app running on my phone.  I was under 90db (C-weighted) the whole time and it felt loud enough for me.  I'm not sure how accurate that is, however.

I do already have my DigiOne shield so I'll probably play around with it for a while before jumping into another option there, but it's nice that these pi shield products are so cheap.  You don't really have to worry too much about wasting money on them, relative to just about anything else you might purchase in your entire chain!

Depending on how the recording was pressed (vinyl) I can get to the point of my meters twitching but typically I don't max out the ZMA.  I get a little worried about damaging the F15s sometimes.  My room is really big and I have 12/12 vaulted ceilings and it's open to my second floor.  The sound has lots of places to go.

The 100 db F15s make a big difference.  But, my experience is that greater speaker efficiency only results in my playing louder.  Even though the sound is still great at lower volumes.

I would love to try a 2 watt zen amp in my space but I don't have the confidence to buy one untried.  If I were just starting out, I'd be conflicted too.

Oh, about sound pressure, with the HR1s I once did some measurements and I definitely got into the 90s.  BTW, my ears don't ring after a listening session.  

Welcome to the forum!

I just wanted to pop in and toss out a couple ideas...

IMHO....

The ZMA is amazing.
Dual UFO25's... also amazing.

Its all about preference and implementation.

Firstly, SPL can be very deceiving. Most of the time we do not need to push SPL #'s here in Area 51 (it's super fun when we do, tho)... the dynamics and linearity in the presentation is heart stopping, making it awe inspiring and impactful at lower SPL levels. I am regularly amazed how easily we can talk of the music about how sweet it is while jamming out. Decware gear doesn't need SPL to shine in a treated room. However, if your room is not treated and you have been using solid state power to achieve SPL levels that can out shout your resonant room freq's or artifacting, then the whole game changes when you change to the tube power amp. IMO these things are not even comparable.

If you have an order in... that is the important part. It is going to be a minute till you make it to the top of the list. As long as you are on the list you can alter your order pretty much until the very last second. Your profile says you are only about 9 hours away... if at some point you could make the drive up to Central Illinois, a listening session would answer so many of your questions!