Decware Select Zen Triode amplifier review
I thought I would write about one of my enduring passions – music – great music and the realistic reproduction of music.
I think I ought to try and very quickly point out that I do not feel I am some kind of hi-fi nut – I simply have discovered that, when I first listened to music through a system of separate components, it sounded much better than my all-in-one midi system, and since then I have continued to hear “more” in my music when listening to different components. I think if I couldn’t hear more – more detail, more clarity, more music – then I wouldn’t pursue this interest in the way that I have.
Anyway, I want to kick off by writing about something which has made the most difference to my music listening experience, out of any component I have ever bought previously – my new Decware Zen Select Triode amplifier. (The link no longer works because they don’t make this amp any more – Decware’s new Select Zen amp can be found here.)
Yes, this is a valve amplifier and I have known for many years now that I prefer the sound of a valve amplifier over that of a transistor amplifier. No matter how hard I try, I find valve amps to be more musical, even the ones which aren’t great, don’t have a lot of detail and sound a bit grainy (like my original Audio Innovations).
For the last four years I had been using and listening to music with a Unison Research Simply Four P (another valve amp). It sounded great, I thought, very detailed, musical and had a pretty good soundstage (meaning, simply, that the various instruments have good focus and you feel as though you can almost see the instruments in their positions in front of you). I should point out that this amp cost me all of my bonus years ago and was certainly not what I would call cheap – to put things in perspective I paid for a new kitchen to keep my wife happy.
I was expecting the Zen Select Triode amp to sound clearer and more detailed again, with a better soundstage and it really does do this, it blows away my old amp in terms of detail, clarity and grain-free imaging BUT I was really, really shocked by the added bonuses – things I did not necessarily expect to hear.
Firstly, I heard everything so clearly it was like every instrument was in the room in front of me – I know that’s soundstage but I also mean that the amp defines and separates the instruments so much so that I can clearly hear and follow each and every instrument.
Secondly, something I honestly never thought I would hear more of, and this is the real mind blowing thing for me – texture! Texture of instruments, brought to amazing lifelike reality. I could hear things like the timbre and quality of bells on Bjork’s latest album Vespertine, I could easily hear the rich texture of brass on my Reference Recordings CD and on Calexico’s Black Light, acoustic guitar…anything and everything. I thought I had “heard” music before, maybe not as well presented but this amp has really truly breathed a new whole life into all my music.
I feel it is not an exaggeration to say that hearing this amplifier has been like turning all the lights on in a room and every detail becoming clearly visible, resolvable, when previously all my other amplifiers had been the equivalent of looking around the same room with a torch. Truly it has been an enlightening experience and I continue to be stunned by the quality of music I am now hearing.
Here comes the shock. The Decware Zen Select Triode amplifier cost only a third of my old Unison amp and it blew it totally out of the water plus this new amplifier has a lifetime warranty and is carefully hand-made to order with the best quality components. If you get a chance, hear one, it may totally change your perception of music.