Decware - any substance here?


With such a nice and extensively detailed website, I've long been curious about Decware. But with little in the way of genuine reviews, and not much in the way of discussion here, I always wonder if they are nothing more than that, a great website. They clearly have a dedicated fanbase, but my problem with the fanbase is this: most of them (not all of course) seem to have limited experience with products besides Decware, as if they stumbled upon Decware and never bothered with other brands. Maybe this is positive, that once experienced they don't have the typical audiophile itch to try other amps. I'm specifically struck by the new Torii MKIII push-pull amp, which in description and looks is just beautiful. So does it interest anyone here? Has anyone actually heard it, or it's previous incarnations? If so how does it rate amongst the other quality tube amps, whether Blue Circle, Cary, Vac, Almarro, Atma-Sphere, etc...?
128x128jtnicolosi
I have only owned Solid State amps that cost a bit more than the Torii MK III and the Bob Latino ST-120 KT-88 tube amp. I really liked ST-120 but my Torii blows everything away that I have tried. It is the most musical amp I have ever owned. I never believed in “break in” until the Torii. After about 300 hours the amp was probably 25% better. It actually became more dynamic. I will probably never want another amp.
Now that I have had my Torii MKIII for nearly two months, I am ready to make an educated comparison with my other amps.
My Bottlehead 300B Paramounts are a great bargain, and a great way to experience 300B goodness on a budget. They give
world-class clarity using EH Gold tubes, and with my Clarity
speaker cables they have serious 8 watts each indeed...

Then I have my PrimaLuna Prologue 5 stereo amp, Gold Lion KT88s, no NFB, 36wpc. This amp is very clean and powerful into my 96dB Tannoy Canterbury SEs, very smooth and involving, also very cost-effective and reliable. It gives a very good account of the music, and not bad space...

My Torii MK III exhibits very high power with excellent clarity and it increases the level of detail, with no hifi artifacts at all, just the music.

I hope my economic world doesn't collapse so I don't have to sell any of them, but the Torii is really special!
I'm strongly considering the Torii MK III, but I'm in a delicate situation.

I'm pursuing a system that maximizes involvement and vocals (a romantic sound, basically), and though I don't have anything against accuracy/detail/dynamics/bass, I'll sacrifice them without a second thought if it gets me more of those two traits.

So, would the Torii be for me? It seems most people are espousing the traits like detail/bass/dynamics that I do not care about, whereas I've heard worrying things about involvement and vocals. In regards to involvement, I've heard from one person this errs more towards an intellectual presentation than an emotional one. Not that the Torii isn't emotional, but if I'm searching for the most emotional/involving amp possible, would I be directed towards the Torii? I also haven't heard much about the vocals, which to me I guess means they're good but not a standout, I'd suppose?

It's a sticky issue for me whether or not to audition, mostly because I can't. I'm sitting on Cary 805C monoblocks that I just purchased, and I'm trying to figure out whether I made the wrong decision and I should just get the Torii. I don't have a pre-amp, so I'll have to buy one, and after that I just don't have the money to float to get a Torii.
The Torii by itself is not a romantic sounding amp and probably errs a bit towards the analytical. I found to flesh out emotion and involvement an excellent preamplifier was in order. I used an Audion pre when I had my Torii--a nice pairing.

Note: The Torii is hard to made to a preamp.
Hygienist, I am a vocal junkie. The Torri is incredible with vocals, both male and female. The kind that gives you goosebumps. I do not use a preamp but rather my Anedio D2 dac direct. It makes for incredible transparancy and yet at the same time the most intimate presentation I have heard. I ended up going back to the stock JJ's 6AC7 but rolled with different rectifiers (Svetlana 1957 5c3s/5u4g  Rectifiers - texture kings) and 61NP-EV input tubes (a bit of warmth and seduction). These input tubes and rectifiers contribute to the vocal quality you are after. When tube rolling for male vocals I use the Johnny Cash American albums and anything by Mark Lanegan/Isabel Campbell, Morphine, Tom Waits ballards, and Houndog, for female vocals, Lhasa and Isabel Campbell. I am in heaven. With this combo and my Zu Superfly's the vocals are startling in there immediacy, texture and emotion. Source is critical for the Torii to really shine.