Sorry to hear the news Lon, I hope you can find solace in some lovely music.

Lon,

I was saddened to read of the loss of your father.  Please accept my sympathies for you and your family.

Tony

Yes, the pairing with the ZF15L baffles are out of this world good. It will be hard if not impossible to best this combination. That said, I'm off to try - leave no stone unturned.

I listened to the entire 80 minute album of Tool today and I have to say it was the best recorded metal group I have ever heard. Just outstanding with this combination. It was so good I'm still craving more. Going to any other speaker will not be the same because nothing has the hit of the ZF15L speakers. They make the music get serious real fast. It caught me by surprise because before I knew what happened someones YouTube request caused me to find myself transported to an audiophile quality heavy metal concert where not a single note sounded bad and things were occasionally pushed to a point of complexity that I wouldn't have thought anything could reproduce it without shifting into the dreaded sounds like crap zone...  

But, this amp is so disarmingly smooth that I thought the highs were rolling off a bit, that must be it...  They aren't.  Still, I really wanted to hear the very top end of this amplifier, so I have flipped the room and am now listening to it on my house speakers. There is no better tweeter that I have heard or midrange for that matter so they are a great tool for measuring amplifiers. Also the imaging is like 4K compared to everything else being HD.

So far the sound is just exquisite.  Prior to hooking these up, I tried the Tube Tots, but didn't like the placement where I had them, or something because they just sounded a bit rolled off on the top. Or maybe it was just the shock of changing from the ZF15L. I will revisit that again.

I can tell I'll be on the house speakers for the rest of the week. I'll make some more videos this weekend if I get time. The resolution is breathtaking... everything is so musical and juicy. It is wonderful to hear so much resolution in the top end as the ZF15L are rolled off by 15KHz and I was hoping the amp didn't sound that way on everything!

I can't really speak to how this amp compares with our other offerings, other than the midrange liquidity is more obvious. I am still wiring my brain for this new sound. It takes weeks. This sound doesn't fit into my processor and it is making it impossible to fully ... process. I am wired to the core for the Zen Triode SE84 sound using that wonderfully fast and neutral sounding video tube. The amp you really can't hear. I can definitely hear this amp... OR is it that what I think I can hear is actually there and I couldn't hear it before.  ee, this is processor burning out it's cooling fan.

I don't know why I let you guys get me into to this crap ; )

Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how much of this is the driver stage (almost all of it like I suspect) or the output tube. The problem is that despite being based on the same SRPP stage I use in Rachael, it's not the same. The 300B takes a LOT more drive than an EL34, 6L6 or even KT88. So the gain structure I showed you will not work the same in any of our other amplifiers making it impossible to know what they would sound like with the same driver stage.  Like all of my stuff, the circuit slowly builds itself.

Steve how did you record the YouTube videos, what kind of Mic's were you using and what kind of placement? I listened through headphones and I thought it was very well recorded for YouTube video. Although the high-end on one particular recording the percussion at times sounded like a click track to me. Is there another platform that you could upload Hi-Rez recordings that won't compress on playback. Perhaps without video just the music, I'm not up on the technology but there must be someone who knows what platforms allow uploads and playback with Flac Files. Did you ever make any recordings of the 34._ I?
I searched all of your video's on YT.

Lon,

I follow this thread periodically and I just noticed that you lost your father, very sorry to hear and my sincerest condolences.  I lost mine last year, June 25th and still working through it.

Over the last 13 months I've wanted at some point 3 different amps. Now there's this amp. Fascinating ride for sure! —  jec3504

jec3504,
I’ve wanted a Decware 300B amp since I gave up my 2a3/300b monoblocks nearly 9 years ago, but the truth is, I never actually thought it would happen. I finally broke down and bought another 300B amp last summer, and I love it’s music making ability, but I’d love to listen to Steve’s new creation in my own system and compare the two amps.  Currently I’m trying set aside common sense and logic in order to justify spending another $4K, $5K or $6K on this Decware 300B amp.  

My heartfelt condolences, Lon!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Thank you.

Steve posted this on the previous page on this thread:

Quote:

Thanks, just read back through and found that. Do you know what "2 watts and up to 8 watts at 10% distortion," means, specifically? I get a bit befuddled by values and tube watt esoterica. Is the 2 Watts at normal playing level, and the 8watts cranked to max, or is the 8 watts during peaks, such as orchestral music?

Thanks.

The 300B amp has cleaner output at 2 watts than the Zen Triode SE84 or SE34 series amplifiers.  It stays that way until around 4 watts at which point the distortion begins to rise with output.  So 6 watts with higher distortion and 8 watts with much higher distortion.  I look at this as a very kind (soft) clipping characteristic that would allow the amplifier to generate more peak power than the SE34.6 which is rated at 6 watts.  

For anyone thinking about getting this instead of a TORII let me remind you there was probably a good reason why you choose 20 watts over 4 to 6 watts.

Hi Lon,
My heartfelt condolences for your loss .....
My dad and I were partners for many years in a small wholesale distribution company before I got into the IT industry.
We had breakfast together five days a week and he was not only a wonderful father, but a friend and a wealth of knowledge.
He passed away several years ago and it is a rare day that I don't think about him fondly.
My very best wishes,
Randy

Brian, thank you so much.

A good point. In a similar manner there is a good reason that I choose SET or SEP over Push Pull (after living with both).

The great thing about the evolved Decware stable of components is the range of choice!

….Lon, sorry to hear of your loss…I know the feeling …I lost my dad a while back and still feel a emptiness in my heart

Plus…I think I speak for everyone on this forum, you are a very knowledgeable person when it comes to the operation and experimentation of Decware gear …thanks for the reading

Greg

Pretty excited to read about the Sarah! WE tubes are wonderful. Here is my most beautiful sounding WE 421a dual triode

Thanks Kamran.

My PM to you has the details that you ask for.

I am thinking he is talking about 1:15 o'clock. The unity gain position changes with different tubes and even a little with different recordings... but a little past one o'clock is a pretty good average for 12AU7s with mine.

The manual states:

"Once it is at the half way position, it achieves unity gain which means you can flip the bypass switch on and off and hear no change in volume or frequency balance. As you rotate past 50% the EQ slowly begins to come in."

That implies that the point where there's no bass boost is at high noon, not 1:15.  In fact, he shows 50% as being at high noon.  Or setting clock lingo aside (which I find confusing) and using percent instead (and I pulled out an actual clock for this), the 1:15 o'clock would be at 62.5%.  Right?  The beginning of the "green zone"?

With the manual talking percentages, and Steve talking analog clocks, it can get confusing!!!!

But upstream Steve said that 1:15 is where there's no bass boost or treble attenuation.  Yet in the manual he states that bass boost begins at high noon (50% in the drawing).  I see a contradiction there.

Perhaps Steve can chime in and explain what he means by 1:15 o'clock both in terms of percents (to align with the manual, which I assume is at the start of the green zone), and how that correlates to the actual bass boost beginning at 50% (high noon).

If the 300B ZR2 module is supposed to not boost the bass, then wouldn't it be set to high noon instead of 1:15 o'clock??

ZRock-gate has begun!

Haha.  Lon, you misunderstand.  I'm joking about the "gate" part.  None of this is particularly serious, and certainly I'm not accusing Steve of anything.  Simply seeking good natured clarification.

I'm just trying to figure out where the 300B ZR2 is set as there's a contradiction in terms of where the bass boosting begins.  Manual says 50% (high noon), and Steve (to my understanding) has written that it begins at 1:15 (or 62.5%).

I'm also not entirely clear what is meant by "1:15" because the manual talks in percentages, not clocks.  Therefore clarification would be helpful.

And I think prospective 300B buyers would like to know whether or not the amp has a built in bass boost.  If it's set at 1:15, that implies that, per the ZR2 manual, there is some bass boost at 1:15.

My ZR2 happy place varies from noon to 3 o'clock depending on the recording.  Would like to cast my vote now for a ZR2 remote control...

Would it be silly to keep my TORII order, AND order a 300b? Would it be excessive, gratuitous, and indulgent, or somewhat justifiable? I've recently taken a deep dive into jazz, and can't get the idea of the 300b with WE tubes out of my head.

That's not to say that the wife and I don't enjoy music that might not fully befit from SETs--80s synth pop (wife) lots of grunge, dynamic rock, etc. I've found that there are few things in life that do everything great. Many things come close, but the Swiss-Army approach rarely leads to full satisfaction.

That said, I also don't want to get carried away, and/or foolish.

Can someone talk me down from the ledge? Or better yet...give me a little push?

Bluemage wrote:

Quote:


Oh, just buy it!  Will only know if you give it at try.  With the 30 day return policy, and the 3 year wait making the used market mega-hot, you have no risk.  And plenty of time to save up and or change your mind and receive a refund of your deposit.

Lon, has your Dave's Picks 42 arrived?  It's a good one.  Play it and feel the comforting vibes flow forth!

Bluemage wrote on 05/07/22 at 21:00:22:

I personally find a system generally handles all music well for me . . . or doesn't sound good overall with any music. I find that those you list as potentially less suited for SET can be mesmerizing on the right SET system.

The practice of "adding to an order" seems to have been halted, so if you order a 300B today you'd get the Torii first. So if you then get a 300B you can make a comparison and make an educated and informed decision which to keep or to keep both.

Win win for you and Decware.