[atomicbob]

Most excellent, thank-you AnakChan!

 

[atomicbob]

  Well, technically there is hardly a bigger mismatch than an OTL with an ortho.
 
-Daniel

Now having a ZDSE, I am trying this for myself. HE-500 with ZDSE on Low Impedance. Bela Fleck, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. Victor Wooten's bass solo is solid, meaty, well defined and vibrates my head pretty good with this combination. There is hope yet for the HE-500 to benefit from OTL magic.

 

[ericfarrell85]

I would try something different than Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, which sounds very good on most anything in my opinion. Note I'm not putting down the Zana, which despite getting little use in my system nowadays, is still the piece I'm most attached to. Best of luck

 

[atomicbob]

Fair enough. Switching to HD800, Jon Hamar, upright bass on Cold Hammered, which is on the Center Song album, Steve Tresler & Ingrid Jensen sounds the way I heard it in Studio X during the tracking session. HE-500 has something in the 500 to 800 Hz range that sounds a little muddy on the same track.

 

[YoengJyh]

 

[atomicbob]

Have about 120 hrs on the tubes now. Observations:
 
1. The amp continues to offer wonderful auditory contrast between sound and the audio black, no noise of any kind.
2. Well recorded albums, especially those where mic bleed was used to advantage either in the studio or live, have a spectacular sense of space; dimension, soundstage, depth.
3. Instruments and vocals seem to have more air around them adding to the dimensionality.
 
Reverting back to my favorite 6AS7g OTL amps and attributes 2 & 3 diminish markedly. The 6AS7g OTL amps appear to be more kind to albums not as well recorded, smoothing over details at the loss of the attributes 2 and 3 listed above. So both have their place in the collection, though I prefer to find well recorded music and listen through the ZDSE.

 

[BournePerfect]

Nice impressions Bob. I agree 100% with those three findings-and ithey are what seperate the ZDSE from every other amp I've heard so far. BTW you've got a PM.
 
-Daniel

 

[atomicbob]

The ZDSE is pretty much the end game in my OTL search. I'm going to spend a long while with it, HD800 and T90 headphones and the V800 (thank-you very much.) Looking through the 6SL7 thread it appears I have a lot of opportunities for tweaking, if inclined. This is a spectacular amp.

 

[BournePerfect]

Yes Bob-I still see another ZDSE in my future possibly. Glad to hear the V800 is a good match for it-and I'll be sure to check out the T90 sometimes as I've heard a few people now say they prefer it to the T1-which seems to underwhelm me the more I hear it-after loving it at first (my first flagship).
 
BTW you need to update your avatar now.

 
-Daniel

 

[atomicbob]

From what I gather there are only approximately 70 extremely fortunate individuals in the world currently experiencing auditory orgasms with the ZDSE. Craig has created an epic, timeless OTL amp. Yes I should update the avatar, though I still have and enjoy those depicted.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

  The ZDSE is pretty much the end game in my OTL search. I'm going to spend a long while with it, HD800 and T90 headphones and the V800 (thank-you very much.) Looking through the 6SL7 thread it appears I have a lot of opportunities for tweaking, if inclined. This is a spectacular amp.

 
the sophia 6sl7 sounded extremely good with HD 800 

 

 

[atomicbob]

   
the sophia 6sl7 sounded extremely good with HD 800 

 

On my list to acquire, thank-you. Already have a few other recommended 6sl7 as well.

 

[ericfarrell85]

Congrats on the Zana Deux! It has been my favorite piece of equipment for some time now. Paired with the right headphones there really is something magical about its midrange-focused presentation. The Mullard ECC35 is the best tube I've heard with it, so keep your eye out for it.

 

[atomicbob]

Thank-you. Will watch for the Mullard. Listening to Chesky's Binaural+ recordings with the ZDSE are a bit spooky in spatial presentation, especially with HD800 and T90. I suppose I should quit being lazy and take some pics. Problem is when I have discretionary time it tends to be selfishly consumed by headphone sessions, which are highly engaging and addictive with this system.

 

[kazsud]

Take the pics!!!!