Decware Appreciation Thread (MT review up on first page 2-10-12)

Hey everyone I checked and couldn't find a dedicated thread for an appreciation of the Decware amps so I thought I would make one.  Would love to hear from all of you guys who own these amps, as it may help others who have a hard time finding out stuff about them and how good they are with headphones and speakers :)

I just recieved the mini torii today and have not be able to stop listening to it for the past few hours, I am truly amazed by the unit and thats with stock tubes lol.

I will give it a few weeks and post a review of the mini torii---ava vision dac---LCD-2 rev1.

Have a great evening everyone!

Tink97

All comments below are my opinions and I understand others may have different thoughts and that is all good.  its about the music and everyone hears differently :)

The Decware Mini Torii (MT for short) is a wonderful amp that I plan to keep in my collection for longer than any other of my amps.  I have gone thru so many I lost count in the last 3 years or so.  I will try to attempt to give a little review of what I think but please understand I am very bad at describing things.

I have let this unit burn in for a week and a half and was so excited that I could not wait any longer for the reivew so here it is lol...I figure if its this good now it will just get better like a fine wine :)

These are my impressions with stock tubes that came with the MT....ok here goes.....:)

Setup I am using

     iPure20 (lossless songs)----AVA Vision Dac-----Mini Torii (stock tubes)---LCD-2 rev1 (Q cable)

Begin of Review.....

     First off I will go and say that I do not find the MT to be the typical syrup tube sound.  It is a tad warm sounding but I find this to be very musical without losing details.  For me it adds just enough of warmth that it sucks you in like a vacuum cleaner lol.  I believe that the MT does a wonderful job of staying true to whatever the recording has to offer whether it be a bad recording or a good one.   Below I will break the review into parts for ease of reading :)

Dynamics, Soundstage described below....

     This amp has got the dynamics on all sides of the table IMO.  I have heard some amps with a relaxed presentation and others with in upfront and in your face.  IMO the MT is  a chameleon of sorts in this department.  I believe depending on how the songs are recorded the MT will either be in your face with punches that would make Muhammad Ali jealous or can be like a warm blanket that cuddles you on a cold night ....LOL not sure how else to describe it. Either way the dynamics are just wonderful!

     The MT  produces a great soundstage with amazing instrument separation and I can clearly hear where instruments are being played from. I found that the separate volume controls for left and right is very nice to find that sweet spot for the headphones.  To be honest at first i found this feature annoying but then once I got used to it I love it!  Its amazingly fun for me to listen to a song and being able to point in the air where the piano is playing from or the drums to the singer lol.

The bass, mids and treble described below....

     The treble is very clean and detailed sounding and with cymbals on songs I can just hear a wonderful decay that to me makes it all worth it :).  The treble is not harsh even with my cd quality songs (which is about 98% lol)  The tone knob is nice and I do use it on some songs in my collection by toning down the treble on bad records and it makes these songs enjoyable to listen to. 

     The mids have that magic to them and just sucks you into the music and wont let you go...lol.  Alot of my songs I use it feels like the singer is right in front of me and on a few other songs it feels like I am a few rows back.  I believe it depends on the way the song was record.  Either way I get lost in the music and to me thats what its about :)  Hurrah for the MT mids!!!!

     The bass goes deep in my book and is very tight without blurring bass notes on songs.  On songs with a jazz upright bass, the bass sounds just so real that I am still amazed by it.  There is also wonderful "Punch" in the bass that just makes you want more (when called for in the music)...again Hurrah!!!! lol

Conclusion

The Mini Torii is an amazing amp that just seems to do everything I have been looking for right.  It has great dynamics that let you "feel" the music which to me is whats its about.  It has a wonderful soundstage  for the LCd-2 rev1.  The sound spectrum is spot on in my book and the music just sounds "real"  its almost like being there in person.  The fact that this is also a speaker amp to me makes it just all the more amazing as someday I plan to buy the Decware Trapezium speakers.  

I can't wait to be tube rolling as I am excited to hear differences but even with stock tubes I am very happy.  heh i just like to tube roll :)

Thats all folks, I hope you have enjoyed the review and as stated above these are all just my opinions of what I hear.  Remember its all about enjoying the music :)

Hey WarriorAnt,  I had ordered my unit back around the end of sept.  So in all from order to arrival of package it took about 3.5 months and I have to be honest I was not sure about if this unit was worth the wait, but after last night of listening to music though thoughts have left the building :)...its a keeper:)

Here is the little beauty, I am actually using it with my Breeze bookshelf speakers from Vapor audio.....and yes those are Ikea chairs as my speaker stands :)

 It surprised me that this little thing had enough power to play decent out of the speakers as they are not that senstive.  I really wonder how good the Torri is lol.

Its mainly will be used for headphones at the time being but someday I will get a pair of decware speakers or omega speakers I think :)

I want to let the unit burn in for a bit before I really sit down to try to attempt to give a good reivew :)