what are you thoughts on zstage from decware?

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#2
Hi,

DECWARE is famous for ridiculously over the top claims, if you like
that sort of thing then buyer beware, the reality is never true.

No way, in my modest system, would that improve my CD player.

You can add a triode based buffer for far less, its your wallet.

rgds, sreten.

CD player is a Cambridge Audio CD4SE, it works just fine.
 
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#4
i only use a dac so a preamp is a must. from what i understand, lampizator line stage is a glorified srpp, correct? i wonder if the circuit exhibits typical PP sound which i'm not too fond of.do you think aikido is a better choice for the smooth euphoria of SE sound that i'm always preferring?
 
#7
none, i'm afraid. i think of typical pp sound as being more linear and less distorted than SE. i need a preamp that has plenty of bloom and 2nd order harmonic saturation- 'tubiness' i should call it since i have no right to get technical with my lack of knowledge in this field..
 
#9
adason said:
than built this
Tip_73
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NOOOOOOOOOOO! 😱

Definitely more of a tone control than anything I would consider allowing in my own system.

The solution here may be a better dac, this kind of band-aide IMO is really the worst of all worlds, hiding the shortcomings of a bad analog path or other sins in the DAC with an incompetently designed tube stage to add some pleasant sounding colorations to an already apparently unpleasantly colored source. In the end what you loose is some of the music... 😀
 
#10
kevinkr said:
NOOOOOOOOOOO! 😱

Definitely more of a tone control than anything I would consider allowing in my own system.

The solution here may be a better dac, this kind of band-aide IMO is really the worst of all worlds, hiding the shortcomings of a bad analog path or other sins in the DAC with an incompetently designed tube stage to add some pleasant sounding colorations to an already apparently unpleasantly colored source. In the end what you loose is some of the music... 😀
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With you there Kevin, it's not true to the source and a band-aid fix, better off fixing the fault of the source instead of colouring it and losing focus, definition, control and dynamics.

Cheers George
 
#11
well i have a modded lite dac 60 with reclocker that i (humbly) consider as a commendable piece. the myrefc definitely needs some compensating upstream because the amp itself is a bit clinical to my ears. the dac i know to be able to give me what i want so something has to help out downstream.
 
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#12
PreSapian said:
well i have a modded lite dac 60 with reclocker that i (humbly) consider as a commendable piece. the myrefc definitely needs some compensating upstream because the amp itself is a bit clinical to my ears. the dac i know to be able to give me what i want so something has to help out downstream.
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Perhaps what you really need longer term is a less clinical sounding amplifier - harder to achieve initially, but in the long term will be much more musically gratifying. Choices of course depend a lot on the nature and efficiency of the speaker system, the size of your room, preferred listening levels and finally to some degree what sort of music you listen to..

The distortion spectrum which apparently bothers you now will still be there even though somewhat masked by the addition of of harmonic dirt upstream, and ultimately you may find it doesn't address the issue sufficiently..

All IMHO of course, and the ultimate solution will have to be one you can afford, and can live with.. 😀
 
#14
aw, sir papa, tis a shame i couldn't read your advise in time... because i just sealed the deal on silvaweld swc1000 yesterday. the much starved piggy bank was broken open after one look at the preamp's innards. 300b for voltage reg, for christ's sake!
 
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