New Decware ZMA

Steve · « **Reply #40 on:** 12 Aug 2015, 07:33 pm »

Steve D. obviously read one of my white papers and applied the information. Being he was a competitor, I am quite honored.

If one takes a reference tek scope and measures, there is very little if any noise on the dc line to deal with, assuming one has a descent power supply filtering system design.

As such the last thing one would want is a choke in the power supply because the isolation between filter capacitors varies with the frequency. Not good. It tends to mimick a variable filter capacitor with variable capacitive reactance, and thus a variable frequency response. If one has to be used, I suggest as close to the rectifier as possible to minimize the sonic damage it causes. Ooooppppss, I bet I am in trouble now.

Cheers
Steve

TEH725 · « **Reply #41 on:** 12 Aug 2015, 08:49 pm »

Not feeling the love for Steve here on AudioCircle. But I do tend to enjoy it when the true artists drive the techies crazy

.

JSM, I'm glad he's getting some recognition. And I don't mind the marketing hype as long as he delivers. I find his forum posts as he discovers things to be very entertaining.

I don't own one, but the ZMA remains the best amp I have heard. I hope to own one (or his next iteration) once the last kid is out of college.

JimJ · « **Reply #42 on:** 12 Aug 2015, 11:47 pm »

Quote from: TEH725 on 12 Aug 2015, 08:49 pm

Not feeling the love for Steve here on AudioCircle. But I do tend to enjoy it when the true artists drive the techies crazy .

JSM, I'm glad he's getting some recognition. And I don't mind the marketing hype as long as he delivers. I find his forum posts as he discovers things to be very entertaining.

I don't own one, but the ZMA remains the best amp I have heard. I hope to own one (or his next iteration) once the last kid is out of college.

I've owned an SE84CS, a CSP, and now a CSP2.

Other than a mechanical transformer hum on the original CSP, I've loved 'em...

Slapshot · « **Reply #43 on:** 3 Nov 2016, 05:34 am »

Quote from: jsm71 on 11 Aug 2014, 01:57 pm

Good luck with the PrimaLuna Integrated. I actually looked at that. My local dealer had it set up in a demo room with Goldenear Triton 2s. The amp was driving the speakers ok but the amp's soundstage didn't get my attention. It seemed like a reasonable value for an integrated but it was not what I was looking for. I wanted a tube amp that had sufficient transparency to open up everything in 3D without sounding euphonic. The ZMA has the 3D magic, so not SS, but also not syrupy either. I do think with the latest price hike the ZMA is getting pricey but I have no idea what product you would have to aim at to equal the sound quality. I also have a good tube preamp with phono stage so I didn't need an integrated.

I don't think Steve's design skills get him "in trouble". His USA hand built products are quite well made and do last. The lifetime warranty doesn't get invoked often at all or he would have dropped that years ago. His over the top enthusiasm and website claims sometimes get challenged. For example, the ZMA is touted to be 40 watts class A. The truth is that it is heavily biased class A, but will go to AB on peaks. I learned this after the fact in a discussion with Steve. At what wattage this occurs would take measurement tools and probably isn't heard unless your speakers are a difficult load. All I know is that my last SS amp was high quality and ran class AB basically all the time. The ZMA's sound is what I was looking for.

I realize this response is long delayed. I hope you are still the happy owner of the ZMA. Thank you for your review and impressions of the amplifier. It is particularly appreciated as there is very little out there in regards to opinions of this amp, other than Jeff Dorgay's rave for Tone magazine. After carefully reviewing your comments, much as I would like to support Decware, and their efforts, this is likely not the amp for me. I am in search of a bit more euphonic sound, richness and liquidity than the AMA seems to offer. Granted, I still want solid bass, controlled sound, and am not looking for overly syrupy sound, merely a significant touch of that golden glow that a well executed amp (most often SET's), bring to the midrange and the highs. I'm not sure if Decware offers an amp that meets that description, but clearly the ZMA, which I am certain is an outstanding amplifier, isn't it.

elmalloc · « **Reply #44 on:** 3 Nov 2016, 05:48 am »

Decware has a tightnit following, I wish they had more reviews outside of the decware forum itself.

JLM · « **Reply #45 on:** 3 Nov 2016, 11:06 am »

Quote from: Slapshot on 3 Nov 2016, 05:34 am

I realize this response is long delayed. I hope you are still the happy owner of the ZMA. Thank you for your review and impressions of the amplifier. It is particularly appreciated as there is very little out there in regards to opinions of this amp, other than Jeff Dorgay's rave for Tone magazine. After carefully reviewing your comments, much as I would like to support Decware, and their efforts, this is likely not the amp for me. I am in search of a bit more euphonic sound, richness and liquidity than the AMA seems to offer. Granted, I still want solid bass, controlled sound, and am not looking for overly syrupy sound, merely a significant touch of that golden glow that a well executed amp (most often SET's), bring to the midrange and the highs. I'm not sure if Decware offers an amp that meets that description, but clearly the ZMA, which I am certain is an outstanding amplifier, isn't it.

Give Steve Deckert a call, he's in the best position to make recommendations. As a follow-up, the Prima Luna didn't bloat the bass but didn't offer much tube palpability either, so I sold it and have stayed with my Channel Island Audio D-100 class D mono-blocks.