UPDATE MAY 22 / 2022Experiencing itWe’ve come to the point where there is no more soldering or experimenting. Just experiencing it now. Experiencing it on my huge library of speakers. Experiencing it with different cables. Experiencing it with the different tubes. I am doing the same thing you would be doing had you just unpacked one a week ago.
Living with itThis is where I really know if I got it right. How consistent is it across this wide range of speakers and with different sources, and all the other variables. I am used to this, and have a reference with all our other amps, so the bar is set high. If it passes, it will be because I didn’t think about it.
Different speakersSo far there have been some interesting observations with respect to synergy. Sadly I didn’t invent something that can be synergistic with everything but it's always fun to try... That said it’s
far from picky. All of our speakers sounds great with it so far, it’s just about “at what levels”. The Zen Master Series baffles will play loud with low distortion and there is an amazing synergy there. The power and scale is there for anything. No subs required.
Smaller less efficient speakers in the mid to low 90’s sound great at low power.
Incredible in fact. But because the amp has such a long ramp for clipping, it is easy to turn them up louder than you should and then become puzzled why they sound a bit compressed. Interestingly, the least efficient at 88dB is my House Speakers featuring the top of the line Scan Speak drivers and my own crossover. These actually get louder or to phase it more accurately, put more music in the room than the Tube Tots with the same 4 watts from this particular amplifier.
I will continue on this path until I have tried all my speakers.
Think of this process like going to the same concert hall and listening to the same artists but each time you are setting in a different seat. With this many perspectives on the music (recording) you are certain to come to a higher level of understanding of the music. In this case, the amplifier.
The EQ that isn’t there…. Tube has rolled response, now it doesn’t.As I mentioned in my prior updates, I took over 60 measurements for my own knowledge which turned out to be very interesting for reasons I discussed. All of these were taken into an inductive load instead of a resistive “dummy” load. Since the dummy load is the standard that people are used to when making comparisons, I will be re-measuring the amp on the other station with the resistive load and evaluating the differences. In any case, Because 300B amplifiers measure so poorly compared to many other amplifiers, I will be publishing the full specs and measurements when I do the web page. Think of it as a de-knotting tool for your panties in the spirit of full disclosure. ; )
You will see that many 300B amps suffer into 4 ohm loads compared to 8 ohms and 2 ohms isn’t even considered. It’s not the difference in power across these impedances but rather the changing frequency response and distortion. The tendency I saw in several amps was to dramatically roll the top end as the impedance drops. Holly crap batman… it’s a good thing I didn’t know this or the tendency to become microphonic for the past 30 years because I certainly would have used it to bash 300B tubes in defense of Decware’s choice to go with a $20, 2 watt tube instead. A tube which btw was $2 ea. in 1998 when I found it.
click to enlargeBy some miracle this amp measures the opposite and measures the same from 2 ohms to 16 ohms. That makes it a TRUE BONAFIDE ZEN TRIODE AMPLIFIER. All Zen Triode Amps can drive a 2 ohm speaker without sounding like crap. This is going to make it a lot more honest in the real world compared to these other amps I looked at. So that is exciting. It happens naturally, no complex crap to make it happen. When I say complex crap the image in my mind is a circuit board full of relays and logic chips to rearrange an EQ circuit differently for each setting of the output taps… a true sonic nightmare.
The bass, mid bass, midrange is within .02dB of perfectly flat into this inductive load! Then a mild presence rise in the treble that we can hear. Couldn't ask for better with a 300B.
A preamp makes your source sound better - also can be that magic bullet for imaging and sound stage depth.And this is where the meat of tonights update lies. It is no secret that Decware amplifiers sound great without a preamp. But the reason that statement is true is because so many preamps sound worse than a Zen Triode Amplifier.
This is why there is so much pressure on the source component to have a “real” analogue output stage design so the music doesn’t sound lean or thin and so you get a good sound stage and imaging.
Because this tube requires more voltage swing and a preamp of sorts (additional gain stage) was needed a great opportunity presented itself. First of all, with this gain stage, it will be an absolute certainty that preamp will not be required to make the amp sound better because the gain stage IS the preamp. That means we eliminate an RCA cable and connectors and a ton of variables that come with a second component. But more importantly it means that we control everything about that signal path. How it sounds, and how it mates to the amplifier and the resulting synergy have been carefully crafted in a way that would have been unlikely to happen by chance with separate components.
This is particularly crucial when it comes to overall tone, dynamics, and imaging / soundstage depth.
Some of those rare unbelievable systems that exist on the planet are the result of years of trial and error component/cable matching until nirvana accidentally happens. That comes as the result of the preamp and cables associated with it. So this has been taken care of for you making it a unique model in the Decware line, as well as a very cost effective one.
Low volume ultra high res listeningThe imaging depth of this amplifier is world class. The depth is only possible by having that synergy between all the involved gain-stages that combine to drive an output tube. This is what I was talking about with the switch.
As you can see I eliminated the first Normal / Bypass switch a while back. Now it's just between the N normal and the : ) Enhanced. I have not liked it in the N setting on a single pair of speakers or with a single source or with or without a preamp. As predicted I will likely delete it completely.
I have been visiting the switch with each combination of speakers/cables/source and going between the normal and the enhanced setting and every time it is not even close. Normal setting is very good, but images like an amplifier with no preamp. Enhanced on the other hand is like the guy who spent 20 years finding the ultimate preamp and cable combination to create that holographic sound stage that you thought didn’t really exist - only in audiophile hyperbole or Greek mythology.
So what I am saying is that the depth of the imaging is insane. If your speakers are up against a wall, please don’t buy this amp ; (. It would be such a waste.
All of this is happening from a stock CXNv2 and a pair of Decware RCA cables tonight. It shouldn’t but it is. This is called keeping one foot on the ground at all times. Someone asked if I have listened to vinyl or tape on it yet. HELL NO. That would be like trying to fix a water heater without tools. The tools are the mediocrity of the source components that may be used with the amplifier. Hell -- switch setting A -- the one I don’t like because it’s like someone stole the sound stage, would sound great on Vinyl as long as I never heard switch setting B. I prefer digital for setting up an amplifier due to the consistency and the obvious fact that this is what most will listen to.
Anyway, I love setting this amp up with the speakers pulled out into the middle or the room and pointed at my face only 6 or 8 feet away. It’s so holographic that it feels like being in space. Your room isn’t part of the sound like this, and the depth of each note and placement in the grid is just astonishing. It’s at this point that I begin to think about Danny from GR Research who doubled down on his controversial video calling out reviewers for not having worthy listening rooms. He was somewhat right. I wish everyone who doesn't have a well treated space would go to his place (or come here) and listen, because he knows as do I that the most audiophiles will never have a clue what is actually possible in a 3D listening experience until they take it out of their living space and create a dedicated treated space for the stereo, which means having two stereos. and another room somewhere... A big commitment to make without any real incentive.
I know for a fact that many people had they first heard what is possible would consider doing whatever it took to create a dedicated listening space that could recreate sound this way. Sadly to most stereo is like television. A flat entity associated with the boundaries of a living space where it remains out of the way so you can live in the space. AKA entertainment.
To me while I recognize that application, this is not entertainment. This is a real F-IN spaceship or time machine (same thing) that will give you an experience you didn’t know about -- that once you’ve had it you can’t not have it. It’s like learning to walk. Once you accomplish it, you can’t go back to crawling. It’s just not possible.
So I have to respect Danny for doubling down because it’s actually true for many what he says.
I bring this up, because this sculpting the imaging is the most difficult and time consuming part of the design process and we know very few will actually experience the full potential of it. As an artist I feel like I am painting in color with great contrasts and subtleties with the color palette and 80% of my audience is color blind, not because they can't see colors, but because they won't take off the shades.
Sound wise at last comparison this was getting dangerously close to the same level as the 25th Anniversary Zen Triode amp, and now that it is finished and nearly burned in, it’s getting hard to imagine that it’s not as good or better. Certainly it IS better if you don’t put a preamp with the UFO25 so there you go.
The T6 speaker
Tonight I went from the House Speakers to a polar opposite, a single driver crossoverless stand-mounted bookshelf prototype called the T6. And at these intimate volumes the silkiness and depth of each note is so satisfying it almost feels like you are listening to music in slow motion.. By that I mean if music were video, and you watched the video in super slow motion and let your mind get lost in the amazing detail of physics as the picture evolves frame by frame - like when a bullet intersects an object and the whole scene takes 30 seconds to watch…
Just a different chair in the auditorium… and I can smell the varnish on the cello. These speakers are magical on this amplifier up to a modest volume. They are around 93dB/8 ohms. If I play them any louder than the House speakers on this amp (88dB 8 ohms) I stop liking them. You can't have too many speakers when you are testing amplifiers. Anyway, you will see these jewels on the web site soon. Tube Tots were a big success, we are already nearly out of them so another 30 pair is under way. This speaker is a touch better. It's a really nice match with the 2 watt Zen Triode amps and amazing with the TORII's and ZMA.
So that's it, just listening and listening. Still amazed at the smoothness and tone's ability to dissolve my pickiness about recordings. More stuff sounds good with this amp than any other which is to say it is a more forgiving amplifier and is doing it without dumbing things down.
Steve
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DECWARE 300B Amp development thread (Read 324534 times)
