[wind016]

Quote:

Personally, I'm not a big fan of tube amps. Or rather I should say I prefer solid state amps. The Zana Deux SE is one of the few tube amps I really love. It has handled just about everything I've thrown at it with aplomb. Hell, it even makes the "omg sounds like crap with anything less than a nuclear reactor" HE-6 sound good to my ears. Obviously it's not meant for that kind of thing, but I just thought I'd throw that out there to say it can handle a pretty wide array of headphones. I'd say I go to it 50% of the time, with the other half being divided up among every other amp I own.
 
I dunno, I find that a lot of head-fiers are bassheads even if they don't know or admit it. The ZDSE seems fine to me. Fine as in pretty damn close to neutral.

Thanks for your thoughts! It's definitely on the top of my list right now with the HA5000. How is the treble frequency detail on the Zana? Is it solid state quality?
 
 

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

Thanks for your thoughts! It's definitely on the top of my list right now with the HA5000. How is the treble frequency detail on the Zana? Is it solid state quality?
 
 

In my opinion, yes.

 

[TheOtus]

Quote:

 

Re-cabling the AT's wouldn't be that hard (based on my experience dissecting the AD2000 and W1000X). The earpads are removable (with care.) The cup assembly is held together with screws, not permanently glued together. The stock cables look like than can be pulled through strain relief boots. Just be super careful with temperature control when soldering wire to the solder pads on the driver. You don't want to melt the voice coil. Another technique, which is safer, would be to reuse part of the existing wire (< 1") and solder the new cable on to that. You can clip-on alligator clips on the solder pads to act as a heat sink.
 
I mostly re-terminate rather than re-cable. I only re-cable for the sake of convenience, comfort, or usability. It's not that I don't believe in the sonic improvements of cables, but more that I prefer the use of less-subtle and less-expensive techniques (such as the use of toilet paper, completely upgrading to a new DAC, or swapping tubes.)

Many thanks for the info. At the moment I'm thinking to leave few inches of the original cable and attaching female miniplugs to the ends. To that I can then connect a new cable, for single ended or balanced use. Feels more clever than having an adaptor connected to XLR-plugs which are bulky enough alone. Sorry for slight off topic, but of course this same idea applies to ATH-W3000ANV... 

 

[Currawong]

Lobstersan came around today with the W3000ANV and HA5000ANV amp and I got to try them while he had another run with the 009s and his first time listening with the LCD-3s. I managed to hook everything up to the Ref 7.1, the AT amp daisy-chained from the Stacker II and the 007t receiving the balanced signal.
 
The W3000s are quite bright and with the matching amp, which has not seen much use. The treble was a bit much in all honesty, making even the usually bright-sounding 009s sound restrained. I had good luck mellowing out the cans with the Stacker II and a set of Sylvania 12CG7s, effectively the same kind of tube one gets in Stax amps, if a different voltage. I just had a thought that I should have broken out the RCAs. Oh well.
 
We both agreed they were the best AT cans we'd ever heard. If the rig loses harshness with use, then it will be great, if rather a steep ask at 300k-yen, but we all know we're paying for the exclusivity.  Other than that, I made a good call playing "Mambo for Roy" (Roy Hargrove) as our last track, as it has a fast drum section as well as some piano. The W3000s were impressively quick reproducing this out of the Stacker II and I enjoyed listening with them very much, despite having cycled through listening with the 009/007t rig shortly before.
 
Fit with them is always an issue for me. If I got a pair, I'd spend a few minutes re-shaping the arcs without a doubt. The seal was reasonably good despite this. Possibly because I'm used to using the LCD-3s and 009s the ATs were a tad muffled, which I can't help wondering if it had to do with the seal or position.
 
So, in the end, I felt that the cans (and the rig too I suppose) was great with vocals and instruments -- fantastic even, but I'm not sure they have enough bass for music that is best with more thump.

 

[orkney]

Quote:

Looking into Cary right now... Jesus, the Cary SLI-80 looks huge. Looks like there's a store in SF to try it out!

I've got the Sli-80 Signature and the ZD. The Cary is kind of wasted as just a headphone amp, IMO. It's big, heavy and runs hot, but it is uber-flexible in terms of tube options and is switchable between triode/UL for both HPs and speakers. It is really really good with the W3000s.
 
Listened to these through the Luxman 505u last night and that was a nice combo. These don't seem very fussy to me -- no doubt various magical combinations will emerge, but they've sounded at least very good with everything I've tried them with, which makes a nice change.
 
o
 
 
 
 
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Lobstersan came around today with the W3000ANV and HA5000ANV amp and I got to try them while he had another run with the 009s and his first time listening with the LCD-3s. I managed to hook everything up to the Ref 7.1, the AT amp daisy-chained from the Stacker II and the 007t receiving the balanced signal.
 
The W3000s are quite bright and with the matching amp, which has not seen much use. The treble was a bit much in all honesty, making even the usually bright-sounding 009s sound restrained. I had good luck mellowing out the cans with the Stacker II and a set of Sylvania 12CG7s, effectively the same kind of tube one gets in Stax amps, if a different voltage. I just had a thought that I should have broken out the RCAs. Oh well.
 
We both agreed they were the best AT cans we'd ever heard. If the rig loses harshness with use, then it will be great, if rather a steep ask at 300k-yen, but we all know we're paying for the exclusivity.  Other than that, I made a good call playing "Mambo for Roy" (Roy Hargrove) as our last track, as it has a fast drum section as well as some piano. The W3000s were impressively quick reproducing this out of the Stacker II and I enjoyed listening with them very much, despite having cycled through listening with the 009/007t rig shortly before.
 
Fit with them is always an issue for me. If I got a pair, I'd spend a few minutes re-shaping the arcs without a doubt. The seal was reasonably good despite this. Possibly because I'm used to using the LCD-3s and 009s the ATs were a tad muffled, which I can't help wondering if it had to do with the seal or position.
 
So, in the end, I felt that the cans (and the rig too I suppose) was great with vocals and instruments -- fantastic even, but I'm not sure they have enough bass for music that is best with more thump.

Thanks for the impressions Currawong. This is the second time someone said the HA5000ANV amplifier was bright so I'm starting to think I'll opt for another amp. I had to bend my pair's arcs. After doing that, I got a snug fit, but the headphones started to slip down easier when I move my head. It can barely hold the headphone's weight but when it does, it helped the bass response. They are definitely not bassy through a neutral source or equipment.
 
Quote:

I've got the Sli-80 Signature and the ZD. The Cary is kind of wasted as just a headphone amp, IMO. It's big, heavy and runs hot, but it is uber-flexible in terms of tube options and is switchable between triode/UL for both HPs and speakers. It is really really good with the W3000s.
 
Listened to these through the Luxman 505u last night and that was a nice combo. These don't seem very fussy to me -- no doubt various magical combinations will emerge, but they've sounded at least very good with everything I've tried them with, which makes a nice change.
 
o
 

Ah yea, I looked up the Cary from your sig. I'm thinking it is a bit expensive and big for me to use with just the W3000, but a ZD is on the top of my interest right now. Do you like the W3000s paired with the Zana Deux? I'm guessing it might need the impedance switch to work well with the ATs.
 

 

[MuppetFace]

I just heard from Kaneda at PriceJapan. Apparently my amplifier wont be shipping until "the middle of December." Uh... What? 
 
I'm tempted to just cancel my order, since I've sort of lost interest to be honest. The W3000ANV sounds perfectly nice on my Zana Deux. I really could use the money for other things. But on the other hand it's limited and pretty. What do you folks think?

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

I just heard from Kaneda at PriceJapan. Apparently my amplifier wont be shipping until "the middle of December." Uh... What? 
 
I'm tempted to just cancel my order, since I've sort of lost interest to be honest. The W3000ANV sounds perfectly nice on my Zana Deux. I really could use the money for other things. But on the other hand it's limited and pretty. What do you folks think?

I just found this quote from years back,
 
"The Zana Deux is probably the best-sounding dynamic amp I've heard. It sounds good with every headphone I've tried, Grado, AT, K701, Senns or Sony. I prefer the ZD over the AT-HA5000 with the W5000, and over the Raptor or Lehmann BCL with the HD6x0 or K701. The ZD definitely drives the Grados (HP-2, RS-1, PS-1) better than anything else I've tried."
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/327231/while-we-are-waiting-for-our-zana-deuxes-whos-in-on-this-run#post_4248067

 

[TheOtus]

I would personally love to have one if it's low gain. =D Which I don't know.
 
When you listen with Zana, how's the volume setting? And what is your source? I'm still interested in a new amp myself as the high gain of my current amp pisses me off.

 

[orkney]

Quote:

 
Ah yea, I looked up the Cary from your sig. I'm thinking it is a bit expensive and big for me to use with just the W3000, but a ZD is on the top of my interest right now. Do you like the W3000s paired with the Zana Deux? I'm guessing it might need the impedance switch to work well with the ATs.  

My ZD is one of the pre-SE models, so no impedance switch. The difference is between 7 and 9 ohms IIRC (12 vs 3 ohms output impedance), and my understanding after talking to Craig was that the gain switch version is really for those looking to drive orthos and other very demanding loads. That said, my ZD sounds excellent with the ATs, slightly less lush than does the Cary in triode, but I've got pretty basic tubes plugged in at the moment. The AT/ZD combo is seriously quick and dynamic.
 
o

 

[MuppetFace]

The Zana Deux SE has a high and low gain setting. My current source is a Cambridge Azur 840C cd player. The Zana Deux isn't balanced, but I don't care.
 
As purrin said, the AD2000 is used to test for noise and distortion during its production , so I've found it to be one of the quietest amps I own.

 

[marcelo61]

Quote:

I just heard from Kaneda at PriceJapan. Apparently my amplifier wont be shipping until "the middle of December." Uh... What? 
 
I'm tempted to just cancel my order, since I've sort of lost interest to be honest. The W3000ANV sounds perfectly nice on my Zana Deux. I really could use the money for other things. But on the other hand it's limited and pretty. What do you folks think?

 
this may not a bad call,other though is how you gonna fix the voltage issue ,step-up transformer?

 

[MuppetFace]

 
Quote:

 
this may not a bad call,other though is how you gonna fix the voltage issue ,step-up transformer?

I have a few on hand for my Stax amps, so I was planning on using them, yes.
 
I'm really tempted to cancel, especially when I think for the price of the HA5000ANV I can put a down payment on Donald's new 2A3 amp AND get a nice DAC.
 

 

[marcelo61]

 
Quote:

The Zana Deux SE has a high and low gain setting. My current source is a Cambridge Azur 840C cd player. The Zana Deux isn't balanced, but I don't care.
 
As purrin said, the AD2000 is used to test for noise and distortion during its production , so I've found it to be one of the quietest amps I own.

 
can't agree with you more

 

[marcelo61]

Quote:

 

I have a few on hand for my Stax amps, so I was planning on using them, yes.
 
I'm really tempted to cancel, especially when I think for the price of the HA5000ANV I can put a down payment on Donald's new 2A3 amp AND get a nice DAC.
 

 
some comment from the chinese forum ,the guy compare the ha5k and the anv. with no wow factor and no overall improve ..if you are a big ath fan,go for it