Decware and SET Low Power Tube Amps with Hi Efficency Speakers


Good morning folks,
In my never ending search for a new concept in music involving and primarily focused on "tube" sound I came across Decware.
So does anyone have either experience or an opinion on the products and especially the sound. Speakers I am considering among others but most likely to be Tekton Designs, Lores or possibly Pendragons.
Without digressing into a myriad of other conversations what does the forum think?

eag618

Showing 2 responses by seikosha

With the low powered high efficiency approach, it's all about synergy.  I have a Decware Zen that sounds fabulous with my single driver Omegas.  Up until I bought some Quicksilver Horn Mono's, it bested everything I threw at it including a custom made 2A3 amp.  There was a post just the other day on another forum comparing the Zen amp to the Coincident Dynamo and the owner preferred the little Zen.

With some Zu speakers though, my results are different.  The Zus don't really respond well to the Quicksilvers and sound better with the Decware however, I have to say, overall, the Zus just seem to sound better with solid state which is a big surprise as my Omegas definitely respond more favorably to tubes.

I guess what I'm saying is to make sure you can hear the combination that you plan on putting together and don't just assume that it will sound good.  Also, don't forget that room size and listening volume preferences play a huge role in this approach as well.

Good Luck
I tried both my little Zen and Mini Torii amps on my little Harbeth P3ESR’s. While the Zen actually drove them better than the Mini Torii did, both sounded exactly like Larry described. Not something that I think anyone would want to live with. As I mentioned before, you really want to be careful with the speakers that you match these up with and don't assume that they will work with every speaker no matter what the specs are.