[songmic]

  Hey Guys. I tried LCDX and TH900 and finally chosen the TH900.
I really like the new TH900 with the 3 ohm output on the new Zana Deux Super.

 
Very nice setup. To be honest I'm no longer a fan of electrostatic sound, but it's always nice to see an Orpheus come by. It was actually the very first electrostatic sound I've ever heard, at an audio exhibition several years ago. You can see the delight on my face on my profile pic.
 
I see you also own a Sonic Frontiers gear. My last DAC was a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 MKII SE+, which was one of the finest DAC's I've ever heard (surpasses the current MSB Analog DAC and even the legendary Spectral SDR-2000 IMO). You sir have some fine tastes.
 
I strongly recommend you try out the HD650 or HD800 on your ZDS. You might like it better than your TH900, and possibly the Orpheus. Regardless of price, I would take a ZDS and HD650/800 over an Orpheus for daily listening.

 

[TomNC]

@Afghan Vet
 
It sounds like the ZDS is a good complementary tube amp for you. Now get it!

 

[Afghan Vet]

  @Afghan Vet
 
It sounds like the ZDS is a good complementary tube amp for you. Now get it!

Yep! The Zana Deux SE was at the top of my list for a long time after some PMs with Songmic - 2 years ago And reading his post above....... made me have some second guessing types of thoughts........but I could just add it to the AURALiC stuff, and you could bring the HD800's over and plug in any time you want  

 

[songmic]

 

  @Afghan Vet
 
It sounds like the ZDS is a good complementary tube amp for you. Now get it!

Yep! The Zana Deux SE was at the top of my list for a long time after some PMs with Songmic - 2 years ago And reading his post above....... made me have some second guessing types of thoughts........but I could just add it to the AURALiC stuff, and you could bring the HD800's over and plug in any time you want  

 
I'll let you know of my findings with the ZDS. Although I won't have my old ZDSE side by side for direct A/B comparison, I still remember its sound signature well and how it performed with the likes of TH900 and HD800. Maybe I could have lived with the ZDSE had my HD800 been modded, but in its stock form the ZDSE was still sibilant sounding with the HD800. I'm looking forward to how much the Super version improved over the SE. If it's really better than the Black Widow (which is already much better than ZDSE), then it must be good.

 

[TomNC]

Looking forward to your findings. It seems promising.

 

[doyouknowSBmean]

   
Very nice setup. To be honest I'm no longer a fan of electrostatic sound, but it's always nice to see an Orpheus come by. It was actually the very first electrostatic sound I've ever heard, at an audio exhibition several years ago. You can see the delight on my face on my profile pic.
 
I see you also own a Sonic Frontiers gear. My last DAC was a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 MKII SE+, which was one of the finest DAC's I've ever heard (surpasses the current MSB Analog DAC and even the legendary Spectral SDR-2000 IMO). You sir have some fine tastes.
 
I strongly recommend you try out the HD650 or HD800 on your ZDS. You might like it better than your TH900, and possibly the Orpheus. Regardless of price, I would take a ZDS and HD650/800 over an Orpheus for daily listening.

Thanks. Orpheus is just a collection of mine but no match for some systems such as Omega+T2 in terms of sound quality. Though I don't like the signature of HD650(kind of bass excessive and dark)  I will try HD800 out later. Actually I owned a HD800 with a EC4-45 last year which was lean and lack of some meat to my ear. I am not sure if I will prefer Zana Deux to 4-45 with 800s.

 

[atomicbob]

Maybe I'm going deaf, or maybe my ZDSE is different somehow from others, but I have never experienced any sibilant issues with an HD800 and ZDSE. However I am selecting between Mullard NOS, Sylvania NOS (1952) and Sophia Electric 6SL7. Feeding with a choice of Ygg, Gungnir MB and Auralic Vega. Of the three, I spend most of the time with the GuMB selected. I have heard a ZD Super and just didn't hear enough of a difference, for the mostly jazz music to which I listen, to be worth selling the ZDSE and buying a ZDS. Just another point of auditory experience.

 

[vc1187]

  Maybe I'm going deaf, or maybe my ZDSE is different somehow from others, but I have never experienced any sibilant issues with an HD800 and ZDSE. However I am selecting between Mullard NOS, Sylvania NOS (1952) and Sophia Electric 6SL7. Feeding with a choice of Ygg, Gungnir MB and Auralic Vega. Of the three, I spend most of the time with the GuMB selected. I have heard a ZD Super and just didn't hear enough of a difference, for the mostly jazz music to which I listen, to be worth selling the ZDSE and buying a ZDS. Just another point of auditory experience.

It might be based on how sensitive each individual's ears are to treble.  Personally, I don't find the ZD to introduce sibilance, but I do feel like there's a bit of a bite to it from time to time.  In other words, the ZD doesn't smooth out the treble to make it more pleasing to listen to but really just presents it as it is.
 
I feed my ZD (Non SE) with the NAD M51 and drive it with the Sophia Electric 6SL7.  I also didn't like the HD800 with it, but it wasn't due to sibilance.  I felt that while it sounded very very grand, it was a bit thin sounding.  Lacked body and bass.  
 
Much different story with the HD650 though

 

 

[Barra]

 
Maybe I'm going deaf, or maybe my ZDSE is different somehow from others, but I have never experienced any sibilant issues with an HD800 and ZDSE. However I am selecting between Mullard NOS, Sylvania NOS (1952) and Sophia Electric 6SL7. Feeding with a choice of Ygg, Gungnir MB and Auralic Vega. Of the three, I spend most of the time with the GuMB selected. I have heard a ZD Super and just didn't hear enough of a difference, for the mostly jazz music to which I listen, to be worth selling the ZDSE and buying a ZDS. Just another point of auditory experience.

It might be based on how sensitive each individual's ears are to treble.  Personally, I don't find the ZD to introduce sibilance, but I do feel like there's a bit of a bite to it from time to time.  In other words, the ZD doesn't smooth out the treble to make it more pleasing to listen to but really just presents it as it is.

I feed my ZD (Non SE) with the NAD M51 and drive it with the Sophia Electric 6SL7.  I also didn't like the HD800 with it, but it wasn't due to sibilance.  I felt that while it sounded very very grand, it was a bit thin sounding.  Lacked body and bass.  

Much different story with the HD650 though  

I'm with bob on this one, no sibilance and no real bite on the old ZD from memory. Again from memory, I felt the new ZD had a more pronounced leading edge which you may be refering to as the bite where I felt it was more resolution. However, in my limited experience, my favorite hd800 pairing is the ZD, new or old, giving it the much needed emotion and richness. For the most part I haven't cared for the hd800 on numerous very high end setups including the ygg/Rok stack that I just heard again at RMAF. But the ZD brings out the hd800's A game.

 

[vc1187]

I'm with bob on this one, no sibilance and no real bite on the old ZD from memory. Again from memory, I felt the new ZD had a more pronounced leading edge which you may be refering to as the bite where I felt it was more resolution. However, in my limited experience, my favorite hd800 pairing is the ZD, new or old, giving it the much needed emotion and richness. For the most part I haven't cared for the hd800 on numerous very high end setups including the ygg/Rok stack that I just heard again at RMAF. But the ZD brings out the hd800's A game.

As I stated previously, it's likely due to differences in treble sensitivity.  To preface this, I can say that my ears can detect the same treble signature when the HD650 is being paired with the ZD, albeit to a much lesser extent.  So I'd probably categorize myself as very sensitive to treble.
 
I can pinpoint it as the Amp and not the source that is generating this extra bite from the treble, because I cannot detect it when I pair with the BH Crack + Speedball.  I have unit 84 from the original ZD run (non SE, non Super), so maybe old components vary much from the newer models.  It could be that I've been using stock cables with both pairs of headphones, but if I need to change the cable when pairing with one amp and not the other, then it's still the amp that is imparting its signature.
 
Not bashing the ZD in any way, just stating it as I hear it.  That being said, the ZD works wonders as a pre-amp for me and I find 0 flaws when it functions as so.  The extra variables (such as distance from ears, room acoustics, etc.) probably contribute to the reason the signature differs from headphones to speakers for me.

 

[songmic]

Yes, to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding, I should point out that the development of ZD Super was based on the original ZD, not the ZDSE. I haven't heard the original ZD but I know many people prefer it to ZDSE for high-impedance Senns. The ZDSE was developed to provide a lower impedance output to drive headphones like TH900 (the ZDSE should be better than ZD in this regard), but apparently the sound was also changed for better or worse.
 
From what people have said, apparently the original ZD has a more relaxed, less-fatiguing treble presentation than the ZDSE. If I hadn't been using the TH900 back then, maybe I would've picked up a used ZD over a ZDSE had I the opportunity. The ZD Super supposedly inherits this important quality of ZD while improving on clarity/resolution over both ZD and ZDSE. While being able to select low output impedance, it would still work best with a high output impedance, the Senns being an ideal match for it.
 
I am one of those who are quite sensitive to treble. That's why the HD800 has eluded me for years. Hopefully the ZDS remedies this in a way that the ZDSE coudn't.

 

[ericfarrell85]

Can anyone recommend a 6SL7 that leans more to the side of lush and smooth (even at the expense of some upper-frequency extension). For some time now I have been using a Mullard ECC35 (ultimate HD650 pairing) and a Sophia Electric, when the inclination for more powerful bass is upon me. As most of us know, DAC swaps can upset system synergy and unfortunately the AD2000 shines a little bright in my current setup. The magic is still there: speed, fluidity and midrange-accentuated euphony -- but now it slaps with an piercing, strident upper-end. This may be only with the Mullard and Brimar (the worst), so I'll throw in the Sophia next, but I would like a few recommendations.
 
Recently, I found myself utterly flabbergasted with the RCA grey glass VT-231 via an ECBA. I was previously using the Sophia 6sl7 and it's utterly non-competitive; the HD800 just has a lust for that warm and lush vintage character. The bloom, which I ordinarily avoid, is remarkably well placed here. I'm looking for a similar outcome via a 6sl7.
 
*Original Zana, so no 3 ohm lower impedance output here. 

 

[RAZRr1275]

Hey,
 
I'm starting to look at a ZD and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Beyeredynamic T1s or pre fazor LCD-2.2s with it? How did you find the pairing?
 
Also in term of dacs I"m looking at the Yggy and Gumby but it seems like that may not be the best choice since the Schiit gear supposedly sounds better with the balanced outs and the EC only uses single ended ins. Would it be fine to just use the Schiit gear single ended or are there other recommendations for a sub 2400 dac that would offer similar performance and pair well with the ZD?
 
Thanks

 

[Mr.Sneis]

  Hey,
 
I'm starting to look at a ZD and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Beyeredynamic T1s or pre fazor LCD-2.2s with it? How did you find the pairing?
 
Also in term of dacs I"m looking at the Yggy and Gumby but it seems like that may not be the best choice since the Schiit gear supposedly sounds better with the balanced outs and the EC only uses single ended ins. Would it be fine to just use the Schiit gear single ended or are there other recommendations for a sub 2400 dac that would offer similar performance and pair well with the ZD?
 
Thanks

 
I did not care for the LCD-2 + ZD pairing; but then again I also do not like the T1 period so maybe our preferences differ.
 
For DACs, i you are ordering a new ZD you can ask Craig about getting balanced ins for physical connectivity.  I personally have not found XLR connections to be of significant difference over RCA in sonics but have never heard the yggy or gumby.

 

[atomicbob]

Ygg and GuMB work fine with SE into the ZD. I have both and an Auralic Vega into my ZDSE. The selector knob spends most of my ZDSE recreational listening time on the GuMB.