Hello everyone,

I’m new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Fabio, and I’m based in Zurich. I’ve been passionate about high-fidelity audio for quite a while now. While I’m not deeply versed in the technical side of things, I’m eager to learn and grateful for any insights others are willing to share.

My journey with Decware began a few years ago when a friend brought his 25th Anniversary Zen Triode to a listening session at another friend’s home. Despite the space being quite large (around 200 sqm) and the speakers not particularly efficient, the Zen Triode delivered an absolutely beautiful tone — though it understandably couldn’t play very loud. Still, the musicality left a lasting impression.

More recently, I picked up a pair of 92dB / 6 Ohm speakers at the Hi-End Show in Munich, which finally makes tube amplification a viable option for me. My previous speakers (83dB, dipping to 2.7 Ohms) weren’t exactly tube-friendly. My source is a Lampizator TRP DAC, which I love for its flexibility with tube rolling. However, my amplification has been solid-state for the past few years — until now.

After revisiting that initial Decware experience, I joined the waiting list for a Zen Torii MK5. One of the things that excited me most about the Torii is that I already own a variety of tubes it supports. Previously, I had an Einstein preamp and experimented with many E88CC variants, finally landing on the Tesla Code 32 Gold Pin / Gold Grid and Reflektor Holy Grail 1975 SWGP Silver Shields. I also have a broad range of EL34-family output tubes (KT66, KT77, KT88, KT120, EL51, EL56, etc.) and rectifiers including 5U4G, GZ34, 5Y4G, and Globe 80s — mostly from my Lampizator days.

Just a few days after placing my MK5 order, a local hi-fi shop listed two Torii MK3s with NOS tubes for sale. My friend bought one, and we gave it a proper listen in his system. To say I was impressed would be an understatement — the Torii delivered everything: timbre, dynamics, imaging, and above all, emotion. He normally uses an Aries Cerat Diana SET, and we honestly didn’t miss anything.

Naturally, I called the shop and bought the second unit. They’re currently servicing it, and I’ll pick it up next week. Interestingly, both MK3s lack a gain control and only have a treble adjustment dial on the back — no bass knob. That’s not an issue for me (I use a Silver Autoformer), but we’re curious whether these units were special orders, modified versions, or perhaps early prototypes. If anyone here knows more about these variations, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Now to my question — I use Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes with graphene bolts across my system and want to install one on the MK3. According to the manual, the MK3 uses a 3A main fuse. The MK5, on the other hand, uses two 5A fuses for the mains and two 0.5A fuses for rectifiers (which I don’t plan to replace initially).

My plan is to order a 3A fuse and two graphene bolts: one for the MK3 now and a second one I’ll need for the MK5 later. However, I’m unsure if a 3A fuse would suffice when the MK5 eventually arrives. I assume the amp doesn’t draw 5A in normal use — but if I were to power up the left and right channels separately, could that still cause the 3A fuse to blow? Should I just order a 5A fuse now, and would that still be safe to use with the MK3 in the meantime?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

I have a bunch of other questions about tube rolling and setups, but I’ll search the forum for the right threads before posting. For now, I just wanted to say hello and share my excitement to be diving back into the Decware world.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to learning from all of you!

Fabio

Hello Fabio, welcome to the forum!

This is a great community which I believe you will find a future packed with interest in your audio journey. The valuable information you have at your disposal here will absolutely prove beneficial if you listen to the many here who have a great deal deal to share.

If I may, I want to point out a couple of individuals here that are highly recommended for their skill, knowledge, and experience with Decware modifications, and that of audio mods.  Although there are others which are also a valuable source, I will wholeheartedly say in my experience that you are very fortunate to have a member here named ( Will) who will guide you into the extreme exploration of fine tuning your amps and your DAC. Another member I suggest you chat with is CAJames. If you read some of his history in this forum, you will get an idea of his knowledge. He also has a great classical music thread going on as well.

Of course, Steve himself will always be available when he can get to you, but he is quite busy.

As for myself, I just may have a tad bit of knowledge, with a hint of experience over the last 45 years, but hey, I only know what I like.  I welcome you to join me on my growing thread at the top of the Acoustics section. I have a great deal of information which relates to things that may interest you.  

I too am an owner of the TorriMK3 which I have had since May of 2012. One of my near future projects is to completely upgrade this amp with all fresh film and foil capacitors, eliminating all of the substandard electrolytic caps. The internal wiring will be replaced with 7N silver.  Will has already modified his Torii which he plans to contribute the details and photos of that build. If he says that something is great, it is advisable to listen and learn from him.

Now, concerning your question about the fuse situation.

That is something that I really don't find the need to incorporate into my system, but if it works for you, then use it.  There are quite a few members here who have interest in what you asked about. I am sure that they can tell you what you need to know concerning that.

From what I read about your system and your interests, I did want to give some strong advice which many here will back me up on.

Being that I am a long time ToriiMK3 owner, I understand exactly what you are using, especially with that Lampizator DAC.  We are very close, and practically on the same level with audio choices.

With that said, I want to recommend something that will give you the ultimate tone control that you seek. I promise you that it will be the perfect companion for your ToriiMK3 amp.  What is that you might ask?  

Do yourself a huge favor and get a ZROCK3 on order immediately with FULL anniversary mods (including film and foil caps), and also the tube regulation mod. This is the top version of this model.

I am not going into more about that here, but if you read my acoustic thread, you will find plenty about it there if interested.

I usually do not recommend many audio components, but I feel strongly about this component. Considering the system you have, and that you seek better tone control, I have to advise that this is what you need. There is no other component on the planet which can do what this device does.  Try it out and see. You will soon thank me for this advice.

Sorry I can't answer your direct question, but you will find the answer that you seek.

You are among those that will help you here.

Take care.

Thanks a lot for the war welcome an the answers and suggestions.

@Steve: Sorry, I confused the MK3 with the MK5 fuse rating. According to manual the MK3 has a 5A fuse while the MK5 uses two 3.15A fuses (1 per channel). If I use a 3.15A fuse for the MK3 will it blow if I start the channels one after the other?

@Red Pill Sanctuary: Thanks a lot for your suggestions and for introducing me to other forum members. Always good to have people who understand the technical side of this hobby. Thanks also for the  ZROCK3 recommendation. I will look into this in detail later. Yes, the Lampizator TRP is a phenomenal device in terms of timbre and tube flexibility. It really allows me to chase the tone I like.

@Lon: I've experimented with fuses for a long time. Ended up with a mix of SR Purples and SR Masters before the SDFB came out. With the graphene sluggo and by avoiding their pig tail (which sounded horrible in my system) it made a very positive impact in terms of seperation, contrast and dynamics. Probably you are right about buying two fuse boxes. I was  assuming that the 5A in the MK3 are only needed for the start up. Under normal operations it probably does not draw 5A. On the other hand, I'll be living with the MK3 for a long time. Having a fuse rating too low may not be beneficial to the sound.

Thanks. You convinced me. Will buy two fuse boxes then.

I used two identical cables too initially. Found that I got the same result with a US male to ice adapter. Doubling down on power cables on each device wouldn’t have been an option cost wise.

Hello Fabio.

My MkIII, one of the first of that version batch I think, came with a treble control  but without a "bass knob." It has been a long time, so not clear with memory, but I do have a bass knob that I believe Steve installed for me sometime after I got the amp. My system and room benefitted from being able to reduce the bass at the time. But if you do not need to reduce bass in the balance much, or tighten it in your setting, I think you will find that between the bias switch, the output impedance switches, and the 5 tube positions, you will have a lot of power to tune the sound balances. Especially rectifiers and the two Voltage Regulators are powerful baseline adjustors for signal qualities and intensity, including weight, tone, space, harmonics, speed.....

The MKIII you are getting not having a gain pot sounds like a special order, the original having a stereo gain. This is something I really like personally for tuning individual gains for optimal sound from each component, and for progressively balancing the signal power and associated qualities between gain stages. But it seems a lot of folks use the more typical old school pre method with Toriis... with the amp gain full up, or like in your case, without a gain knob, and really like it.

When using a Torii in my main system, I have been using a MKIV since they came out, so a long time. It is rated for 5 amp fuses @ 120V, and I thought I remembered using 5 amp fuses in the MKIII. Checking now, I do have a 5 amp fuse in the MKIII, and as you noticed the MKIII manual indicates 5 amps also.

I am not clear on the MKV from what Steve says, or from the MKV manual ... if it has one 3 amp fuse per channel of one mains fuse.

I use Swiss Digital Fuseboxes, but unlike most here, I prefer the less forceful and dense sounding hollow "slugs" from Chinese sellers. I guess this is in part because all my stuff is pretty heavily modified for speeds, space, and fine resolution.... having realistic immediacy and really good harmonic complexity with some warmth that does not mask, it sounds real to me.... but I think it has grown more free flow than with anniversary mods alone, making solid slugs strong. That said, I do get what you all like about the graphene "sluggos" ...really nice balances... just too strong for my room. I did not love the Piggytails either, so made a bunch of iterations, finding several that I found faster, more transparent and more resolving.

Having had a number of conversations with Mark at Verafi Audio, I have taken a different approach from Lon, sharing SDFBs for multiple pieces of gear. I have a single 5 amp SDFB that feeds my PSAudio P5 which was rated 6 amps, but I have always used 5 amp fuses in it. Wanting to have upgraded fuses interchangeable between my Toriis and the P5, PSAudio thought that would be fine. My Torii is then plugged into a nice distributor that is plugged into the P5. Mark, knowing PSAudio power components well, felt confident that the SDFB is fast and sensitive enough that if the Torii had a problem, the SDFB before the P5 would disengage safely.

I then have a 3 amp SDFB plugged into the same distributor as the Torii, EDIT: Sorry, I did have it set up this way, but now have the 3 amp SDFB plugged directly into the P5, the P5 receptacle's turn on timing set so that the amp and the 3 amp fusebox components come on separately and with time between... the 3 amp SDFB, through a distribution box, feeds my CSP3 preamp (3amp), my 3 amp DAC, a Zstage (1.6-2?), and when I have it in the system (not at the moment), my ZRock2 (1.6 amp fuse). In this particular case, Mark thought that as long as the SDFB was set up for the highest amperage (3 amp) that with this range, it is sensitive enough that the 1.6 amp pieces would be protected.

So I have all my main components on two SDFBs.

Not sure if you could apply this to your 5 versus 3 amp (or is it 6 for the MKV), but maybe. And finally, this is vague, so not sure, but I think in one conversation Mark may have said they can fine tune fuse boxes to be more or less sensitive in speed when ordered... so if trying to adjust for flexibility, this may be worth asking about.

Not that I am recommending this method, or doing anything similar without directly checking with Mark, I am not. Just offering a personal story in case it is useful. Also, I can't say this conclusively, but my feeling is that the fusebox circuit opening for protection may not be the same as a fuse, more digitally activated, so the sound may not be affected by the amperage rating like with a fuse.

Like Lon suggested, the only times here I have blown fuses in my Toriis (mine were before Steve integrated rectifier fuses), were from rectifiers going bad.


Have fun with your Toriis!

I'm using identical cabling and I think I am done adding Fuse Boxes. . . for a while at least!

From your experience of going back to the SR fuse for more warmth and musicality, I get it, as the effects from adding sluggos to me were progressive also, more slugs, more forward signal traits and influence from the materials of the sluggos. But more sluggos could be worth further explorations. To me the gold is a little too slow and thick especially mids down, contrasting with the more open and clear upper range if I recall correctly, but some folks swear by them. My personal favorites for solids were copper and graphene, and if too much graphene got too strong there, when you order more, may be worth asking Mark to send along an extra copper and gold to play with if you have not already tried them. He is a really accommodating guy in my experience.

I really like the transparent way Steve implemented the Torii treble adjustors too, though once I got things tuned here, I leave mine wide open. I have become so caught by space and fine detail, what I realized I needed to do for my needs was actually to refine the treble rather than cut or mask it... resolving hardness into complexity... not always easy to do, but beautiful.

As to rectifiers, the Type 80s have been a mixed bag on this forum. I used them for a long time, both ST shape and globes, and don't recall having any blow, but some others were less lucky, I think particularly with globes. It appears to me from this forum that they are on the edge for some of Steve's earlier amps especially, and that stronger, less compromised Type 80s seem to work out... my guess. But also, the MKIII uses all 33uF power supply caps, so in theory, the MKIII rectifier should be less pushed than many Decware amps that use all 47uF power supply caps. Some observations anyway.

Yes it is all a balancing act. For me, one of the best tools I have found is using the variety of decent recording styles to "master" my system parts, system, and room. I am playing all the time with stuff and it is common to make a change that is gorgeous on many recordings and not so on others. But with the criteria of resolving all that is there, while musically balancing all the many balances together to a level of making the better recordings, and the lesser ones (to a point), sound better than I imagine them to have been in the studio or recording venues... repeatedly, that is where the beauty lies for most recordings... that is with the help of some gain tuning to fine-tune and optimize different recording styles.

I stopped using Type 80s quite a while ago, but they, especially the ST shapes, were pretty low cost back then. I now have a 15uF film cap for the rectifiers of my MKIV, easier on rectifiers, but I believe I used Type 80s when it still had a 47 there, and later a 40uf. I generally preferred globes, but my feeling was that the STs were less vulnerable, the hanging filaments of the globes likely less tolerant. So I guess it depends if you end up craving that sound, but who knows, it could be worth a try. Sounds like you are in for a lot of fun tuning in your new amp!

Thought I’d give you an update on my short journey with the Torii MK3.

I picked up the amp at a nearby store. It came equipped with Telefunken EL34s, Mullard GZ37s, Sylvania OA3, and some OC2 tubes I couldn’t identify. While checking it in their shop, they realized that one of the E88CCs had microphonic issues. I opted for a $120 discount instead of the Gold Lions he offered, as I already have an unused pair at home.

At home, I inserted a matched pair of Reflektor E88CC 1975 SWGP, which I really like in other applications. I gave the amp some hours to settle before any critical listening, since it hadn’t been used for a couple of months. The sound was clean, very transparent, and holographic. Soundstage depth and layering were very good, with excellent upper mids and treble. However, the lower mids and bass were a bit too lean for my taste. In complex passages especially, the mid-bass and upper bass seemed to get sucked out completely. I gave it a few days to see how things evolved, but there wasn’t much change.

As a first step, I removed the Telefunkens, knowing they tend to produce a detailed but rather lean sound. I replaced them with a matched quad of Philips Miniwatt Brown Base. Wow—what an improvement. The amp really began to fill the room with clean, punchy bass that remained detailed even in complex passages. The mids also became more balanced. The previous focus on upper mids—and the slight shoutiness I had perceived—was completely gone. Stage size, layering, and precision remained excellent.

I also tried a pair of Tesla E88CC Gold Pin Gold Grids. These are on the warmer, lusher side, but the loss of dynamics and clarity compared to the Reflektors was significant. The sound was pleasant, but I lost a lot of stage depth, and overall it was too soft. The gap was too large for an extended experiment, so I switched back to the Reflektors.

I’m already very happy with the sound I’m getting. The amp is extremely transparent and natural sounding. It also responds strongly to tube rolling, making it very flexible for tailoring the sound to your liking.

I should receive the Swiss Digital Fuse Box next week—curious to see what it does to the setup.

Also, I intend to roll the rectifier. I read on the forum that the 5R4GY works well in Decware amps. I have NOS/NIB Marconi 5R4GYs, which I really like in other applications. These should be safe to use in the Torii MK3, right? I’ll report back on how they compare to the Mullard GZ37.