Decware Zens hard to top for price
Not sure if anyone is still paying attention to this thread, but I thought I would drop in to post my impressions of the Decware Zen SE84C+.
These are relatively inexpensive at $675 each. For that you get 2 watts. They are bridgeable to 5 watts or so. Sounds puny, doesn't it?
So I chose to take a foray into the tube zone. Preliminary research indicated that the Decware amps were among the best values among the low cost tube choices, which includes the Antique Sound Labs item I mentioned in a previous post. With a 30-day return policy, I figured what the hell, lets give it a try. Since the speakers I have are only moderately efficient (Def Tech BP7006's rated at 92db), I purchased two SE84C+ amps.
These amps are available for several hundred dollars less ($300 for the kit, to be specific; I paid $675 each for the assembled product...prices have since increased slightly), but Steve Deckert offers a lifetime warranty on the assembled units, so I decided to forego the hassle of building them myself. The units I received are housed in a plain black steel chassis, no tube cage of any sort. The four tubes are in a diamond arrangement on the top of the chassis, and the power transformer sits on the rear behind them. The tube complement was a 9622 dual triode input tube, SV83 power tubes (pentodes wired as triodes; cathode bias, no adjustment necessary, self biasing!), and 5Y3GT rectifiers. The top has two rocker switches in front of the tubes for input select and bias (changes the bias on the input tube for a more forward or more recessed sound...I can't really tell a difference except greater gain on one setting vs the other); the front of the chassis has a single volume control. Speaker binding posts flank the power transformer at the back of the top. Two sets of gold plated unbalanced inputs on the rear, power switch, and detachable power cord on the back. Thats about it. The units are either industrial chic or hopelessly plain depending on your taste.
I had several concerns going into this. The biggies were a)how a low powered SET amp would deal with complex crossovers and low impedances (particularly when bridging the amps), and b)how loud they would be able to play. I like it loud on occasion, as do most of us I imagine. This particular amp is designed to cope with low impedances (the owners manual claims it can push a dead short and push 1 ohm loads with ease). The overall output/loudness concern was addressed by getting two amps for more power. After extensive time with these amps, this was definitely the way to go; just one in stereo is not enough power to achieve much more than low to moderate volumes with my particular speakers, but two is producing sufficiently loud volumes. The amp starts to clip at 100db at my chair, and that is way louder than I would listen for more than a few moments.
My impressions of this amp are not based on any other tube amp comparisons, so keep that in mind. I have used fairly good mid-fi stuff for years (Yamaha, NAD, Emotiva), and always felt that as long as used within their limits one would have a hard time telling the difference between amplifiers. This seemed true regarding the amps I had owned. The differences between the NAD and Emotiva vs Yamaha were distinct but subtle, with a more effortless feel to the higher current/higher headroom amps. The NAD and Emotiva were more of a wash, with the Emotiva more neutral to the slightest degree, but both punchy and lively with seemingly effortless presentation. I was suspect of the notion that the Decware amps could signifigantly improve things going in. My system sounded pretty fantastic as it was. These puny tube amps couldn't possibly hang, much less improve things! Well, I was wrong.
The Decware SE84C+ amps are difficult to describe. They don't have any distinct coloration or character, but rather are utterly transparent. If it's on the recording, it comes through, no matter how buried in the mix it is. Per the manual, response is 25hz-23kHz, and I find that believable. Highs are extended, clear, and smooth; bass is extended, not rolled off in any meaningful way for my listening. It's ability to resolve faint details of the recording are superior to my ss amps, which were already pretty good.
The Decware's are also noticeably faster than my SS amps. All the 'pace-rhythm-timing' and such that audiophiles gush about and music lovers seek is there in spades. I've heard this before, but was surprised to hear it coming from these diminutive and relatively inexpensive amps in my living room.
The most distinctive thing about these amps is their ability to get dynamic shading right. What I mean is that such subtle differences in loudness from individual instruments, or even notes or chords from a single instrument, are produced so accurately that a tremendous amount of depth of soundstage is recreated. I'm talking pinpoint localization of instruments in three dimensions. This combined with the above mentioned qualities results in some of the most transparent, realistic sound I've ever heard coming from my speakers. My ss amps were good, but these Decware amps really help create that spooky, walls-vanishing sensation that you've been transported into the venue of the performance. Even my reference system can't do this as well. (For example, my music loving girlfriend likens my reference system to wearing headphones, where she describes the Decware powered system in the living room is like being there.)
I tried the Decware's with other speakers I have, just for shits and giggles. They were not up to the task of driving my M&K's used in my near-field reference system, even as monoblocks. 5 watts into 84db efficient speakers just doesn't work for real life use. I would not recommend the Decware's unless your speakers are very, very efficient, as in 96db/watt or higher, unless you get two as I did; even with two, I would not recommend using them with speakers less than 92db/w/m rating. Limited power is the Decware's only, and I mean only, weakness...something to keep in mind if you are considering one of these.
Another thing I noticed which some may find fascinating. I don't feel that the Def Tech's do as good a job regarding timbral accuracy as my M&K's. Strings and brass in particular are exceedingly 'real' sounding on the M&K's, for example, distinctly if only slightly better than the Def Techs. Once driven with the Decware's, the Def Tech's performance on all instruments improved to such a degree that these deficiencies compared to the M&K's seemed to vanish. The difference is still there, but the rest of the sound is so much more vibrant and lifelike that it seems to compensate to a great degree. Both systems rock, but I am spending far more time listening to the Decware system, and enjoying the crap out of it. It really brought out what a difference the amplifier can make in a system.
So, whoever started this thread, I would heartily recommend the Decware amps, most certainly worthy of a try if you are looking into inexpensive tube amps, if your speakers are efficient enough. Decware = high happy/dollar ratio, true high-end sound, great value.
