[songmic]

Quote:

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

 
I was told that while ZDSE is a decent pairing with the HD800, and that it is the warmest/most euphonic sounding amp of the EC line-up, at the same it is also has the sharpest treble response of them all (which is ironic). Maybe that's why I continue to hear some sibilance with my ZDSE/HD800, although your experience says otherwise. I've contacted Drew for a Black Dragon cable, and if that still doesn't smoothen out the treble harshness, the Anax mod 3.0 should be my last resort. Mike told me that Anax mod 3.0 will be released before the end of this year, and that he could offer a commercial version of it for uneasy DYI'ers like me later. Other than the persistent treble issue, I find ZDSE to be an ideal pairing with the HD800.
 
I wonder, how would a Sony MDR-R10 would fare with the ZDSE? Spec-wise, the ZDSE at low gain setting should be able to drive it well, but I would it really? Not that I can afford a R10 at this time of course, let alone find someone willing to part with his, but I have a hunch that the ZDSE/R10 would be the ultimate end-game of a non-electrostatic tube setup. R10 is easily the best dynamic transducer headphone ever made, and because of its low-impedance high-efficiency specs, top-tier amps designed for high-impedance cans or power-hungry orthos may be overkill. Why am I even writing this?
 
Could you also describe AD2000, and why you loved it to death?

 

[dallan]

Athough the 800 pairs nicely, the original amp came out when the HD650 was king and that is a wonderful backup to the 800's.  It is cheaper now and the Zana Deux really opens it up.  I use them at times still and am amazed at the synergy. 
 
Edit-my 800s have thick occ copper cabling and when i go back to the silver plated stock cable, although the detail comes up, it is so thin and shrill that i can only take it for short periods.

 

[rated1975]

I was told that while ZDSE is a decent pairing with the HD800, and that it is the warmest/most euphonic sounding amp of the EC line-up, at the same it is also has the sharpest treble response of them all (which is ironic). Maybe that's why I continue to hear some sibilance with my ZDSE/HD800, although your experience says otherwise.

Have you tried tube rolling as another option?

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

I wonder, how would a Sony MDR-R10 would fare with the ZDSE? Spec-wise, the ZDSE at low gain setting should be able to drive it well, but I would it really? Not that I can afford a R10 at this time of course, let alone find someone willing to part with his, but I have a hunch that the ZDSE/R10 would be the ultimate end-game of a non-electrostatic tube setup. R10 is easily the best dynamic transducer headphone ever made, and because of its low-impedance high-efficiency specs, top-tier amps designed for high-impedance cans or power-hungry orthos may be overkill. Why am I even writing this?

 
Have tried the MDR-R10 with my ZD (non-SE) and it actually paired quite well. It made my TH-900 sound like a toy. There was just so much more finesse with the MDR-R10 in the sound. I thought some of us may have have made a comment about the MDR-R10/ZD pairing in the following thread but I can't seem to find the post :-

http://www.head-fi.org/t/667446/tokyo-june-8-mini-meet-impressions
 
I actually didn't care much for the LCD-3 with the ZD. In fact I preferred the Mad Dogs 3.2 over the LCD-3 with this amp.

 

[songmic]

Quote:

 
Have tried the MDR-R10 with my ZD (non-SE) and it actually paired quite well. It made my TH-900 sound like a toy. There was just so much more finesse with the MDR-R10 in the sound. I thought some of us may have have made a comment about the MDR-R10/ZD pairing in the following thread but I can't seem to find the post :-

http://www.head-fi.org/t/667446/tokyo-june-8-mini-meet-impressions
 
I actually didn't care much for the LCD-3 with the ZD. In fact I preferred the Mad Dogs 3.2 over the LCD-3 with this amp.

 
Me too, I didn't like my LCD-3 with ZDSE either so I use a Soloist instead. I use my ZDSE for TH900 and HD800 at low and high gain setting, respectively.

 

[BournePerfect]

Well, technically there is hardly a bigger mismatch than an OTL with an ortho.
 
-Daniel

 

[songmic]

Quote:

Well, technically there is hardly a bigger mismatch than an OTL with an ortho.
 
-Daniel

 
What about Mr. Speaker's Mad Dog (or the upcoming Alpha Dog)? They are planar magnetic headphones too, strictly speaking, but everyone seems to love them. Not a good match for ZDSE either?

 

[BournePerfect]

Never heard them-not sure how power hungry the TP50 is either, sorry.
 
-Daniel

 

[ericfarrell85]

Looking for folks more technically evolved than myself for advice. I just purchased a 4 channel beta, but unfortunately both the outputs and inputs are solely XLR. As much as I enjoyed the ZD with the HD800, I wanted additional body, more heft so to speak. The 3 channel Beta that I currently own was also very good with the HD800 but I the decrease in depth and image specificity was missing. So naturally the solution was to combine the two, using the Zana as preamp. To this day this combination is the best I've heard the HD800. With the fully balanced Beta coming in to town I wondered if a simple RCA > XLR adaptor was all that was required to pair the Zana as preamp, but then I read a little more. An enlightened post on a different forum suggested this:

"If your "balanced amp" is "fully balanced," meaning that its internal signal path is entirely balanced, and both its red and black speaker terminals are actively driven (as opposed to the black terminal being grounded internally), an rca-to-xlr adapter or adapter cable is not a suitable solution. It would probably result in 75% of the amplifier's power capability becoming unavailable, because only one side of the balanced signal path would be driven with a signal".

Is anyone familiar with a solution to this problem? I really don't have any use for a Beta outside of the HD800 and certainly I don't have a use for a 2nd Beta. The plan, of course, was to sell the 3 Channel, but that doesn't look like an answer atm. Perhaps I ought to sell both and pick up an GSX

Regards,

Eric

 

[cradon]

You mean both beta's? I say get the GSX-MK2.

 

[Pudu]

this is the next amp i will buy. someday soon

You'll be super pleased with it DGirl. The Zana-HD800 makes a terrific partner to a WA2-T1 setup.

 

[kazsud]

How does the Zana fair as a pre-amp? I currently have the Emotiva Airmotiv 6s and I love how they sound connected to my Dac-100.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

You'll be super pleased with it DGirl. The Zana-HD800 makes a terrific partner to a WA2-T1 setup.

I talked to snapple10 about the used zana she has up for sale, i think im gonna buy it, shes gonna let me try it out first, so ill see how it compares to wa2.

Cause the hd 800/wa2 was good, but nothing amazing until i got the GeC 6AS7 tubes, then the combo sounded insanely good, like the wa2 sounded like an amp that would easily cost double the price. So ill see how the zana compares to a wa2 with maxed out tubes

 

[Pudu]

For me it's apples and oranges ... but very very delicious apples and oranges.

That said, I haven't had a chance to roll anything new into the zana.

 

[BournePerfect]

DG-get a good tube ready-the stock tung sol driver is crap.
 
-Daniel