[BournePerfect]

Quote:

I have never really embraced the concept of tube rolling. Generally I found when I liked the amplifier I liked the sound despite the selection of tubes. Either this or sheer laziness on my part, as I have near 200 tubes that I've acquired in packaged deals and would be surprised if I heard more than 20 of them. The Zana Deux recently has turned this whole conception of tube subtlety on its head. I took out my Mullard ECC35 and plugged in a Brimar a couple of months ago. Forgetting this fact I found myself tinkering with the Zana repeatedly in that period of time. Interconnect swaps, DAC swaps, power cord swaps, and wondering throughout where the harmonious sounds of my favorite component disappeared to. The AD2000 with the Zana, one of my favorite pairings in all hifi-dom, became unabashedly forward and fatiguing. The HD800, with Zana in the role of preamp to a Beta 22, was full of grain, lacking air and for the first time took on an upper-frequency harshness. A couple of days ago I reinserted the Mullard and the harmony returned. The unmistakeable smoothness, linear, fluid transients and wonderful, slightly accented mid-range returned. The AD2000 returned to all its former glory as a fierce, feral ruffian with a touch of refinement. The HD800 is again impeccably clean and effortless.

In the grand scheme of things I'm sure the differences are actually on the subtle side, rather than of the florid night and day descriptors used above, but in the audio world, after a point, those subtle differences can create a wall between the listener and his/her perception of synergism. The Brimar, a tube most people like, pushed aside the unity of a system that I loved and replaced it with something slightly foreign, but unmistakably dissatisfying to these ears. It is a relief that it was only the tube and not the DAC, which I suspected at one point. If the PWD didn't play well with the Zana than the PWD would be the one to go. Thankfully it's only the Brimar that needs to be shipped off.

I always hated the idea of tube rolling-the main reason I stuck with the ZDSE was having just 1 tube to roll, and didn't even wanna try the S7 because I didn't wanna go down that road. I do agree that the ZDSE makes it easy to hear tube changes-and I was never a huge fan of the Brimar I had, but it was pretty neutral if nothing else. I've also recently discovered the difference powercords seem to make-much to my surprise.
 
-Daniel

 

[ericfarrell85]

Yeah I also came to that conclusion. I have found power cords offer more impactful differences than interconnects. And a good power conditioner can provide some nice advantages also, which in my particular case (lousy NYC power during peak times) was eye-opening. The Zana is a bit of a different case, with its separate power supply, I haven't really noticed much of a difference between power cords. I use a Wireworld Aurora on the Zana and my preferred pc's on the components I feel need it the most. I found the Shunyata Venom 3 to be a fantastic pc that punches above its price point, particularly on DAC's.

 

[BournePerfect]

Yes I didn't notice much improvement with the ZDSE either-due in large part to it's four chokes. I've been using Decware power cords for years now, and recently swapped them out for different 3rd party cords on my Mjolnir and (earlier) my old Bifrost. I was pretty surprised that the Decwares were clearer, more transparent, and possibly more dynamic. The other was warmer at the cost of transparency and sounded somewhat muted in direct comparisons. I also agree that I haven't had as much success rolling ICs-but I haven't really done much of that anyway-I'm gonna wait til my other ducks are all in a row first. I intend on trying a PS Power Plant as well down the line.
 
-Daniel

 

[SleepyOne]

How about the umbilical power cord, any experiment there? 

 

[BournePerfect]

Never tried that-but I've seen a few people rave about the Stefan art one-including the guy selling his BA on the FS forums right now. I intend on getting one for the Leviathan to test if it's compatible.
 
-Daniel

 

[SleepyOne]

Thanks Daniel. I would love to see whether there are DIYers out there making their own umbilical and compare it to Stefan who has monopoly at present & nothing to compete with.  

 

[songmic]

Quote:

Never tried that-but I've seen a few people rave about the Stefan art one-including the guy selling his BA on the FS forums right now. I intend on getting one for the Leviathan to test if it's compatible.
 
-Daniel

The difference isn't night-and-day, but I did notice a subtle improvement in clarity and warmth (I know, two somewhat opposing traits) with the Stefan umbilical cord. It definitely made more improvement than swapping the stock fuse with HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuse, but not as much as rolling the NOS Mullard ECC35 tube.
 
Speaking of warmth, before I attempt the Anax mod 2.0, I'm going to try one more thing: Moon Audio's Black Dragon V2 cable. Several people reported that this aftermarket cable (which is recommended by Drew as the best cable "for the HD800", even better than Silver Dragon V3 which is more expensive) really tames the HD800's sharp treble while adding more warmth and bass quantity with an overall fuller sound. If I hear the description only, this really sounds like the ideal cable for the HD800, which is sibilant, somewhat bright and thin, and lacks bass quantity (not quality) in its stock form. I've had good results with Drew's Silver Dragon V1 IEM cable for my JH13 Pro, so I anticipate it will sound better than the Japanese cable I have right now.

 

[ericfarrell85]

Never tried that-but I've seen a few people rave about the Stefan art one-including the guy selling his BA on the FS forums right now. I intend on getting one for the Leviathan to test if it's compatible.

-Daniel

I'm also going to spring for a Levi once I get more concrete information and recover from the SR009 and Aurilac Vega/Metrum Hex (?) wallet massacre. Have you placed your down payment alteady? I haven't seen any updates on the Levi in a couple of weeks. Anything new happening? Any ETA?

 

[ericfarrell85]

The difference isn't night-and-day, but I did notice a subtle improvement in clarity and warmth (I know, two somewhat opposing traits) with the Stefan umbilical cord. It definitely made more improvement than swapping the stock fuse with HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuse, but not as much as rolling the NOS Mullard ECC35 tube.

Speaking of warmth, before I attempt the Anax mod 2.0, I'm going to try one more thing: Moon Audio's Black Dragon V2 cable. Several people reported that this aftermarket cable (which is recommended by Drew as the best cable "for the HD800", even better than Silver Dragon V3 which is more expensive) really tames the HD800's sharp treble while adding more warmth and bass quantity with an overall fuller sound. If I hear the description only, this really sounds like the ideal cable for the HD800, which is sibilant, somewhat bright and thin, and lacks bass quantity (not quality) in its stock form. I've had good results with Drew's Silver Dragon V1 IEM cable for my JH13 Pro, so I anticipate it will sound better than the Japanese cable I have right now.

I have the Black Dragon and don't find it does very much to the treble, though it does succeed it giving it a slight bass boost and smoothness, but subtle overall. I'm having a DHC Molecule SE made now so I'll be able to compare the two (mostly from memory as the Beta I have coming in is balanced only). But, don't expect a very drastic difference with the Black Dragon.

 

[BournePerfect]

Eric-were you on the build list? Pretty sure the list is closed, and 5 of us have already paid for our Tangos. Craig will be wanting the first deposit right around the corner it seems.
 
-Daniel

 

[ericfarrell85]

No unfortunately I was not. I only discovered the list a couple of weeks ago. Is the 2A3x4 minus the Tangos not going to be public? Congrats, by the way - I'm sure the amp will be something to behold.

 

[BournePerfect]

Yes the 2A3 is public-email Craig about that-he just doesn't have it on the site yet. I'm not sure if the initial 10 are sold out yet. The Levi differences are the Tangos, glow tubes, etc...
 
-Daniel

 

[SleepyOne]

Quote:

The difference isn't night-and-day, but I did notice a subtle improvement in clarity and warmth (I know, two somewhat opposing traits) with the Stefan umbilical cord. It definitely made more improvement than swapping the stock fuse with HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuse, but not as much as rolling the NOS Mullard ECC35 tube.
 

 
Thank you! Due to close space I found my umbilical sensitive because it can interfere with the output transformers or get interfered by nearby power cables.. As for the fuse, I found my Synergistic Research fuse give a bit more bass (but without losing detail etc) and certainly prefer it than without. As for ECC35, love to try it but very expensive lol! I quite like my 6C8G mind you.
 
Looking forward to reviews of the tango 4 x 2A3 amps!!

 

[songmic]

Guys, what do you think is the very best headphone to be paired with the ZDSE, if you were to pick just one?
 
The ZDSE, with its L/H switch, is known to be versatile with both low and high impedance headphones, although it doesn't fare so well with orthodynamic headphones. Of all the headphones in the market, which one headphone do you think will produce the best results with the ZDSE?

 

[BournePerfect]

Easily the HD800-but you already knew my opinion. I think that the TH900 may actually mate 'better' than the HD800-but I still preferred the sound of the HD800/ZDSE by a country mile. Also-I didn't think the AD2000 (say your other post) paired as well as people make it out to. I loved that headphone to death-but preferred it quite a bit on a nice ss amp personally.
 
-Daniel