[daigo]

  He's getting the EC 2a3 itch I think...
 
-Daniel

That's quite a bit of scratch for that itch.  

 

[atomicbob]

The ZDSE continues to deliver extraordinary experiences. Listening to Charles Mingus Ah, Um - Fred Plaut recording engineer. All the instruments sound so real, so palpable. As stated before the sense of space, 3D realism. I have listened to many good rigs, but the ZDSE is very special.

 

[ValentinHogea]

   
Out of curiosity, may I ask why you are selling it? Are you upgrading to a better amp?

Hey mate,
 
I bought an updated 2A3, so it's more of a side-grade than uprade.
 
I want to start experimenting with high efficiency speakers.'
 
All the best,
V

 

[songmic]

  Hey mate,
 
I bought an updated 2A3, so it's more of a side-grade than uprade.
 
I want to start experimenting with high efficiency speakers.'
 
All the best,
V

 
Cool, did you get a 2A3 MKII or MKIV?

 

[Pustik]

Hello,
 
Wanted to write this for a long time now. I'll do my best to express myself.
 
Bought my ZDSE from a fellow headfier. Stock tubes. Coming from 6-Channel B22 ZDSE seemed to me as a minor improvement. Very straight forward, warm sound, lacking engagement, true representation of music with HD 800. As a time went by I got used to the sound and now the more I think about it the more I think it's the headphones that I needed to adjust to. Bass is perfect for me, sometimes I wish there was less of it and there are times when I turn the volume up to get more of it. It happens rarely, so I can say I'm very happy with bass. Everything about this setup is perfect except for the music engagement, I felt like it was dry, not fun, boring etc... Till one day, I read about H and L mode on this forum. I thought that you are only able to drive HD 800 in H mode. After reading experiences of several people with L mode I decided to give it a try. WOW makes dramatic difference, I finally feel the energy, the sound goes unlike laser like but more like water in a river if that makes sense. I don't have the right words to describe it, perhaps you could say that now sound is much more fragile and light rather than thick and heavy. Of course the knob needs to be turned to 7-9th dot instead of 5-6 where it was with H mode. With that said when watching movies I have to switch to H mode to get sound to adequate hearing level. For music it's always in L mode. I should thank you guys for that discovery, I probably would never switch it myself maybe out of curiosity but that would take years.
 
Meanwhile I was reading about tube rolling, so you might have guessed I pulled trigger on the driver tube to be exact Mullard ECC35. I should receive it in a week or so. Regardless of whether it will improve my experience or not I am very happy with my current setup.
 
My Setup:
 
Sennheiser HD 800 w/ Stock Cable
EC ZDSE w/ Stock Tubes
PWD MK2
Zu Audio RCA Interconnects

 

[BournePerfect]

Glad you found the settings that work for you! That said, I ran my HD800s on H 99% of the time w/out issue, and never really felt the desire to try the low z output. I also like your 'fragile and light' and 'water in a river' descriptors. Very apt. I always pictured a silk spiderweb line hovering over a clean mountain stream, glistening with a fresh drop of dew on it. No I'm not joking, nor practicing my Srjaen-prose. Dang I miss my ZDSE...
 
-Daniel

 

[m2man]

Stock tubes, ewwww.

My Mullard lacks much bass, but it should be a lot better than stock. The Sophia Electric works nicely with the HD-800. A little soft but nice FR. Easy to find since you can get them new (and there aren't 100 variants).

 

[Pustik]

Stock tubes, ewwww.

My Mullard lacks much bass, but it should be a lot better than stock. The Sophia Electric works nicely with the HD-800. A little soft but nice FR. Easy to find since you can get them new (and there aren't 100 variants).

Hmm if stock sound so good I wonder what would happen if I change them all? From what I read the biggest difference comes from changing the driver tube. The rest have minor impact on the sound, am I right?

 

[Pustik]

  Glad you found the settings that work for you! That said, I ran my HD800s on H 99% of the time w/out issue, and never really felt the desire to try the low z output. I also like your 'fragile and light' and 'water in a river' descriptors. Very apt. I always pictured a silk spiderweb line hovering over a clean mountain stream, glistening with a fresh drop of dew on it. No I'm not joking, nor practicing my Srjaen-prose. Dang I miss my ZDSE...
 
-Daniel

Thanks Daniel, but have you tried listening to your HD 800 in L mode?

 

[BournePerfect]

That's just it-I only tried it a couple of times, and w/out really being critical. Sounded the same to me in my brief experience. Keep in mind my impressions in H mode mirror almost everything you said improved for you using L mode. Makes me wonder if possibly somethings wrong w/ your unit or possibly a level matched thing? Give Craig a call sometime.
 
IIRC the low z is roughly 2.8 ohms while the high z out is 12 ohms. Shouldn't make much of a difference with the Senns imo...
 
-Daniel

 

[Pustik]

  That's just it-I only tried it a couple of times, and w/out really being critical. Sounded the same to me in my brief experience. Keep in mind my impressions in H mode mirror almost everything you said improved for you using L mode. Makes me wonder if possibly somethings wrong w/ your unit or possibly a level matched thing? Give Craig a call sometime.
 
IIRC the low z is roughly 2.8 ohms while the high z out is 12 ohms. Shouldn't make much of a difference with the Senns imo...
 
-Daniel

For some reason Craig hasn't responded to me since our last chat before new year. I think he might be on a vacation. I'll try again on Monday. We all have different hearing capabilities that may very well be why I hear the difference and you don't. The difference is quiet noticeable, in L mode music is very much alive, unchained, pushy, etc... I'm happy with my ZDSE so even if there is something wrong I would prefer to leave it untouched.
 
Btw were you using stock tubes with your ZDSE?

 

[BournePerfect]

I only used the stock driver for burn in purposes. I thought it sounded pretty  pathetic after rolling a few different tubes. My favorite was a modern Sophia Electric. I left the power and rectifier tubes as stock, and never rolled those.
 
-Daniel

 

[atomicbob]

Thanks to m2man I have been enjoying several aspects of my ZDSE. Being local, he loaned me a PWD and several driver tubes for some interesting listening sessions.

First, Craig should receive a commendation for his input selector. When two DAC sources are level matched and sample synchronized, the input selection transition between them is seamless. No pops, clicks or any other annoying sounds to detract from A/B comparisons.

I have been comparing the V800 to the PWD. When the Sophia 6SL7 was in place, it was hard to perceive any difference. Sophia acts as a "goodifier" making everything passing through it sound great, at the expense of a slight loss in detailed accuracy. A Sylvania JAN CHS 6SL7WGT gave that little extra detailed accuracy which improved audibility of the differences between the two DACs.

I continue to be amazed at the dimensionality, soundstage, air and sense of space the ZDSE gives to top flight headphones. Also comparing HD800, T1, T90 and HE-500. This is going to be a long experiment. Often I find myself getting lost in the music and forgetting to concentrate on the sonic differences of the cans. They are all excellent, with the one exception that the weight of the HE-500 does produce some fatigue in the neck in a long listening session. -AB

 

[Lejonkungen]

I bought Valentins ZDSE so it stays in Sweden and looking forward to compare it with listening to loudspeakers.

 

[ValentinHogea]

  I bought Valentins ZDSE so it stays in Sweden and looking forward to compare it with listening to loudspeakers.

Great Michael!