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My ZDT arrived this Friday and I posted much of this elsewhere. It was suggested in the Balancing Act thread that I take the ZDT to it's own thread, so here I am. I plan to post many more impressions in post #1 as I spend time with the ZDT.
STAX via 8-watt speaker outputs and transformer sound great: I have finally tried it tonight with my Stax SRD-7 Mk2 SB pro-bias and normal bias transformer box, using my woodied Gamma Pro built by Smeggy (aka Smegma Pros). The sound is MUCH better than driving them off the 5-watt/ch Travagans Red with AD743 opamps (see photo below). It is more refined sounding with better depth, and not too bright any more. I played Eva Cassidy "Live at Blues Alley" and the sound was very close to that of my Woo GES, with just a little less micro-detail and space. Using my PS Audio Digital Link DAC RCA out > ZDT gave me a bit more gain than the PSA XLR out > Jensens Transformers > RCA out > ZDT, and I could crank the volume to max with out any distortion or break up in the sound - it sounded at least as good as the Koss ESP 950 with Stax re-cable that I used to own (on a good amp, not the Koss E/90). I briefly tried the O2 Mk1 before I had to run out the door, and I was almost late to dinner because it sounded so good I couldn't put them down!
K1000 via 4-pin XLR: My K1000 (#1378 bess-heavy) sound fantastic off the Eddie Current ZDT - the best I have heard them sound to date. I was all ready to sell the K1000 if this amp didn't improve their sound to what I expected (and bring the K1000 closer to the level of my HD800), but it did it in spades.
The missing sparkle in the K1000 that I loved with Naamanf's B22 has now appeared, the vocals are more vivid and rich, macro and micro detail is noticeably improved, soundstage is more solid, and bass is as strong as before but now much better controlled. Plus they play as loud as I would like via the 4-pin XLR jack, when fed via RCA out of my PS Audio Digital Link III. So there is no advantage to using the stock K1000 speaker-terminal pigtail with them, and instead I can use ZDT speaker out for my Stax transformers (will try later this weekend). The PS Audio XLR out > Jensen transformers XLR-to-RCA converter > ZDT has slightly less volume at a given volume knob position, but the amp still has enough gain to drive them well.
None of my previous small 5-12 watt speaker amps can drive the K1000 as well as the ZDT (Travagans Red, Nuforce Icon, and Qinpu A-3), nor can my Single Power Square Wave XL balanced amp. The Sq Wave can play them loudly, but it cannot extract the same great sound from the K1000 like the ZDT, while Sq Wave XL is very nice with other normal headphones (like balanced HD600/800 or balanced/modded D2000).
Dynamic headphones rock! My single ended HF-2, and balanced HD600/HD800 also sound quite good with the ZDT as well. The plan was to have the WA6 and GES in the living room rig for stats and dynamics, and the ZDT with Stax Pro transformer in the bedroom rig for stats and dynamics and K1000. But, the ZDT puts off so much heat that it may only be in the bedroom rig during the winter
All I had to do to pay for this was sell my Stax O2 Mk2 and APS re-cabled Edition 9. I have NO regrets at all. I just moved the maxed WA6 to the living room to compare to the ZDT, but haven't gotten around to that part yet. I suspect that if I wasn't still using the WA6 in another room, and if the ZDT didn't put out so much heat, that I'd have no reason to keep the WA6 (a great amp as well).
STAX via 8-watt speaker outputs and transformer sound great: I have finally tried it tonight with my Stax SRD-7 Mk2 SB pro-bias and normal bias transformer box, using my woodied Gamma Pro built by Smeggy (aka Smegma Pros). The sound is MUCH better than driving them off the 5-watt/ch Travagans Red with AD743 opamps (see photo below). It is more refined sounding with better depth, and not too bright any more. I played Eva Cassidy "Live at Blues Alley" and the sound was very close to that of my Woo GES, with just a little less micro-detail and space. Using my PS Audio Digital Link DAC RCA out > ZDT gave me a bit more gain than the PSA XLR out > Jensens Transformers > RCA out > ZDT, and I could crank the volume to max with out any distortion or break up in the sound - it sounded at least as good as the Koss ESP 950 with Stax re-cable that I used to own (on a good amp, not the Koss E/90). I briefly tried the O2 Mk1 before I had to run out the door, and I was almost late to dinner because it sounded so good I couldn't put them down!
K1000 via 4-pin XLR: My K1000 (#1378 bess-heavy) sound fantastic off the Eddie Current ZDT - the best I have heard them sound to date. I was all ready to sell the K1000 if this amp didn't improve their sound to what I expected (and bring the K1000 closer to the level of my HD800), but it did it in spades.
The missing sparkle in the K1000 that I loved with Naamanf's B22 has now appeared, the vocals are more vivid and rich, macro and micro detail is noticeably improved, soundstage is more solid, and bass is as strong as before but now much better controlled. Plus they play as loud as I would like via the 4-pin XLR jack, when fed via RCA out of my PS Audio Digital Link III. So there is no advantage to using the stock K1000 speaker-terminal pigtail with them, and instead I can use ZDT speaker out for my Stax transformers (will try later this weekend). The PS Audio XLR out > Jensen transformers XLR-to-RCA converter > ZDT has slightly less volume at a given volume knob position, but the amp still has enough gain to drive them well.
None of my previous small 5-12 watt speaker amps can drive the K1000 as well as the ZDT (Travagans Red, Nuforce Icon, and Qinpu A-3), nor can my Single Power Square Wave XL balanced amp. The Sq Wave can play them loudly, but it cannot extract the same great sound from the K1000 like the ZDT, while Sq Wave XL is very nice with other normal headphones (like balanced HD600/800 or balanced/modded D2000).
Dynamic headphones rock! My single ended HF-2, and balanced HD600/HD800 also sound quite good with the ZDT as well. The plan was to have the WA6 and GES in the living room rig for stats and dynamics, and the ZDT with Stax Pro transformer in the bedroom rig for stats and dynamics and K1000. But, the ZDT puts off so much heat that it may only be in the bedroom rig during the winter
All I had to do to pay for this was sell my Stax O2 Mk2 and APS re-cabled Edition 9. I have NO regrets at all. I just moved the maxed WA6 to the living room to compare to the ZDT, but haven't gotten around to that part yet. I suspect that if I wasn't still using the WA6 in another room, and if the ZDT didn't put out so much heat, that I'd have no reason to keep the WA6 (a great amp as well).
