Fingers crossed. You do realize the Decware gear has no remote, right?
Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread
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kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
The KingKo also has no remote, it’s not a big deal. Also the Torii is a power amp, so I’ll probably have to pick up a Schiit Saga+, which has a remote.
I have not heard an EL34 amp!
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
Decware makes its own source input switchbox, which can include a motorized remote volume. That is what I have.
The Decware Zen Switchbox model ZSB
Hi Quality Silver Input Selector for Audiophiles
www.decware.com
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
I would probably need a preamp anyway - the Torii Jr has a 2V input sensitivity, and my Sutherland is putting out about 500mV.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
And either way, neither Big Ear nor the Decware seller have responded yet, so I’m in limbo at the moment.
Jango
Active Member
I didn’t notice that spec. I’d love a Decware amp but needing a preamp as well is something I hadn’t considered.
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
You don't necessarily need a preamp; all Decware amps come with a volume control IIRC. However, my ZMA (with relatively inefficient LS3/5As) would only put out about 75 dBs until I added a gain stage, which gooses things considerably.
DECWARE all tube gain stage / purist preamp model ZSTAGE
Manufacturer of the famous Zen Triode Amplifiers and Loudspeakers / Factory direct sales / Lifetime warranty
www.decware.com
I think part of the equation is that Steve Deckert designs his amps to match perfectly with his super-efficient, full-range driver speakers. I love my Chartwells and bought them before my Decware stuff, but of course I am always curious how everything would sound if I took out the gain stage and ran straight into a pair of Decware speakers.
DECWARE Loudspeakers
High Efficiency Loudspeakers / Factory Direct Sales / Tube Friendly
www.decware.com
dansomeone
Well-Known Member
This raises a question I didn't know I had.
I am considering buying a Decware SE84UFO amp. Its specs show "Input voltage: 1.5 volts for full output" Is this the "input sensitivity" to which you are referring?
I have a MoFi UltraPhono phono stage, for which I can't locate any output voltage numbers. How do I go about determining whether my phono stage is an appropriate pairing for the low-watt Decware amp?
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
I would probably contact MoFi and ask for the output voltage. Steve at Decware is also really good about answering questions via email, but sometimes it takes a few days to get a response.
Jango
Active Member
I have the same phono as @kvetcha, so I’d probably need to do something about that, if I do go the Decware route. I’d likely need to do something about my Focal Chorus 826s as well, which are pretty efficient (91.5db) but impedance drops to 2.9-4ohms in the area of 118Hz. No bass for me!
Maybe I’ll build myself a pair of full range speakers to replace them...
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
The output voltage of your phono stage is very simple as long as you know the output of your cartridge and the gain of your stage - calculator here.I have the same phono as @kvetcha, so I’d probably need to do something about that, if I do go the Decware route. I’d likely need to do something about my Focal Chorus 826s as well, which are pretty efficient (91.5db) but impedance drops to 2.9-4ohms in the area of 118Hz. No bass for me!
Maybe I’ll build myself a pair of full range speakers to replace them...
My issue is that I am using a low-output cart (0.40mV) at the Sutherland's highest gain setting (64db), so I don't have any means of bumping the output further without a preamp.
Now, my speakers will quite happily run at very low power levels, so it may not be an issue at all. I'll just have to do a little reading.
Having a dedicated preamp for ease of switching inputs and volume control is going to be no bad thing either way.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
Agreed, it just tilts the expense calculation a bit. Especially since in order to transfer the Decware lifetime warranty I would have to pay 10% of the unit cost ($250) plus buy a fresh set of tubes to have them recertify it Good as New.
Jango
Active Member
The Torii Jr has two inputs with switches on the top of the unit. They should be easy to reach as long as this unit is proudly displayed in @kvetcha’s set up.
Jango
Active Member
Need to buy new tubes as well to recertify? Yeesh.
I know. But looking at the decware stuff the lack of a remote and the type and situation of their switches would lead me to always want to run it as a power amp with a separate pre unless budget prevented it.
Also with the tori II Jr. Two volume controls, one for each channel and two hidden (they’re behind all the tubes and transformers) source switches would 100% want me to have the levels of each channel and the source set up perfectly initially and then let a preamp handle volume control and source selection!
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
Indeed. If you are running more than one source, a switchbox at the very least is essential. Of course, my amp only has one input. I actually only run two (phono and DAC), so if I had a Torii Jr. I probably would have just skipped the switchbox. The remote volume is very nice, of course.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
Their tube prices are pretty reasonable, it's not NOS or anything. But I believe they look over the whole unit, install matched tubes, manually re-bias, and then 'certify' the unit as new, and thus transfer the lifetime warranty.
That said, it looks like you can have this recertification process done whenever, so it can probably wait.
I think what I will probably do is pick up a Schiit SYS passive source switch (which also has a volume control). It's $49 and does the job. Once I have a better idea of how the Decware drives my speakers, I can determine whether I need to buy a proper preamplifier - whether or not I require extra gain will determine how much that will end up costing me.
9 new tubes! Ouch!