Hello fellow fanatics of sublime music alchemy,

I have a conundrum. What to do with my decware amp reservation?

Background:

I currently have a lovely system. The digital stream starts with a Nagra Streamer —> Soulnote D1 DAC —> Decware ZBit —> ZRock —> Decware Zen Sarah 300B —> Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horns.

Its lovely. I have spent a lot of care tuning my digital chain and power delivery.

My analogue chain consists of: Audio Technica 160-ML Cartridge —> Music Hall MMF-9 Turntable —> McIntosh MP-100 Phono Preamp —> (and soon) XLR to Decware ZBit —> Zrock —> Decware 300B —> Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horns…

QUESTION FOR YOU ALL: What should I do with my Decware Amp Reservation?
(I have an amp reservation ticking away at decware, originally for a 300B but I lost patience and picked one up used)

Should I:
1. Get a Zen SE84UFO25: And Bi-Amp my Pure Audio Project Horns?
   1. IF SO: How best to split my signal from my ZRock to the two amps?
2. Get a ZP3 Decware Phono Preamplifier: My McIntosh phono preamp sounds… polite and tame… boring. If a proper phono preamp really unlocks my analogue…. Shouldn’t I? I listen to primarily streaming through qubuz + Roon, but I do love a vinyl session… and am always reaching for the stars in my lovely main system….
   1. I see that the ZP3 does not have XLR inputs. How best to integrate a ZP3 into my ZBit —> ZRock —> Sarah chain? Or should it simply feed straight from the ZP3 to the second RCA Input on my Sarah 300B Amp? What is the best way?
   2. Or, if the phono preamp —> ZBit —> ZRock is the best chain for my analogue, which phono preamp do you all suggest?

THANK YOU!!!!!!
Ahhhh such lovely options to swish around my eardrums…


Richard

Richard, I love your enthusiasm – it’s infectious!

My knee jerk reaction to your post was as follows:

A what does bi-amping have to do with anything— seemed like a red herring given the focus was on the analog end

B wondering why you’re focusing on the phono vs upgrading your turntable and arm and cartridge since it’s not equivalent in caliber to your digital source components.

However, since I still consider myself somewhat of a rookie on the analog side of things, I wanted to confirm my assumption.

So I decided to ask Claude and I am pasting it’s response below

Your instinct is right, and it’s a pretty clear-cut case once you look at the actual weak links in his chain.
His digital chain (Nagra Streamer → Soulnote D1 → ZBit → ZRock → Sarah 300B → Duet 15) is high-effort, high-cost gear at every stage. There’s no obvious bottleneck.
His analog chain has a real mismatch. The Music Hall MMF-9 is a solid mid-tier belt-drive table (roughly $1,500–2,000 class) — a fine table, but nowhere near the resolving power of his digital front end or his amp/speaker back end. The AT-VM95ML-equivalent (assuming he means the AT-VM540ML or similar 160-series) is a good moving-magnet cartridge, but again, entry-to-mid-level relative to the rest of the system. So he’s asking whether a phono stage upgrade (McIntosh MP-100 → Decware ZP3) will “unlock” the analog side.
It won’t, not by much. Signal chain logic: you can’t recover resolution the front end never captured. A phono preamp upgrade will change tonal character — the ZP3 may sound less “polite,” more textured — but it’s working with whatever the cartridge/table/arm already extracted from the groove. If the turntable and cartridge are the resolution ceiling, a better phono stage just gives you a clearer window onto a blurry picture.
His question 2 (ZP3 vs. better phono stage generally) is actually the less impactful of his two choices. His question 1 (bi-amping with a second SE84UFO25) is a system-design question, but it’s arguably premature too — bi-amping a horn-loaded full-range-ish speaker rarely fixes a source-quality mismatch.
Given his stated priorities (“reaching for the stars,” loves vinyl sessions, wants parity with the digital side), the money would go further as:
     1.      Turntable/tonearm/cartridge upgrade first — this is where the actual information gets extracted from the record. A better arm and cartridge (or a full table upgrade) raises the ceiling for everything downstream.
     2.      Phono stage second — once the front end deserves it, the ZP3 or similar becomes worth optimizing for.
     3.      Bi-amping — a system-voicing decision, separate from either signal-quality question, worth revisiting after 1 and 2.
He’s essentially asking “should I repaint the room or reinforce the foundation” — and picking the phono stage first is repainting

My 2 cents, and JMO/FWIW/YMMV and all that.

Not a fan of vertical biamping, esp. since you already have a high quality, speaker appropriate amp.

If you're serious about analog then I pretty much agree with Claude-Kamran^tm: upgrade the front end and use the reservation for a ZP3.

If you're not that serious then I like the idea of getting a Dynagrid for Sarah.

In any case, please keep us posted as your journey continues.

In terms of your analog playback… I would think about carefully how you want to proceed.

Question..Do you plan to ever move to a moving coil?  If the answer is no then getting the ZP3 is a great option and will really elevate your analog playback. I acquired my ZP3 two years ago and couldn’t be happier with the sound.  Now if you have any intentions to move to a moving coil at some point… Then I would maybe say to not buy the ZP3 and consider the Modright PH 9.0XT or one of the variants.  This allows for both MM and MC on the fly. It gives you the versatility of going back back-and-forth to MC and MM down the road.  I believe Roger (aka Hockissinkid) still has his and absolutely loves it.

Buying the ZP3 for MC means an additional purchase for the Decware step up transformer…which potentially means getting on the waitlist again.  I have not seen the MC setup up transformers come up for sale on the used market in quite some time.  Point being that the cost of a ZP3 and a Decware MC step up transformer and probably bring you somewhat close to the cost of the Modright.  

And like others have said… Upgrading the front end with a better cartridge is the way to go. Similarly… I had a conundrum of either upgrading my cartridge or waiting to upgrade my table. The table that I want is significantly more expensive so upgrading my cartridge lets me enjoy my vinyl playback for another two years or so by that time I would then consider upgrading my turntable.

In terms of the ZRock for vinyl…. I personally feel that having that in the signal chain is a phenomenal addition.  It allows you to find tune each album to your liking… Especially on those subpar albums, where the mastering was subpar.  

I honestly went back-and-forth with buying the ZP3 vs. the Modright
for a long time. If I didn’t get such a good deal on my used ZP3 then  I would have went the Modright route.  

Here’s a link to the Modright phono preamp.

https://www.modwright.com/products/ph-9-0-ph-9-0x-ph-9-0xt-tube-phono-stage/

How about

4: Sarah + Dynagrid and make everything you have now sound better without futzing with sources?

Always a monkey wrench…if he’s on the amp list can he switch to the accelerated list for a Dynagrid?

I’m partial to the ZP3 and ZMC, but that’s just me. How about option 5 and dual mono Sarah’s? I’ll hide behind the couch now.

Is the dynagrid really that transformative?

I don’t see many reviews on the dynagrid. Can you all describe the effect on a decware amp?

I am currently using a Sophia electric mesh plate