[orkney]

^^^
 
Many thanks for the detailed reply, Clayton. I've now heard from Craig and I think this is what may have happened. I'll play around with the umbilical and see if I can get it working.
 
thanks!
 
o

 

[caracara08]

 i have a used ZD SE on the way! very excited.... i was wondering if more people had a chance to try the ZD with the T1.  i know the ZD is magic with the hd800 (from reading this thread) but theres less about the t1.  some say it was great somem say it wasnt that good... etc.  any insight would be great!
 
im planning on using the stock tubes for a while even though i purchased the amp with a ton of great tubes.  

 

[dallan]

toss the stock tubes!

 at least the driver tube.

 

[caracara08]

Quote:

toss the stock tubes!

 at least the driver tube.

yea i just went with the tubes the last owner used.   sounds absolutely wonderful.

 

[caracara08]

anyone driving low ohm headphones with he zdse since it has the imp switch.. just curious how it does. 

 

[marcelo61]

hi,all happy zd owners.i own the #61 myself,after playing with all the tubes ,start thinking change the internal hookup wire with the mundorf silver gold wire.may be also a new pot(like TKD 2011 or dact ct2)?
have anybody done it or about to ?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think the low impedance switch changes it from about 12 Ohms to 5 Ohms. IIRC, it slightly increases negative feedback (it uses a little) to get a lower output impedance. Not really necessary for higher impedance headphones (AKG 62 Ohms and higher) but ought to tighten up the bass on a pair of Grados and others with low impedance. Not entirely sure, but that's what it ought to do. Mine is an older version without the switch.

As for modding the Zana, why? Do you hear something wrong with it?

I can't think of another one that's been modded - everyone seems happy with it. If you want to mod for the sake of modding, why not build a DIY amp? You can put whatever you want inside. Modding a Zana would be like mixing stuff into a fine bottle of Veuve Cliquot. It might taste different, but you'll be missing the point.

I strongly believe that a great circuit with good parts will outperform a bad to modest circuit with boutique parts. You can measure the difference, actually. The Zana has one of the best circuits ever for headphones. The paets are good and construction is excellent. There's not much point to digging around inside unless you're going to replace a bad cap or something. I also take a dim view of boutique wiring. Solid core copper with Teflon insulation is the best available - easy to work with and a misplaced iron won't melt the insulation. Anything else is fantasy.

 

[marcelo61]

thank you uncle erik for your reply ,nothing is wrong with the amp.just wonder with zana's great circuits plus better parts,is there room to improve ?
may be i just spend too much time with it,is time to listen the other amps 

 

[Karo]

I have considered experimenting with a mod'd vampire copper-to-copper rca female jack (both in and out,  2 came loose).  Craig claims it's hard to screw up,  and he explained how to open the Zana.
 
It's something I had been wondering about too,  potential mods.  Last year Craig put me in touch w/ an early Zana owner who had done one, but it was really about a part on the earlier models that began to sound bad. So as Uncle E says,  there is no need.  The mods are external.  I'm also not interested in a different pot. Not sure if my sensitivity has increased or the unit's .... but it's stunning.  In fact, I finally got a big amount of distortion while turning it !
 
 
I realize you guys are not heavily into the vibration thing, but I had a major breakthrough with my transport yesterday.  It was so simple, you probably won't believe it.  I've also been enjoying a-lot of good music w my new fm receiver.  But it's really about getting down with some exotic recordings and doing it right.  Go Eddie GO.
 
Always thinking about you guys.
 
 

 

[Clayton SF]

Swapped the Tung-Sol VT-229 grey glass, black plates for the Ken Rad clear glass, nickle plates. Nice definition and air with classical piano music. Listz: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2; Totentanz.
 

 

[Mr.Sneis]

OK.  WHAT is going on in the fs/ft forum?  I swear there's a bunch of Zana Deux' for sale in there and the prices have gone from $1600 to about $1300 now.  Am I missing something?

 

[El_Doug]

you tend to get a lot of gear for sale this time of year, right before the holiday shopping season.  people clear their inventories to generate some cash for gift purchases. 
 
I'd imagine that when many people do this, the supply goes up, and the sellers respond by lowering their asking prices in order to hasten a sale.  If I were in the market for a dynamic amp, I'd consider this my lucky day
 
Quote:

OK.  WHAT is going on in the fs/ft forum?  I swear there's a bunch of Zana Deux' for sale in there and the prices have gone from $1600 to about $1300 now.  Am I missing something?

 

 

[Uncle Erik]

The one for $1,300 is an absolute steal.

I almost bought it to use in a second system.

Then I reminded myself that I have way, way too many DIY parts around and that someone else deserves an amazing deal.

 

[Elysian]

If the Zana Deux was closer to the Balancing Act than the Super 7 in terms of signature, I would have bought one of those Zana Deuxes already.  I can't believe they haven't been snapped up yet.

 

[oatmeal769]

I'm one of those sellers, I used to post here all the time.  Financial troubles - that's the only reason, and yeah, I guess I wanna get home for the holidays.  
I know I can get another one some day - or perhaps a B.A.  I think I'll be negotiable on the price, I listed 1,650 because I have some really nice tubes which are included, but I can remove those from the sale and sell separately I suppose.