[Delta77]

I"m getting a Decware (CSP3) HP amp.
Their Amps look good too .
Any body here have Experience with DECWARE PRODUCTS, Amps,Speakers, Ect.
Thanks for your comments in advance..

[FullRangeMan]

If you order a RACHEL SE34 6W power amp you can get a HP output for an extra $120, its a important feature as it can run low sensitivity hard to drive HPs.
It also is my favorite Decware amp.

[Hear Clifford Brown]

I had a Decware Rachel amp with Coincident Technology Super Eclipse III speakers.  Very nice!

[Doodlebum]

I have the Mini Torii 4WPC with the ERRx speakers. I've had this setup about 18 months and it keeps getting better. Lifetime warranty, how can you go wrong?

[Wind Chaser]

Years ago I owned a few Decware products. About 15 years ago the Zen C was my introduction to SET amplification. Since then I’ve owned a number of other SET amps by other manufacturers. I’ve also had a Decware CDP which essentially was a modified Pioneer DVD player... modified in the sense Steve added a tube buffer.

[Nocturne79]

Hello there I actually have had the mini torii current version, grreat amp and currently have torii mkiv,  csp3 preamp, and ZDSD all running into my OMega Alnico HO towers.  Wonderful sounding and the amps are amazing built and any questions the decware customer service is top notch.

[JLM]

Decware is an unusual audio company.  Deckert has no formal electronics background, so his 'designs' are off the wall and done by trial and error.  I liked the American hand-built, low wattage, high quality, simple, inexpensive approach.  Had thousands of posts there and attended the first two DecFests where I learned how allergic the DecHeads were to bass.  But as a "speaker guy" could never find a complementary speaker I was satisfied with.  That was about the time he ventured into bigger amps. 

Tried a first generation Rachel (12 wpc) with my commissioned speakers (single driver rated 27-20,000 Hz, 91 dB/w/m, 8 ohms) and while it was full a tube magic (too much) it also exhibited tons of bass flabbiness.  And although it had just come from Decware to fix an unspecified problem it had a bad tube (intermittent crackling), so I sent it back to Decware.  Years later while ready to try another tube amp I called Steve and he recommended his $5700 ZMA amp, that even with discount was out of my price range. 

So I never did buy from Steve.  I occasionally check his website.  It seems he now focuses on bigger, more expensive, and more complex amps which means Steve is getting away from what attracted me to Decware to start with.  And I don't see the volume of new products, forum activity, or articles that I did 20 years ago.

[opnly bafld]

I live @80 miles from Decware and while I'm far from a fanboy (have owned and currently have a ZBox that I don't use), I have heard their amps and speakers enough to pretty much disagree with everything JLM wrote above about Decware since I've been familiar with them (probably 15 years or more).

Lin

[nature boy]

I am an enthusiastic owner of several Decware products, including the Zen Mystery amplifier (ZMA), CSP3+ pre-amplifier, and ZDAC2 (a Decware modified TEAC 503-NT DAC).  Decware offers exceptionally well crafted, point-to-point wired, equipment with lifetime warranties.

I believe JLM's experience is not the norm for most Decware owners  Steve Deckert's amps range from 2 to 40 watts/RMS.  Most of the amps are designed to be used with high efficiency speakers, however my 40 watts ZMA amp easily drives low efficiency speakers with ease.

I also have to disagree with JLM's assessment of Decware enthusists being bass-heads.  It just doesn't ring true based on folks posting on the Decware forums and the owners I know personally. 

Like anything audio related, it's all up to your ears.  I find Decware equipment to sound exceptionally realistic in my listening room with my Omega SAHO XRS speakers and represent a true value as compared with many of today's mega priced systems.

NB

[opnly bafld]

I also have to disagree with JLM's assessment of Decware enthusists being bass-heads.  It just doesn't ring true based on folks posting on the Decware forums and the owners I know personally.

The opposite; he thinks they DON'T care about bass. 

"attended the first two DecFests where I learned how allergic the DecHeads were to bass."

[milford3]

I own the Decware Zen Head for portable use.  It has internal jumpers to match your headphone Ohm load.  One of the best portable amp on the market.

[FullRangeMan]

I own the Decware Zen Head for portable use.  It has internal jumpers to match your headphone Ohm load.  One of the best portable amp on the market.

It double as pre-amp?

[Wind Chaser]

Bass was not a strong point with the Decware amp I had. Flabby, the term Jeff used is a very accurate description. The older Decware amps are especially sloppy in that regard. IMO tube amps in general don’t do bass well.

His other point about speaker matching rings true also. There still isn’t much to choose from if you want to build a system around an amp.

[FullRangeMan]

Deckert has no formal electronics background, so his 'designs' are off the wall and done by trial and error.

Iam sure you dont want downplay Steve work that is brilliant, if were not for Steve work the low wattage SET would still be unknown to the big public.

In USA audophilia there are only 2 big names, Bob Carver and Steve Deckert and neither of the two is an electronic engineer, no electronic engineer did more for music and musiclovers than these two people imo.

so his 'designs' are off the wall and done by trial and error.

There is no other reliable way to tests new circuits and electronics parts with views to sound quality in audio circuits, no one knows what goes through the mind of a genius creator like Bob and Steve, I wished to know half of what they know.
Steve even answers the emails from Decware himself.

[opnly bafld]

It double as pre-amp?

Not designed to be used as a preamp.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/zenhead.htm

[FullRangeMan]

Not designed to be used as a preamp.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/zenhead.htm

It could boost the sales, I suppose it would need a bigger battery though.

[opnly bafld]

It could boost the sales, I suppose it would need a bigger battery though.

Not sure it would boost sales since they would probably need to raise the price and they have other products that can be used as preamps and one that is also a pre - h/p amp.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I have heard their amps and speakers enough to pretty much disagree with everything JLM wrote above about Decware since I've been familiar with them (probably 15 years or more).

I was thinking the same thing. 
I've never owed a Decware product, but have been to three 'Fests. The sound was always fabulous in my opinion (except that one year he had the polarity backwards  ). Steve is a great guy, and very down to earth. I'm not a fanboy either, but felt the need to defend the man after that scathing review.

[FullRangeMan]

I suppose no one commercial speaker have the bass taylored to a small SE tube amp, it usually is modeled to powerful SS amps which has more than 50W and hi damping factor.

[Tyson]

I suppose no one commercial speaker have the bass taylored to a small SE tube amp, it usually is modeled to powerful SS amps which has more than 50W and hi damping factor.

That's part of why I love my Serenity Acoustic Super 7's - 97db efficient open baffle planar magnetic "top" section (with flat 8ohm impedance) that covers 200hz and up, and then there's the open baffle powered bass section with 300 watts per side and dual 12 inch woofers.  So I can use a beautiful low watt amp on the mids/highs and still get percussive, strong bass. 

I don't know why more speaker companies don't use this approach.  It really, really opens up your ability to use small, beautiful sounding amps on the top end: