 "I'm not sure if this
is a time machine, a spaceship, or something that you plug in like a
glowing gate to a higher plane of consciousness but every time I listen
to it I disappear!"
The TORII is one of
those rare amplifiers that can liberate
even
the
most
fanatical
audiophiles
from
the
buy
and
sell
marry-go-round.
It does this by getting
everything down to the last detail... right. The kind of "right"
that goes WAY beyond it's impressive specs or appearance. It was
created BY human ears FOR human ears. With the Zen TORII, you can
see better with your eyes closed.
 One of the reasons it
can do this is because like a Stradivarius violin, each amp is hand
voiced down to the finest
details.
For the same reason a Stradivarius sounds superior to mass produced
violins,
the Zen is simply untouchable by mass produced amplifiers - regardless
of price, unless of course you're into being pummeled by loud obnoxious
and uninteresting amps with huge power figures. The Zen is for
people who want more than to just hear the music, they want to float in
it. It's a goose bump machine if you know where I'm coming from.
This amplifier
absolutely captures the
magic of single-ended triodes,
yet
it
isn't
one.
Over
twenty
years
in
the
making,
it's
out-of-the-box
design
theory
and
tedious
(hand
built) execution give it a
sound that simply
embarrasses many hi-end amplifiers and is to date our best work.
I should also mention that this
amplifier is made in the USA with our own hands. It's using proprietary
US made transformers (real good ones)
and
even
the
T6
Aluminum
powder
coated
chassis
and
hardwood
bases
are
US
built.
Steve Deckert - owner DECWARE High
Fidelity Engineering
 This is a pretty ballsy
25 watt per channel amplifier that features 2 pair of inputs with an
input selector switch and a volume control. It works perfectly
well WITH or WITHOUT a preamp. It's at home with most hi-fi speakers
and equally poised with high efficiency speakers due in part to it's
complete lack of noise or hum. There is also a high frequency
control outside the signal path that lets you adjust the top end of any
loudspeaker to your liking. Along the same theme it has a bass
dampening control that lets you adjust the bass character of your
loudspeakers to eliminate room boom automatically and add or remove
weight.
This pure class A tube
amplifier with no circuit boards also features a dual mono design with
fully independent vacuum tube regulated power supplies. It's
using tube rectification on each channel feeding a mirror imaged push
pull layout with no negative feedback and is fully self biasing.
 It's an easy
amplifier
to
own because there is no maintenance and no bias pots to
adjust. The tubes are not run hard and consequently last about
twice as long, are easy to find, not overpriced and the ONLY tubes that
can take advantage of the Hazen Grid Mod. Something that no other
triode (like 300B's)
or Tetrodes (like KT88's) can do.
You will simply turn it on and enjoy the
music, every time.
The TORII uses the
famous EL34 / 6CA7 output tube which is the only popular audio
tube with all it's grids separately connected. This means the
TORII has complete control over each of these grids and can for lack of
a better phrase - Have it's way with them. The result is a
mid-range transparency and better sense of timing not obtainable with
anything else.
This amp can run
speakers between 4 and 16 ohms.
If you like
contemporary styling, the TORII is also available in a variety of
beautiful hardwoods. You can configure your amp from our shopping
cart. The solid walnut shown below is available at no extra
charge.
Scroll to the bottom of this
page for available options, such as VCAPs,
Stepped attenuators and so on.
It's no
secret the in the world of exotic tube amplification that S.E.T. amps
rule
in transparency and liquidity. We've all heard statements like...
"female vocals to die for"
or
"insane imaging" when
describing these jewels, but in the same breath you'll also hear things
like "needs an easy to drive speaker"
or
"while the bass is good, it lacks
the absolute control and dynamics of the bigger amps." So
right away you're left with a compromise... performance vs. musicality
and grace.
S.E.T.
amplifiers
are
what
motivated
the
design
of
the
Zen
TORII
 ...because any time you
have between 2 and 10 gloriously transparent
watts
the only thing that could be better is more. Designing a
high power S.E.T.
amplifier requires adding another gain stage
(tube) or paralleled output tubes (or both). Either one
causes a loss of
transparency when compared to a single output tube per channel.
In the
Zen design, even though you have two tubes per channel, they are not in
parallel but rather transformer coupled in series so that only one tube
is really in the signal path at any one time.
Having such a simple signal
path
gives the Zen TORII the same transparency as our SET amps where only 2
resistors and 1 capacitor are seen by the signal. And to complete
the
picture, we use no negative feedback, which is easy to do if you're
building a Triode based amplifier, but the Zen is a Pentode design that
forgoes the mediocre "ultra-linear" technique of maximizing the tubes
power and smearing it's clarity. Instead we make our output
transformers to compliment our tube regulated power supplies - which is
the only other gimmick-free way to get linear response
from a pentode without using destructive negative feedback. Of course
it's far more expensive to do it this way, and makes less overall power
which is why you don't find it on the vast majority of hi-end
amplifiers.
 "After
hundreds of hours of initial listening, the Decware Zen Torii continues
to improve, as designer Steve Deckert said it would. While the
full review will be in issue 41, suffice to say that this is one of the
most musically engaging amplifiers I’ve had the pleasure to
experience. If you’ve ever spent time with a great SET and thought
“If this only had 2-3 times the power, I could live with it,� your ship
has arrived. After owning a number of the world’s finest SET
amplifiers, I can easily support Deckert’s claim that the Zen Torii is
certainly the equal of any SET I’ve owned."
-TONEAudio Blog / JULY 26 2011
How do you get an amplifier to
sound like it does at 2:30 A.M. (when the power is cleanest) during the
day and virtually every time you listen to it? Tube voltage regulation designed to
filter instead of regulate.
First of all, the vast majority of
tube amplifiers for sale do not even have tube regulation. Not to mention the obvious... but
just because an amplifier has tube regulation doesn't mean it's going
to sound better. Tighter and more control, yes. Better?
...not often. The classic shunt regulation so
often seen in tube amplifiers that do offer it, often poisons the
transparency with injected noise
that must be further filtered. The Zen doesn't need tube
regulation to
improve power supply performance. It features a dual mono design with
oversize
power supplies, one for each channel. It's a brute force approach that
delivers over 300 ma. of current when less than half of that is
actually used by the circuit.
In
this special amplifier the Voltage Regulation tubes are wired in series with
the load. In that configuration they become a filtering device instead
of a regulating device. The VR tubes place a measurable vacuum gap between the load
and the
power supply. This creates Ultra Clean Power because all of
the the noise is filtered off. (Noise from pollution in your local
power grid that includes the
harmonics that
ultimately end up at your wall outlet and in your amplifier.)
This hash and
grain that poisons virtually everyone's audio gear is eliminated in the
Zen TORII. It literally doesn't make
the jump across this vacuum gap between the cathode and anode of the
VR tubes. Talk about black backgrounds, we could call it the
grain eliminator or the liquidity insurance program, or just an unfair
advantage over virtually all of our competitors.
This is one of the reasons why we know that unless you own
and
use a power generator, like the PS AUDIO power plant as an example,
there is no way your present amplifier will sound as good as a Zen
TORII (...assuming all else was equal and even that's unlikely.)
And if it wasn't enough to do it once, we employed this technology on
every stage in the amplifier and independently for each channel.
That's a lot of GLOW from these beautiful tubes that don't even get hot
or wear out!
You won't find tube regulation in the vast majority of power
amplifiers, and none that use it in this critically important
way. Yet, impressive as it might sound it is only a small part of
why the Zen TORII can achieve the unique sound quality that is has.
 The Zen uses a unique
push-pull design that employs only a single
capacitor and gain stage
to drive the output tubes, just like our popular 2 watt S.E.T.
amps.
Add to that the cleverly simple way it preserves the even order
harmonic content and you have a push pull amplifier that is truly unique in the
market... It has the beauty of S.E.T. sound with the
performance of the very best push-pull. Speed and attack are
taken to a new level here. In fact, the Zen TORII makes most 200
watt solid state amps sound
weak.
 EVEN ORDER HARMONICS ARE WHY SINGLE-ENDED AMPLIFIERS SOUND GOOD.
The Zen Torii has unique harmonics giving it a sound unlike virtually
all push pull amplifiers, solid state OR tube.
The harmonics of an amplifier can be revealed in the distortion measurements. There are two types of harmonics; Even order harmonics and Odd order harmonics.
Musical instruments naturally create lots of Even order harmonics. So
do single-ended amplifiers btw. However, I can't think of too
many things in nature that create sound with Odd Order Harmonics,
except for solid state and tube push pull amplifiers! This is why
you don't get an organic sound from these types of amplifiers, and why
everyone is so gaga over Single ended designs.
Here is a distortion graph
of a typical push pull amplifier:
This works by simply playing a single tone at 1kHz and measuring the
echo! You can see that the first harmonic (A) is at 3kHz - an ODD
number. The next (B) is at 5kHz and the third (C) is at
7kHz. This is what an ODD Order Harmonic signature looks
like. Notice there is no even order content whatsoever.
Also of interest is the average noise floor seen between the test
signal at 1KHz and 20kHz is about -110dB. (larger numbers are
better). Considered very good this noise level is brought to you by a
Balanced XLR solid state push pull power amplifier.
One of the main reasons why push-pull amplifiers never sound like good
single-ended triodes is because most push pull designs naturally cancel
the even-order harmonics as clearly shown in the graph above!
Below is the Zen Torii's graph, where you will find the missing Even order
harmonics at 2kHz, 4kHz, 6kHz and so on, yet it IS a push pull
design!
And an opportunity to make a point - the Zen Torii is also quieter than
the solid state amp in the same 1 ~ 20K range - coming in at -125db!
Here
is
the
superior
sounding
distortion
graph
of
a
Zen
TORII:
So
you
can
see
in
the explanation
above
why
the
Zen
Torii
responds
like
a
single
ended
amp
and
why
other
push
pull
designs
sound
far
from
it.
Having
the
power
and
control
of
push
pull,
something
no
S.E.T.
amplifier
really
has,
the
TORII
gives
you
the
best
of both worlds.
 "DecWare
founder Steve Deckert proudly proclaims the Zen Torii is “the last amp
you’ll ever want.� And if you agree with Nelson Pass’ theory that there
is a best amplifier for each type of speaker, the Zen Torii could be
just “the best� if you have the right speakers. TONEAudio publisher Jeff
Dorgay was smitten enough to purchase the Torii for his reference fleet
of amplifiers. For an EL- 34-based amplifier, the bass grip is nothing
short of breathtaking, and the Torii renders musical detail like
Kodachrome 25.
Indeed, there’s never been a better example of specs not telling the
whole story. The Torii plays louder and interfaces with a much wider
range of speakers than suggested by its modest 26-watt- per-channel
rating. Showcasing old-school style, the Torii is hand-wired in Illinois
by the DecWare staff and guaranteed for life. American craftsmanship at
its finest."
ISSUE 41 TONE AUDIO MAGAZINE -
FULL ZEN TORII REVIEW HERE
 |
Dual
mono design with a power
supply for each channel to preserve stereo
separation and dynamics.
|
|
Tube
regulation to filter off the harmonics and artifacts from the
power supply giving you 100% grain free sound with jet black
backgrounds. |
|
Trim control
on each
channel so you can adjust
the tightness of the
bass perfectly for any given loudspeaker. It does this by putting
the voice coil of your loudspeaker in parallel with one of the
resistors inside the amp so that the loudspeakers fluctuating impedance
can tell the amp to put out more or less power. It does this in
real time, nearly at the speed of light. |
|
Trim control
on each
channel for the treble. This
allows you to adjust the top
end this amp offers so that virtually any loudspeaker can sound
right, be it a Lowther full range driver or your favorite hi-fi speaker. |
|
Two pair of
input
jacks and a master gain control. This means you can hook
two sources up to the TORII MK III and use the master gain as a volume
control making the use of a preamp
completely
optional. |
|
CCE mod,
a Decware
breakthrough in
2009 that turns the EL34 output tube into a super tube. Forget
about paying $900 for exotic tubes, the EL34 - an already famously good
sounding valve - is the only popular audio pentode of this size that
does not
have the extra grids internally connected. The CCE mod, aka Hazen
grid mod, virtually eliminates the universal problem all tubes have of
stray electrons bouncing off the plate for stunning clarity.
|
|
Self
biasing. While it can use your choice of KT88, KT77, 6550 or
EL34's, there are no worries about adjusting the bias - ever.
Tubes last for several years in this amp and there is virtually no maintenance.
All
you
ever
have
to
do
is
turn
it
on
and
enjoy
music.
|
|
Proprietary USA
made power
and output transformers. Designed with the best grain oriented
silicon steel cores and meticulous interleaving you can be sure that
those who copy the TORII with off the shelf transformers will not have
the DECWARE sound. |
|
Hand
constructed and soldered
from start to finish by a single
person. It's using top grade components, switches, connectors, gold
sockets and silver wire all soldered together with the absolute minimum
number of nodes. There are no
circuit boards. These amps are fine example of American made ART
and could never be built like this were they to go into mass production. |
|
ADDITIONAL
FEATURES:
1/8 INCH
THICK LASER CUT DUAL MONO CHASSIS
MIRROR
IMAGE SYMMETRICAL AMPLIFIER LAYOUT
DESIGNED
TO
ENSURE
CLEAN
INCOMING
POWER
POWDER COATED HIGH GLOSS FINISH
5U4 TUBE
RECTIFICATION FOR EACH CHANNEL
CHOKE
REGULATED POWER SUPPLIES FOR EACH CHANNEL
LINEAR
OPERATION WITH ZERO NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
PURE CLASS A
OPERATION AT ALL TIMES
TOP GRADE GOLD RCA JACKS - NOT CHINESE
TUBE
VOLTAGE
REGULATION
GRIDS FOR
ALL OUTPUT TUBES
SYMMETRICAL
SOLID
COPPER
GROUND
BUSS
SINGLE
TRIODE DIRECT COUPLED INPUT/DRIVER STAGE
BASIC WIRING
POINT TO POINT / MATCHED
LENGTHS
NO HUM OR NOISE EVEN ON HIGH EFFICIENCY SPEAKERS
COMPATIBLE WITH SEVERAL ALTERNATE TUBES
HEAVY GOLD
BINDING POSTS
FRONT MOUNTED VOLUME/GAIN CONTROL MAKES PREAMPS OPTIONAL
REMOVABLE
POWER CORD WITH FUSED IEC CONNECTOR
ON/OFF SWITCH FOR EACH CHANNEL
2 PAIRS OF INPUTS WITH SILVER SELECTOR SWITCHES
SELECTABLE OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 3.5 OHMS / 8 OHMS / 16 OHMS
USER INTERCHANGEABLE HARDWOOD BASES
VOICE COIL CATHODE BIAS
OC2 INPUT STAGE REGULATION
|
|
LIFETIME
WARRANTY - All TORII's
come with a lifetime warranty because TORII's
do not break. |
This
amp
is
shipped
with
hand
graded
premium
quality
EL34/6CA7
output
tubes,
N.O.S.
voltage
regulation
tubes,
OA3
and
OC2,
Russian
6N1P
(6922)
input
tubes
and
5U4
rectifiers
for
each
channel.
This
factory
tube
compliment
is
ideal
for
your
evaluation
and
even
though
you
can
"roll"
different
tubes
through
it,
you
certainly
won't
feel
like
you
need
to!
The
TORII
has
been
optimized
for
EL34's
with its
Hazen
Grid
Mod.
It
is
however
possible
to
use
other
tubes,
such
as
KT77's
or
6550's
or
KT88's
but
none
of
these
will
have
the
ability
to
activate
the
Hazen
Grid
circuit.
Still
it
offers
an
opportunity
for
different voicing
if
you
enjoy
trying
different
things.
The
input
tube
is
a
single
6N1P
or
6922.
The
6N1P's
have
the
warmest
tone,
6922's
tend
to
have
more
speed.
The
rectifier
is
a
5U4G
and
can
be
substituted
with
a
5AR4,
5YGT
or
compatible
rectifier.
Each
rectifier
change
will
also
make
audible
differences
in
the
sound
and
performance
of
the
amplifier.
Voltage
regulators
can
be
ignored,
or
used
to
take
the
tube
rolling
experience
to
a
deeper
level.
The
four
voltage
regulator
tubes
below
all
modify
the
operating
points
of
the
output
tubes
they
regulate.
This
in
turn
changes
the
way
the
output
tube
sounds.
For
example:
You can use an OA3 which gives the highest grid voltage and
usually the most low end performance. You can use an OD3 which
gives the lowest grid voltage and usually the tightest bass. If
you wished it to land somewhere in between, there is the OB3 and OC3.
 The
smaller seven pin regulating tubes clean the power for each input
stage. There are also four tubes
you can use here, starting with the stock OC2 also know as VR75.
This gives the input stage the highest gain. Changing to a VR150
lowers the gain of the input stage.
With the
stock tubes we ship in the amp, you get ideal performance in most
applications.
It's just that you
CAN tweak a TORII to a very fine level if so motivated.
- INPUT TUBE CHOICES:
6922, 6N1P
- OUTPUT TUBE CHOICES:
EL34 6CA7 KT77 6550 KT88
- INPUTS: 2 RCA
TYPE INPUT JACKS FOR EACH CHANNEL
- OUTPUTS: 1 PAIR
HEAVY GOLD 3 WAY BINDING POSTS PER CHANNEL
- OUTPUT STAGE TOPOLOGY:
GND-CATHODE TRANSFORMER RK
- RLOAD PLATE TO PLATE:
6600 OHMS
- IDLE CURRENT: 47
MILS PER OUTPUT TUBE
- HIGH B+ VOLTAGE:
410 VDC CHOKE REGULATED PER CHANNEL
- INPUT IMPEDANCE:
100 K OHMS
- INPUT SENSITIVITY:
FULL POWER @ 2.0 VOLTS
- POWER INTO 3.5 OR 8
OHMS: 24.6 WATTS RMS PER CHANNEL
- NOISE: -90dB
- OPERATION: CLASS
A1
- GRID REGULATION:
ONE OA3-OD3 PER CHANNEL
- INPUT STAGE REGULATION:
ONE
VR75~VR150 PER
CHANNEL
- RECTIFICATION:
ONE 5Y3GT or 5AR4 or 5U4 PER CHANNEL
- INPUT STAGE: ONE
6N1P or 6922 PER CHANNEL
- OUTPUT STAGE: TWO
MATCHED EL34 PER CHANNEL
- SIZE:
19-1/8
" WIDE x 13-3/4 " DEEP x 7-3/4 " HIGH
- NET WEIGHT: 36.8
lbs.
- WARRANTY:
LIFETIME TO ORIGINAL OWNER / 90 DAYS ON TUBES
- SHIPS WITH:
- PREMIUM GRADE
EL34 OUTPUT TUBES
- 5U4 RECTIFIERS
- 6922, or 6N1P PREMIUM INPUT TUBES
- N.O.S. OA3 and OC2 VOLTAGE REGULATOR
TUBES
- REMOVABLE POWER CORD
- FREQUENCY RESPONSE:
20Hz ~ 20kHz +/- 0.4dB
- TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION: 0.069 %
- DYNAMIC RANGE, DBA: 92.9
The Zen
TORII has impressively flat frequency response. In the range of
human hearing it is accurate to within 0.4 dB This is a real
world frequency response measured through loudspeakers at normal
listening levels. It is not a simulated response nor is it the
typical measurement where the amp is hooked up to a purely simple
resistive dummy load instead of a complex loudspeaker load.
Frequency
response of both channels overlapped. Tone control at 1/2 way
point.
The
minus
-3dB
point
at
low
frequency
is
6Hz.
OUTPUT TRANSFORMER COUPLING
The Zen is a very stable
amplifier capable of driving all but the most power hungry loudspeakers
because of it's transformer-coupled output stage. This creates a
hand-shake between the amplifier and the loudspeaker and protects the
speaker from DC voltages should a tube ever fail. Of course most
tube
amplifiers use output transformers, which tend to be the most expensive
single components in the amp. This is where most amplifiers fall
short
by trying to impress you with big heavy transformers of average or low
quality. The more power the amp has, the more likely it is to use
moderate quality transformers - at best.
Decware transformers were
designed and are built specifically and only for THIS amplifier.
They
use the highest quality grain-oriented silicon steel laminated cores
with exhaustive interleaving to produce the most phase coherent wide
bandwidth sound
possible. Our transformers have always been proprietary and are a
big
part of the secret behind the Decware sound.
VOLTAGES
This amplifier comes standard with our World
Voltage Compatible Transformer. Your amp will be automatically wired
for the correct voltage for your country and be supplied with the
correct removable power cord.
The Zen TORII has some options.
You can select from the Black Figured Base
(shown at the top of this web page) OR the Contemporary Style Base
(shown above). Different woods can be selected from the shopping
cart. The Black Figured base is only available in Black.
There
are
also
some
knob
choices.
From
left
to
right
are
Ebony,
Gold,
Black, Cream, Walnut. You can configure your Torii with the knobs
you want from within the shopping
cart.
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
When available, can
also be configured by simply adding your amp to the shopping
cart
and
checking the boxes you want. The options include things like a
Stepped
Attenuator in place of the Volume Control and even VCAPs, a popular
high dollar coupling cap that many audiophiles request. No
options are
needed to experience the flagship sound of the Zen Torii, they are
options, not suggestions or requirements.
OPTIONAL SPARE TUBES
We are now also offering a matched quad of the Shuguang 6CA7 Grade A
Treasures
(OUTPUT TUBES) as
an optional second set of tubes for your Zen TORII. You can
select the option from the shopping
cart.
OPTIONAL SHIPPING CASE
If
you travel, or just want a bomb-proof case to put your TORII in, we
have this custom fit case available. Your amp can be shipped in
one.
This
Military-grade waterproof/shockproof case customized to
perfectly form-fit your amp for transport and or shipping. The
amp fits upside down into foam.
 SKB 3I
Series Injection Molded Mil-Standard Waterproof Cases are molded of
ultra high-strength polypropylene co-polymer resin, featuring a
gasketed, water and dust tight, submersible design (MIL-C-4150J) that
is resistant to corrosion and impact damage.
Features a continuous
molded-in hinge, patent pending "trigger release" latch system,
comfortable, snap-down rubber over-molded cushion grip handle,
automatic ambient pressure equalization valve (MIL-STD-648C),
resistance to UV, solvents, corrosion, fungus and impact damage
(MIL-STD-810F).
OPTIONAL VCAPS
 Decware has it's own time
coherent polyurethane film & foil coupling caps made to the FKP-1
specification by WIMA in Germany. These are standard in all Zen
TORII's. Since many audiophiles are unfamiliar with our caps (we
don't sell or advertise them) they ask about "possible upgrades" for
these caps and list of a whole host of boutique audiophile caps they
think may sound better. Virtually all of them have been tried in
house, and most are at best a sideways move, many sound worse.
The ONLY cap we have found that we feel is justifiably better than our
stock offering is the Teflon Tinfoil VCAP's. These are
expensive. They make the amplifier custom and
non-refundable.
Break-in times with VCAPS are 10 to 20 times longer than Decware's
stock caps. During that break-in time VCAPS will typically sound
much worse than Decware's stock caps. And considering most
customer's report a noticeable improvement at 500 to 600 hours, it
seems to be unanimous that audio nirvana is not experienced until the
1000 hour mark. However, once you've got them broken in, there
just isn't anything out there better.
VCAPS or any available option for a Zen TORII can be done at any point
during your ownership of the amplifier.
NOTE: Your card is
not charged when your purchase this amplifier,
however your place in line
is secured immediately.
We offer this
amp with a 30 day money
back trial so you can hear one in your own room!
With less than 2%
returns, chances are
you'll be like the guy who just
wrote in our forum:
"The only way you're
getting this amp back is to pry it out of my cold dead fingers!"
-
a
passionate response that's not uncommon among Zen Torii owners.
A few Customer
Comments...
 "I
know
the
amp
will
only
get
better
with
time,
but
i
can
tell
you
now,
my
friend...
you
didn't
just
hit
a
home
run
with
the
new
torii,
but
rather a
grand
slam.
Congratulations
on
a
beautifully
done
amplifier."
-George K. Irvine, California USA
"This
Torii
is
giving
everything
I
was
hoping
it
would
give
to
my
music
listening.
It
really
is
the
most
transparent
thing
I've
ever
used
to
date.
A
very
satisfying
amplifier
in
my
system
and
a
delight
to
listen
to."
-Chris M. Underhill, Vermont USA
"This
amp
has
an
almost
eerie
sense
of
musical
realism!
It
has
the
clarity,
sweetness
and
holographic
imaging
of
great
Single
Ended
Triode
amps
but
with
commanding
weight
and
power.
If
you
thought
bass
was
difficult
with
tubes,
forget
it.
The TORII resolves bass as brilliantly as it coaxes
its lifelike mid-range and natural, airy highs from recordings."
-Will R. Santa Fa, New Mexico USA
 "I will send you a
fully thought out review with some more hours on the Torii but just
wanted to drop you a note to say how amazed I am at the amp and how it
has transformed my system. You could charge 3 times the amount
and be right in line with market value. But that is not the case
here, this amp is better that the products I have owned from Pass,
Krell, Rowland and even blows away my Atma-Sphere amps. And this
is with just a day and a half break in. There is something just
plain right about what I am hearing. Bless you
for bringing music alive!"
-Walt R. Gardners,
Pennsylvania USA
"As the
centerpiece of one of my company’s flagship systems, the Decware Zen
Torii has pretty much killed the audiophile in me. I am now a simple a
music lover. Its presence marks the first time in over twenty years of
serious listening that a particular thought has crossed my mind: I have no reason, no itch, no
desire whatsoever to upgrade this system. I am baffled that this level
of immersion and enjoyment can be had for so little. But even
more telling is that it has made me want to explore musical genres I
had never given any consideration to. And that’s an even greater
testament of its virtues."
-Frank D. EarHead Audio, LLC Winchester,
Virginia
"Well, I really
don't know what to say except that this is one amazing amplifier. If
had it on most all of the daytime since it came in and while the sound
is still changing as the amp breaks-in it seems to be settling in
nicely. This amp already sounds miles ahead of anything I've had in my
system. It sounds much "bigger" than my current 200 wpc amps. How you
get a 25 watt amp to sound like this is what I'd like to know.
This amp (compared
to my current 200 wpc, class D amps) has MUCH better weight, tonality,
pitch definition, better extension and clarity in the treble.
Grain/glare are non-existent with the most natural detail that I've
heard. Dynamic contrasts are much better than my current amp -
classical music is exciting to listen now. And as your web page states
the detail is there in the music from an extremely low level without
turning it up. I seem to have plenty of gain and I've yet to clip the
amp even listening at (to me) pretty decent levels with my Merlin VSMs.
I've owned the VSM's for about 10 years and now I know that I really
had not heard what they can do.
I've had quite a few
pieces over the past 25 years: Audio Research, Music Reference, VTL,
Atma-Sphere and most recently my only venture into solid state: a
Channel Island D200 Class D amp. Your amp is far and away the best I
have ever heard in my system (I had the Atma-Sphere amps for 10 years
and know very well what they sound like) and I will certainly not be
sending it back. I really wish I had a way to communicate to other
Merlin owners how well this amp seem to work with these speakers. Thank
you for an outstanding product at a very reasonable price."
-Bill S. Kingwood, Texas USA
Zen
Torii
MK III Owners
Manual
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