The WA33 cost me $500+ to ship from NewYork to Seattle but mostly because the seller insisted on insuring it.
if I sell mine that’s local sale only for sure lol
So this is a little bit of a bad faith question, and i am going to word it purposely goofy. But how many BHCs would it take to hit the same level as a Decware? Or to word it better, how much more technically are you getting out of say a csp3 over a BHC+SB. Is this 1 to 2 steps up or is it a totally new staircase?
Same. Very excited here. Only a little worried that this is a “designed by” situation and not 100% a decware. And what i mean by that is that if this is a very complex design, and the production is outsourced/contracted… Sometimes those things dont mix. But i also think both Dec and ZMF wouldnt go forward with a sub par partner.
Gosh i hope the new chassis comes in some sweet woods
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EL34s also tend to be better suited for big power applications.
Yes but some of the A&S amps can use them in headphone apps as well as others.
My Mono blocks use 8 a piece, they were the output tube of the late 80’s early 90’s until efficient speakers and DHT’s started gaining tube amp market share.
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So it looks a Taboo MKIV will be heading my way afterall.
I am going to message decware and see the price of warranty transfer + their new tube policy. I would also be willing to look at a chassis swap for one of the wood ones and if there are other upgrades i may be interested in.
I am halfway between making aure everything is transfered right and just getting the darn thing and listening.
I was looking forward to the ZMF OTL but this just may be better. I finally have an amp that should be good for the Audeze plus other headphones, while the OTL likely would of been more specific. It also does some speaker stuff that im not sure the ZMF would have and its a built-by-dec decware, less worries about the factory being used for the zmf collab (though i am sure itll be more than up to snuff).
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Same guy or different seller? Just curious…. Congratulations otherwise!
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Same guy. He asked if he could have my email in case he decided to sell again. We spoke a little and he asked for a phone call. It was a nice 15 minute chat, he was a very pleasant guy. I feel like he had more to say but didnt want to take up my time, (which he wasnt) and i would of chatted more myself but I didnt want to be rude either.
In the end we made a deal i am happy with and i think he is happy with as well. He showed me the invoice and tbh he got a smoking deal new. Before any price increase and he got 10% off since he went to “DecFest” the year before.
@NickMimi I am not sure how much you speak to him but he seems very humble just waiting for an opening to toss out his audio knowledge.
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Got things swapped out and running. A little surprised but only put in an hour or so. Can confirm way better for the lcd-2.2pf than the rnhp.
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I’ve got my 
glued to this thread to find out how u like it. The decware stuff seems great and beautiful.
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So first hour impressions: hmmm not overly impressed but not let down either.
I plugged it all in, got it cooking, took a shower as everything played, and got to it about 45 minutes after. All tubes are stock except the rectifier which is a Tungsol Chatham JAN. Some people weep over the stock tubes but i am usually not a fan of russian tubes and i think a tube (and cable) swap would help immensely.
I also am going at this with my least used headphone, the lcd-2.2pf I purchased from @don a while back. Not unused because i dont like it, but because all my other amps really didnt do it service. So I am learning both the amp and headphone. I know, smart on my part.
And yes i do recognize much of this may be the headphone and not the amp.
Lumin U1 Mini → Mojo v2xa → Decware Taboo IV → Audeze LCD-2.2pf w/ them OG suede pads
Quick impressions:
First off the switches are backwards from anything logical. Down is on, up is off. High z switch down, low z up. Same with lucid mode.
Hmm it is darker than i thought it would be, less sparkle. Not overly tubey, though expected as its not the bhc. It feels very intimate at the moment.
Good liquidity without being overly smooth and loosing other details. Not a detail monster though. Timbre i can say with 90% confidence is a bit whacky but is on the 2.2 and not the amp.
There was a really good growl to mids. Bass seemed solid just not overly in your face.
Lucid mode (crossover knob) adds some thickness but i keep it on minimum. With it off there is better seperation but things sound thin. Better tubes probably help that.
I thought on my past equipment recordings mattered. But i think on here it matters more. Older but good recordings (TOOL, APC) sound a bit more lo-fi or rough, new recordings are way better. Maybe the early digital recordings are a little rougher than modern ones? 20+ years of recording progress etc etc. I am living of the 2.2’s stock cable for now which also doesnt boost anything.
But i for sure need more time with this one.
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I saw what you had plugged into it and said to myself “the boy’s going to have to raise his cable game”.
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The worst part is i dont think ill be getting freebie hand me downs at this level. There are a few things here that should be addressed to judge things correctly.
Headphones: this is a choice to go with the 2.2 to see true steps to the 24, atrium, hd800s
headphone Cables: i am limited on xlr cables, just stock options.
Interconnects: once again nothing high end here
Tubes: always tubes
I do have the lumin and mojo that are very much ok the level and ready to deliver. The above post also seems very negative but there were the flashes of brilliance in there where the above things should be addressed before any major judgement is made.
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I think the thing at this point that surprises and kind of disappointed is things like redbook cd flac rips of the 90s and early 00s rock just dont sound great at the moment. But once again this is 1 hour in.
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A lot of good 80s CDs were shitty recordings and I didn’t know until I went back to them after ripping. Some (a lot) have been justifiably remastered and done justice in re-releases or anniversary albums. Blame the source, not the gear.
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I swapped out the RCAs from the AQ cooperheads to the BJC LC-1s. To be honest i should of done this before first listen as i did buy the blue jeans to use as a baseline to base things off of.
I also swapped in am amperex bugle boy 6dj8. Everything else is the same.
Much much better. Some of the best overdriven guitar tones ive heard. So much power behind them. It does tend to take the spotlight. I would like vocals to be a little more forward, but small steps in the right direction for sure.
Very coherent and unified sound. I would like to hear a bit more consistent speration of pieces, as right now it is a little more recording dependant. And to be honest the smaller width isnt helping, but i believe that is a prefazor trait.
Jury still out on the lucid mode crossover stuff.
Last thing i find odd. I need to keep the volume at halfway or higher for good listening levels. I dont know if that is odd for this amp, or ive been spoiled by a bhc pushing hd6xx at barely a quarter of the knob.
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It’s playing well with the Atrium. Its compensating well for the ZMF’s over smoothed nature. There is more chime and a more solid leading edge.
Staging still feels smaller than i expected. Reviews didnt boast about a huge stage but it seems smaller than i thought it would be. Once again mostly with the width.
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BJ are probably a good reference. I never did any comparisons when I used them (my home made version of them I should say) as part of the analog chain. The Belden cable they use is the standard studio grade coax and it has excellent shielding. The Cannare connectors are crimped so no soldering either.
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The Canare connectors also satisfyingly pop onto the rca jack.
It could be the overall gain/output of the tubes you have in there now, if you swap them out do you notice any volume range differences? It also could just be the design of the pot.
Also does moving to hi or lo change volume range for you ?
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