sound stage / tranparency / tonal balance with out coloration/ it just play the music / price

typical SET power / It should be bigger to sound this good

The Zen SE84C has turned my listening habbits around 180 degrees. I had an old MC60 Macintosh amp years ago. When all the SS amps were comming out with lots of power I switched to SS. I guess over the years the SS didn't do anything for me and I just stopped listening to music. I looked around listened to all I could. I even went to the VSAC show in Washington in '99. I thought the prices were outrageous. Then after lurking on the Decware forums for awhile I decided to give there amp a go. They give you a 30 day money back guarantee. What have I got to loose. When I got the amp all I could say is gee this is cute. But the sound I heard from it was amazing. It was just the music nothing else. Then I started hearing a soundstage that is second to anything I had ever heard. The imaging from this little guy is pinpoint acurite. But problem, it just didn't play as loud as I was used to listening to. Next step Decware Radial speakers. That got me closer to where I wanted to be. But still not enough, but I loved this little amp so much, for the price why not just buy another. I did and that is all I needed. But I find now, the amp has so much detail at any volume, that I'm listening at much lower levels than before. With SS amp I used to listen just passively, now I listen at least an hour every night seriously and passionately. This is the best sounding amp I have ever heard. A few freinds after hearing mine bought one as well and there glad they did. Don't let the price fool you this is a serious piece of audio eqpt. At the Decware forum under Steve Deckerts picture it says, "If the first watt sucks why continue". Now that just says it all!

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yamaha/sonic frontiers/integra/macintosh

Detail, clarity, lack of harshness, eminently listenable, no ear fatigue, and incredibly musical where you lose yourself in the music.....(literally)

bass could be better, but it''s an SET

Unbelieveable clarity and transparency. Great bass for an SET amp. Not in the same league ,as far as the extreme low end is concerned, as some of the finer SS amps, but the clarity and detail in the midrange and high frequencies is amazing!. No edginess or brightness. Not colored like some tube amps. It will blow you away. I listen to Jazz, chamber music, and rock, and I have discovered a higher state of sound reproduction with these amps. The Classe and Moon amps I have auditioned do not even come close. I also have the mono blocks and they sound even better.

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Classe, Proceed, ADA, Bel Canto Evo ( very disappointing), conrad johnson

Very cost-effective, self-biasing, incredible 3D soundstage, accurate and detailed, versitile, mono-bridge capability, no pre-amp needed, flexibility in tube replacement, lifetime warranty to original owner

Not very pretty, but who cares

This review refers to the 2002 model SE84C ZEN. This is a Pure Class A single ended triode stereo amplifier which is wired point to point in a symetrical layout and has only 11 solder points between the input and output jacks. The ZEN handles low impedance loads down to 1 ohm with speakers that have a 90 db or above efficency rating. This hand-built amp uses a special output tube called the SV83 (can be substituted w/o mods with EL84/6BQ5 - which makes it flexible) and uses the 6N1P or 6DJ8/6922 input tube as well as a 5Y3GT rectifier tube. ZEN is self-biasing and actually has a dual bias switch to provide different sound signatures, depending on one''s personal liking. The rear of the amp has gold & teflon input jacks and the top includes the 3 way top mounted binding posts for speaker cables. The power supply is oversized which makes for extremely tight bass with significant extension. After some initial hours of play the amp opens up, creating a detailed and realistic sound stage. To my personal surprise the ZEN provided more detail than the Sunfire Amp I''ve used since 1996 (the Sunfire is a powerful and accurate amp which costs well over $2000). Ideally suited for classical jazz, blues and chamber music, the ZEN nonetheless performs well with rock, Indie and alternative music at above moderate levels. It is the most musical amp I have listened to in this rather moderate price range. Frankly, compared to the likes of the Jadis Defy 7 it is a far greater return for the money. Don''t be fooled though - the ZEN is indeed capable of reference quality. A few tweeks, like a factory upgrade to Select will further enhance this little wonder. In thirty years of buying and tweeking audio components I have never come across a better value on a new product. If you like simplicity and the softness of tubes take a close look at this amp. Equipment used: Zen Model SE-84C Triode Amp Reference Line Preeminence One Line Stage AMC CD8b CD Player Klipsch Reference RP3 Speakers Vans Evers Model 80 Line Conditioner Transparent MusicLink Plus Interconnects MIT Terminator 3 Speaker Cable Lovan Audio Stand Reference CDs Chesky''s Audiophile Test Disc Vol 3 Staccato by Audio Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions Leo Kottke - One Guitar No Vocals Rusted Root - When I Woke Shaham and Sollscher - Paganini For Two

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Jolida, Golden Tube, Jadis,

startlingly involving presentation. airy and transparent, definitely draws you into the room especially with vocals and other acoustic instruments.

easy to overdrive, especially with tube preamps. luckily you can also use a cd player directly connected. if your player has over 2 volts output the amp will clip on peaks on all but the most sensitive speakers.

I tried the amp on a pair of morel floorstanding two-ways (transmission line design) and they clipped too frequently, however within their limits they were pure-sounding.
I now have them set up in my small bedroom on a pair of mordaunt-short bookshelf speakers. The sound is extraordinary, extremely airy and see-through, and the imaging is amazing despite a less than ideal setup (CD player directly between speakers). I believe a previous reviewer's claim that they sound good on cheap speakers too.

Definitely not for headbangers. HOWEVER, I played the chemical brothers and the sound was a lot of fun, if not very loud.

This amp grows on you, and for $500 it's not much of a risk. You can even build one from a kit if you have some experience with this type of thing.

Remember: louder is not better!

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none

1. Single ended triode
2. Relatively inexpensive to retube and maintain
3. High definition with great soundstage
4. Very clear signal path with no colouration
5. Self biasing and switch for different soundstage
6. No need for a preamp

1. It's not cosmetically appealing
2. Requires high efficiency speakers

Unlike many, I am not an Audiophile. I'm just a other Joe who likes good sound. As with most reviews here, they are long and technical. So if you want the technical side of why the Zen sounds so good, read other reviews.

I will be very honest. The Zen is a simple, no-fat amplifier. For less than $500 the Zen will TROUNCE most amplifiers 10X its price range.

Absolutely magical

Power

Decware Model SE84B Stereo Triode Amp Ser. no. 270

For real info, goto www.decware.com. Great site with tons of info.

This amp is simply amazing. It just makes music and I really don't understand it. The Zen is just Sweet to listen to and always leaves me entranced in the music rather than just hearing the sounds.

For the records though, the bass is incredible and the mids and highs just perfect. I expected to sacrifice bass extension and detail in upper regions for great midrange. As a pleasant surprise to me, it has everything. At least above 40Hz. My speakers are the limit there.

The only drawback seems to be the lack of power. I have a great pair of Borealis speakers from NCMS (http://www.northcreekmusic.com/index.html ) using Scan-Speak drivers. They are rated at 85.5dB. I expected the Zen to sound great on these only at reduced volume. I was wrong. Low sensitivity is to be avoided. The Zen sounded better by an order of magnitude on a lowly pair of Bose 301. Sorry, but I had to try everything. I'm now using an embarrassingly cheap pair of Sharp speakers, but they are better than the 301s. I am searching for speakers but I am confused as to which direction to go. The Zen has this amazing ability to make the cheapest speakers sing. I was previously under the impression speakers were the heart of the system. This little tube amp changed all of that.

If you have, or are willing to acquire sensitive speakers, and want to simply enjoy the music without a concern for specs. then the Zen Triode Amp is worthy of much consideration.

Great Job Steve!

Clarity, sound stage, makes music sound real, price, shall I go on?

none to my ears

I was using Threshold SS 100wpc pure class A mono blocks, Passion passive amp and Meredian speakers, along with Wadia CD transport and DA converter. I accidentally stumbled onto the Decware site and initially the price gripped me, and then I read the reviews, one after the other, then ALL the messages in the Decware forum, wrote to a few people on there and I was sold already, I ordered the Select version and Devon at Decware was like wonder woman, very helpful.

I got the amp and plugged it in immediately, (mine is the 220V version hense the higher price), as soon as the music started I knew I had made the right choice, I could not believe the clarity, the depth, I could not believe I was hearing the same old CDs, and the amp was right out of the box! Imagine what it will be like 6 to 8 months down the road....

My speakers were not efficient enough so I built the Voigt Pipes and installed Radio Shack 1354 drivers and again a whole new world opened up. You NEED efficient speakers for sure. My original speaker wires were too short to reach the speakers so I looked around the house and found some cheap old thin copper speaker wires, and decided to give it a try, man the music was a beautiful as ever. I am lucky to have a good transport and DA converter and the sound has never been better.

Best of all hear this.... My $5,000 Thresholds and my $775 passive pre-amp are collecting dust!!! beaten by this little black kick-in-the-ass $725 amp, and you know what? I am soon gonna order a 2nd one to bridge it.

I am living in the Middle East and I ordered this amp without even listening to it, i don't have money to loose and this was a small risk I had to take, and now I just can't let go of this Jewel in my system.

Don't think JUST DO IT!!! Talk to Steve.

I am giving it 6 stars if it is allowed here.

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First tube amp

3D imaging, accuracy of timbre

only high-efficiency speakers (95 dB +) will allow it to "sing"

review subject: Decware Zen SE84 revision "B" no. 293

I purchased my Zen used from Decware after reading many reviews and a conversation with Steve Deckert, the amp's designer. The amp has only a handfull of watts, so the 88 dB efficient speakers I had used with my 120 w/ch SS amp quickly showed their limitations. Ditto for my 90 dB mini-monitors. The amp would clip before reaching suitable listening levels while playing dynamic music (rock, reggae). While playing bluegrass and other accoustic music this was not the case.

So, the search was on for high-efficiency speakers that would not break the bank. After researching "Pi" speakers, the HammerDynamics Super12 and the DIY Afterburner project on the SingleDriver web site, I assembled an Eminence Alpha12 woofer, a 1.6k crossover and a horn tweeter (with an L-PAD) in an old set of 2 cu. ft. cabinets. The system has an efficiency of about 96-97 dB, and when combined with an inexpensive subwoofer I finally had full-range! (Most other options for achieving high-efficiency full-range without a sub are rather pricey, although I have read very good things about Ed Schilling's Horn.)

Now I finally started to hear what all the fuss was about. I am hearing detail, soundstaging and 3D imaging unlike anything my 120 w/ch arc welder was capable of. Accoustic bass in jazz ensembles sounds phenomenal. The slightly rolled off highs this tube amp produces takes the "edge" off of the digital source I use. The timbre of horns, jazz guitar, and percussion instruments are lifelike. Female vocals are stunning. Hendrix's guitar used to sound harsh and compressed on my SS amp. Not so with these tubes.

Excellect job Mr. Deckert, you've created a tube amp for the masses. If you can find efficient speakers, I highly recommend this amp.

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Many

About 6mo. ago I decided to improve my system. I currently had sony receiver and cd player, with JBL LX600 speakers, all close to 10yrs. old. When bought, thought sounded pretty good. I started shopping around and listening to "better" systems and found a set up I really liked. One problem, it was going to cost over 8,000 dollars! More than I had wanted to spend, but would've done piece by piece because I wanted to enjoy music again. Started exploring the net and found Decware High Fidelity Engineering. After talking with Steve Deckert and reading LOTS of reviews, I decided to try using his amp with my current system. That is th ONLY thing I changed in my system! I spent 500 dollars (which I could have gotten back if I didn't like amp!). Now I have COMPLETELY different sound. I've "saved" 7,500 dollars and the only short coming I can see is my system doesn't play as loud as 8'000 dollars, but(and this is really important to me) I can hear things in my same cd's that I've NEVER heard before! One of my favorite cd's I've had for 12 years and with Zen I heard some backround instruments I've never heard before! My music is clearer, more lively, more engrossing and engaging than I ever thought possible without spending an arm and a leg. To sum up, if your looking to enjoy music again, give this amp a try! What can you lose? 30 day money back guarantee!

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Detail, smoothness, and transparecy

Some might say it doesn't play loud enough but I like loud music it sounds pretty darn loud to me.

Hi,

I could not believe my ears when I heard this amp. It is fantastic! This is my first tube amp so I cannot compare it to other tubes but I can compare it to the Creek 4330 and Musical Design D150B/SP2B combo. It is superior to both by far. The level of detail and transparency is magical, almost scary. At only a few watts a channel I was initially concerned that it wouldn't play loud enough on my Reynaud Twin 90 db speakers. Well, they play plenty loud. My Mahavishnu Orchestra bootlegs were very happy.

Also, the customer service at High Fidelity Engineering(Decware) is second to none. They kept me updated on my order and answered all of my questions quickly.

I am thoughly pleased with my new amp. I will be a Decware customer for a long time. Check them out at www.decware.com


Pete

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Musical Design D150B/SP2B, Creek 4330, Yamaha recievers