Hello all, I'm a newer Decware owner with an older Taboo amplifier.  It looks like a Gen 1 version based on the pictures I have found.  I really prefer the Lucid mode that it features.  I definitely can't go back to solid state at this point!  It just sounds fantastic.

I was looking at some of the larger Decware offerings and I was wondering if that feature is available on them.  Is that available as an option or do the newer amplifiers already project a sound stage in a similar fashion?

My speakers aren't anything super-efficient with my bookshelf speakers rated @ 85dB and my floor standers 90-91dB so that's why I was looking at a more powerful amplifier, but I don't want to give up the way this amp sounds.

Thanks for the input!

Welcome to the forums!

I've never listened to a Taboo.

What is it that you like about the lucid mode you enjoy more than the standard mode?

Is a different speaker an option? When I first started looking at high sensitivity speakers seemed like there were none. Then the flood gates opened and there is a plethora of options.

I'm in agreement with you. Once I got a taste of what tubes do for music I was hooked!

Paradisecom - Welcome to the forum, always a place of learning, opinion and humor I have found. We own a Rachael among other Decware gear and Omega speakers. Depending on what you listen to musically and the room/ volume you listen at the Omega could be your match. You may want to try to get a word with Steve about the Lucid mode and he might have some suggestions and or comments that could get you closer to your end game. Mine ended up being all Decware gear and Omega speakers/sub. Keep us posted on your progress and happy listening, Chris.

Since I got a Decware SE34 quite a long time ago, with Decware/Turning Point MG944 speakers, I have not been able to notice sound from the speakers in either of my rooms. In both setups the soundstage goes way out past the speakers, back and sides, and beyond walls. So though I can imagine how the Taboo is helping you with its lucid mode, the pointer to complimentary speaker's potential for not only more volume, but also more refined soundstage, is a good one. Same with tubes in my experience also, more open-spaced and resolving tubes in the right combinations tend to expand/refine the stage here. Also power, cables, front end... speaker placement, etc... I find here that pretty much everywhere I can increase resolution in empty space without throwing the spectral balance off much, or increasing focus too much, the soundstage can get better.

That said, the Torii MKIV has something called a "reconstructive feedback" circuit that can have an effect that may be similar to how you describe with lucid mode. In effect, it sounds to me like it enhances empty space with clarity of very fine information when on, and this can help the soundstage differentiate and expand. It has been a long time since I read the info on Taboo so don't recall, but I wonder if "reconstructive feedback" is a variation on that Lucid theme. Also It sounds like the Decware SEWE300B (Sarah) has a switch that I am assuming is associated with the innovative internal preamp circuit that may give similar effects in either position, and can be set for "wide" or "deep" soundstage if I am remembering correctly.  

Anyway... everything matters for me toward finding those really nice balances of balances.

Yes, I don't doubt that the Taboos have specific Lucid mode methods and effects. But speaking of lucid, in my experience, changes in sound that contribute to more empty space, and associated, more refined resolution creating more sense of space and immediacy.... with tubes, or cables, or adjustments, or whatever, added lucidity often adjusts the soundstage bigger and refines it here. And not always, but also often, too much intensity and focus in the signal/sound can tend to make the soundstage more concentrated, shallower and perhaps less wide. Not always, but roughly speaking...

For the SEWE300B, it is good to know those are bias switches, but what caught my interest was I think Kamran talking about liking his set for greater soundstage depth??? And reading Steve's description in the manual seemed similar... describing them mostly as associated with soundstage (along with some associated sound changes).

"VOICING SWITCHES

There are two voicing switches at the front of the amplifier next to each volume control. In the rear position the amplifier will have the deepest sound stage, while the front position will increase midrange presence moving the stage a little closer to the listener. These can be operated while you listen."

Also those front switches in pictures in Steve's 300B design development thread, are wired/soldered to the little preamp board, so I guessed they were associated/used together with the board's sonic refinements, whether bias or not.

Now I wonder if it could be a hybridized variation of bias switches in Decware we have tried in the past. And I always have liked the "off" position tonally, but also because the more open bias settings here tended to make a more complete and clear soundstage.

I really don't know if the reconstructive feedback switches on the Torii IV are close or not to the Taboo lucid mode in design. And sorry, I didn't mean to suggest they would sound the same, (or those on the Sarah). I was thinking more that attributed sound impressions indicate that they can all be used to adjust a sense of lucidity to some degree, and with that, the soundstage. I do imagine the Torii and Taboo to be at least partial family though, seeming likely to me that they are both using some form of specifically designed feedback to create their effects.

Just thinking out loud, and too much guess work. But perhaps food for thought and further investigation if one is looking for an amp that is more powerful than the Taboo, but also has switches that can help in adjusting the soundstage.

Your preference for Zrock2 and gain riding makes sense to me. I love using those too for adjusting everything, including lucidity and soundstage. But I get this especially for you, your preferring a fairly dense and bass enhanced signal/sound that also softens treble to better fit with your systems and rooms and preferences. But Kamran's system and room look like they are more about clarity/lucidity to me, his room dedicated with a lot of treatment and experimenting toward what I am guessing is a relatively neutral sound with a complete soundstage by the look of his system, room and from hearing his impressions... including what sound like quite fast and lucid speakers... So I can imagine that adjustments in his setting could feel pretty big. I know there is little that happens here that does not seem pretty big. And I know you hear quite subtle changes with feet, cables, tubes, etc with your advanced discernment, and in your setups. But yes, I am guessing also that Kamran's might show soundstage and lucidity related changes more obviously.

No doubt. In my room I can choose between maximizing sound stage presentation. . . or frequency balance that is great for all my material. . . and I choose the latter. I just can't have the very best of both, I've really tried. No room treatment is allowed, so I'm handicapped in that regard.

Still the fact that the bias adjustments on the SEWE300B and former amps are all fundamentally similar, and the Lucid Mode is quite different. . . that spells out a fundamental difference in the circuit and the presentation to me.