Decware - any substance here?

I'm new here, only because the Decware site is pretty quiet these days, so I started looking around and found Audiogon.

I just had to voice my opinion. I own two Decware amps at the moment, Steve's new DAC and the CSP2 pre-amp. Plus two pairs of his speakers. I have no desire to go looking for anything else. They just plain satisfy. I lusted for years over the high priced gear out there, until I realized they just plain looked better than they sounded.

I first meet Steve at a VASC show in the Seattle area in 2001, after seeing all the rest of the gear at that show, I made my first Decware purchase, and haven't looked back. I've been to his Zenfest a few years and it is simple, laid back, and a lot of fun. I have plans to attend this years fest in just a few weeks.

What I like the most is, you can get Steve Deckert on the phone and talk to the man that built your amp, thats something you can't do with the big boys.

I built the Decware single ended amp kit (EL84s, ~ $350). I also built an Elekit SE kit (~$600) that uses 6L6s and a scratch build 2A3 single ended amp (~$800).
The quality pretty much goes exactly as the cost goes, in my system to my ears. I will say that all sounded very good though. Keep in mind that the Decware kit's sound may be compromised compared with a factory built unit (PCB vs. point to point, etc.).
That's pretty much my experience with Decware and with low power SE amps.

The OP made the point that he felt many Decware owners don't have a lot of experience with other equipment so it's hard to get a good read on where the Decware stuff falls. Aside from 1 or 2 posters, in this thread it seems that this may be the case.

Hi.....
my name is Frank and Steve Deckert is imho one the most talented engineers
I have come across....let me explain why....although just reading his excellent
white papers are a must to understand his philosophy.
I am in my 60's have been involved in music since the late 50's.....
my living room is currently modwright transporter, emerald physic's CS2's
the pre amp is a pre production Decware statement piece feeding a quad
of Eastern Electric M156 monoblocks. I have not found a better preamp
regardless of price....but I also love my low output systems...
Steve's new Torii mk2 is fed directly by his new dac into either silverline 17.5's or Omega super hemps....Superb sound..........however my current favorite
involves his mini Torii fed by apogee firewire (battery) into hornshoppe horns
with infinity ceramic sub and a mac pro outputting 24/196...just spectacular..
they are just as quiet as my RWA 30.2's and Isabella which are also superb.
my bottom line is Decware is some of the best you can buy regardless of price......I have many more systems as I have bought many things on audiogon which I find have some of music most knowledgeable fans.

regards ;-)f

sorry I forgot to list other equipment I owned....dynaco,ampzilla,mark levinson,
krell..wright, cary, bryston....all eastern electric products....other decware
there is more especially if I go into spkrs...it's been many years....
regards,,,;-)f

Hi, someone tipped me off about this thread, I've read it, and the concern is valid. Most audiophiles that have spent real money on main stream components aren't going to seriously consider a $2500 Decware amplifier when their cables cost more than that... perhaps it would just be too embarrassing, I don't know.

This is not a real problem for me, because I'm interested in fidelity not fraternity.

On the other hand, In their defense, many audiophiles don't realize that we're comparing gear that is being retailed (advertising costs, reps, distributors, retailer mark ups) against gear that is sold factory direct with no overhead at 1/3rd the cost.

Any of our amplifiers could be repackaged as audio jewelry and retailed at five figures and sonically hold their own in that league.

I would invite anyone reading this thread who owns any of the excellent high dollar main stream gear to attend our Audio Fest on October 1st, 2nd & 3rd and then report back to this thread your honest opinions on what you hear, for better or worse. Many attendees will bring their amps with them to compare side by side. When the entire room picks one amp over another it's pretty definitive.

info on the fest:
(http://www.decware.com/newsite/zenfest2010.html)

Respectfully,

Steve Deckert / DECWARE High Fidelity Engineering Co.