The Decware wait list has fascinated me since day one. I have likely checked it every day after I read through the forum posts as much as possible.

I placed an order for a Torii MK5 (changed from a Taboo MK4) on 10-16-21. At that time, folks could still add to their orders and as Decware's popularity was truly ramping up, it took a while for my order to show up on the list. I waited one month before my order made the list at #912 on 11/16/21. The list moved pretty well, at times close to 50 per month (#617 six months later).

I am #243 today and still happy to wait as long as necessary for my MK5 (and eventually a ZRock2 placed on 4/8/22).

The Wait list has changed once more with all non-amplifier devices going to another list (still waiting on that one so I can keep an eye on my ZRock2's progress). The list is still growing crazy fast and I don't think it is going to slow down. There are more units being ordered than can be produced (or are being produced) at this time. On average about 100 amps are being ordered per month and way more on some, 171 still on the list for the month of 11/21 for example.

The list has over 2000 amps on order now, and that doesn't include the other devices. Even with the most I've seen built and shipped, it would take over 3 years and at the lower lever of build (40 per month) it could take 4 years to see a new order shipped.

I wouldn't think of ordering a tube amp from anyone else though and I will gladly wait as long as it takes for Steve and all at Decware to build my Torii MK5 and my ZRock2. But...this is the state of this fascinating list, at least from what I can tell...

Happy waiting everyone.

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Yeah, there is a black friday coupon for 10% off every year so that is a busy week. That's when I placed my order, and it took over 2 months to get on the list, some where in the 900s. Just checked and now I'm 350 so I should get my amps late summer.

I hope you're using the time to horde research tubes.

Geno, I had noticed that you were 2 spots behind me, and yes, depending on how things go with the new techs, I think end of may looks promising.

I spent about 3 months reading through the forum and researching tube amps in general before placing my order. I can't see myself spending $5000 an amplifier with anyone other than Decware and I haven't even heard my amp or any Decware amp yet.

There are enough reviews, personal experiences, impressions (good or bad), plenty of data, etc...if one spends the time to read through all the new and old posts to come to the decision I made: I want a Decware amp.

Decware is family of music and audio lovers. The way Steve goes about designing these works of audio art and lets us in on the process is amazing, and I'm glad that I will be a part of it.

Hello - My wife ordered my SE84UFO2.1 on 9/26/2021 as a belated birthday present.  Appears I'm ahead of you by a few days.  With that said, we're all in the same boat.  I would imagine that its worth the wait.  Furthermore. I feel there may be a parts issue with our amp being that "our page" hasn't been updated in a while?  No idea, just a thought.  A few months back I ordered a CryoTone Preamp Tube from Wathen for a tube buffer in my system, mind blown!  The tube relationship between Decware and Wathen will be absolutely beneficial to all of us.  

I have a complete setup of Decware 25 Anniversary components. In fact two systems and other components I’ve passed on. However, two to three years to full fill an order is absurd. I enjoy my systems but have come to realize there are other builders offering outstanding components in reasonable time. Maybe the hype is less but none the less the sound is subjectively there. I wish I had time to sit back and relax and enjoy the wait time. I doubt it so I’m not going to be enticed by any new offerings until they can be delivered in a reasonable time frame. Flame on!!!

Decware is now just a 'wish' for a lot of us older folks now. Two strokes, one this last April as well. May have been just a 'wish' after all. Ordered 11/29/21. Seems completed orders have slowed? Absolutely no way would I have even thought about an order now.  :P Really do hope. Obviously blessed anyway . We'll see......

Thanks Lon. Not trying to crybaby this bs..there are obviously much worse than I around...just frustrating sometimes. Haven't checked-in for a bit...guess I'll stop it! Take care ~Mike

Fascinating indeed. I thought my wait was over on day 538 when I got notification that my amp was in packing and shipping. That was 11 days ago and I've seen no further update.

I've tried to stay patient as my quoted 8 months turned into 18 but 2 weeks to ship seems like a lot. And that is assuming it ships this week.

Back in mid December when the small wares were split from the amps into their own waitlist there was talk on the forum about how much faster things were going to move, which didn’t make sense. Before that, your pace down the list was carried by items that took less time to build. Even though we dropped a huge number of places when that split happened, we no longer have the smalls keeping that pace for us. We will be moving slowly on this list now. The pace we have kept through the last month or so I would expect to be the new norm. That’s just my two cents, speaking as an outside observer of what has been happening. The kind folks at Decware are ultimately the only ones that know.

Things haven't slowed down, amplifiers are being produced at the same pace they have been for the 17 months I've been on the waiting list. This posted list is very revealing, informing us of which amp: has had parts pulled; when it goes on the bench to be hand-built by an actual human being with point-to-point wiring with no circuit boards; when it goes into testing; then on to quality control; then passed quality control where it clears final payment and gets packaged and shipped.

These are among the finest amplifiers in the world. That's why there are 2000+ people in line waiting for one. Yes, that sucks. I would strongly recommend we take this time afforded to us by addressing every other aspect of our systems and listening spaces, whether that be room treatment; power cords and interconnects; fuses; digital front-end components including modems/routers, switches, etc; isolation devices from vibration, EMI, floor decoupling; et al. That list is exhausting and should keep us plenty occupied while we're waiting for the final piece of the audio nirvana puzzle to be built.

Ghostship said:

I would strongly recommend we take this time afforded to us by addressing every other aspect of our systems and listening spaces, whether that be room treatment; power cords and interconnects; fuses; digital front-end components including modems/routers, switches, etc; isolation devices from vibration, EMI, floor decoupling; et al. That list is exhausting and should keep us plenty occupied while we're waiting for the final piece of the audio nirvana puzzle to be built.


Sage advice, and if done right (and you have the means), you can kill some time and benefit from it. I had recently taken my space to the next level by turning it into a single-purpose room. I had ordered my Cryotone's, and while waiting, I painted out my room and ordered a complete set of acoustic panels and traps from Acoustimac in FL. If you haven't gone the way of frequency absorption and diffusion, you could be missing something as important as any piece of gear you could add. Put some though to some of these things now so you will be ready when your amp shows.

Question for those in the know: Are deposits for an order refundable if an order is cancelled at a time before parts are pulled or some other pre-production time? This is a question on another board. Thanks.

Okay, thanks. I haven't found that post so that I can refer to it where it is queried. I'll keep looking. And someone posted there that they were not refunded their deposit, hence a bit of conflicting info. Another has said he was only refunded part of the deposit.

And in fact this policy page seems to imply that if you cancel you won't be asked to pay more but does not mention a refund of a deposit. In fact it calls the deposit "NON-REFUNDABLE."

https://www.decware.com/newsite/service.html

I may be wrong but on the thread "How many times have you checked the waitlist" Steve did mention they are refundable. I don't know how to do a copy paste...

I guess publishing the wait list publicly wasn't enough? Nor telling everyone who calls to place an order how many are on the list and the best estimate of wait time is isn't enough either? Also we actually do refund deposits up until the time parts are pulled for your build.  Go ahead a call the attorney general, all this friendly protection is getting laborious.  You could also raise this fake news on other forums, for some added protection.  

Steve

How many times have you checked the waitlist. Page 12 post 586

Okay, thanks. I'm still confused, especially with the way the policy is worded on that page. I guess ultimately I'm just going to let the question on that other forum lie, I need to learn not to respond to everything and anything Decware, I get accused of being an "apologist" or "shill" for Decware when I just try to correct misinformation or help with confusion or questions.

Lon, I agree with Scott - you are valuable resource. Your contributions are sincere, well thought out and well worded....almost always 😉

Speaking for myself, I have gained knowledge from not only current posts,  but many of your past ones as well. I might be reading something from 10 years ago,  up pops Lon.

Thanks, Tony

Lon,

Your many contributions and insights are invaluable to Decware enthusiasts. Given how Steve and Decware build and QC test  their products, supply is constrained. It's frustrating for a lot of potential customers and seems to result in some vocal criticism.

Please don't take these attacks personally, it's just not worth it. A lot of audio forums are filled with angry folks that like to vent. Trying to argue with many folks using reasoning can often be a futile effort.

Those that appreciate owning some of the finest tube application products available just need to deal with the way it is. Again, thanks for your contributions to the forum.

HK

Thanks! Yes, it's a really caustic environment at times and I can totally understand the frustration this type of waiting list for a product creates. But some are completely putting misinformation out there that the waiting list is four years or more (when the recent announcement from Sarah is two years) and that Steve is making a fortune by taking a ten percent deposit for no reason, and. . .etc. And the worst of it that chaps my hide the most. . . all these ways they are trying to tell Steve (with no direct communication or even an attempt) how to run his business and fix his "huge problem" from redesigning the components to be "modular" and outsourcing assembly to shutting down orders til things are more manageable to completely stopping any development of any new or existing components to. . . you name it. And what really bugs me about this is that they assume Steve and Decware are either not doing anything at all to address the situation, or are incapable of doing so.

I have to learn to just let them babble among themselves. It's hard! I go to the mat for Decware because of the huge enjoyment their products have made in my life and because they deserve to have truth and autonomy.
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I’m a happy owner of a ufo and a zrock2 . I got the zrock a august and the ufo in january after waiting 18 month. The waiting felt shorter and totally forgotten once I received those amazing products.
One thing to clarify to avoid confusion is:
Current wait time vs expected wait time

When I ordered my UFO in july 2021 the wait time was 8 month. that means that someone who ordered his amp 8 month before me was receiving his amp. But that doesn’t mean that my wait time would be 8 month also.
All I can say is that I was #705 in July 2021 and received my order January 2023. So my feeling is that with 2000 orders on the wait list the wait time might be more than 2 years .

Another thing to consider is that Decware is probably building those products faster than anyone else given all the experience they gathered.They never stopped taking orders and built a wait list.
Imagine how much time you would be waiting if you could throw 2000 orders at shindo, dennis had or jadis…

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Lon, I don't normally go in for misty eyed message board posts, but the thing is you care about both people and good sound. And that makes it esp. hard to tolerate posters who care about neither. Thank you for all the advice you've given me and countless others over the years.

I spent about 4 months reading through the Decware posts before I decided to buy an amp. I also spent some time reading other forums to check out advice on other brands.

I selected Decware BECAUSE I read as many posts as I could on this forum. I realized that there is no company out there like Decware with the likes of Steve, Lon, and many if not most of the folks that dole out advice here.

I realized that no one is offering such loved audio devices with a lifetime warranty and an invitation to witness the development process. I got to see Steve design my Torii MK5 and the Sarah. It was amazing.

The folks on the other forum that just rag on Decware and Steve and us have likely never spent much time reading any of these development posts or read others experiences with these amps or even heard one.

Thanks Lon for standing up to them but for me, thank you for all you do here for all of us. I do mean it when I say you were a huge part in my decision to go with Decware, along with Geno and Piezo...no matter the wait.

Thanks Chris. Yes, this forum really has been a true asset to both the owners and the company, and potential owners.

You do well to stay "above the fray." Yes Kamran among many other posters here (including you Paul) create a great example for Decware fandom, which I agree is not a derogatory thing.

A box arrived yesterday. A very well-packaged stock SE84UFO accompanied by a tee shirt that says Decware One Year Club. After my quoted wait time more than doubled to 18 months, I was starting to feel like it was going to be anticlimactic when I finally got the amp.

I have to say this is not the case, and right out of the box this thing is great. I listen at moderate to low volumes most of the time on some Heresy 1s. Listening today without a subwoofer and not missing it.

My only real gripe is Decware could maybe email everyone on the list from time to time with updates, or issues that may impact delivery times.