Anthem, this is the amp that I am very serious about right now - about to pull the "order" trigger. As I said above, I have the OPPO 105, the T1's - but the more I read about Decware, the more I get encouraged about the product.

Couple of ?'s:

Why did you choose the MLIV over the Mystery Amp?
Did you get any tubes that were extra? Why did you order them?
How long did it take to get the MLIV?
I know you just got it - just out of the box, but how does it sound with the T2's?
Have you turned it up? And did you have enough watts (max 25) to drive the T2s well?

Very curious indeed! Carl

Why did I choose the MK4 over the Mystery Amp? I became aware of Decware in the spring of 2014. I talked with Steve (the owner) and he thought the Mystery Amp would mate well with the T2's, and it had an introductory price of $4600.00, but only until June 1. I wanted this amp for Christmas, but it was just to early to order...so I passed. As the months went by I had more conversations with Steve and he felt the MK4 would give me what I was after...great sound plus it had dual treble knobs that adjusts the high treble above 8khz by around 3db...great for saxophones.

I didn't get any extra tubes...I'll play around with that later.

I ordered 11/05/2014 and it arrived on 12/15/2014

I've had it six days...how does it sound? What I noticed immediately was it's ability to retrieve everything within a recording at very low volumes...it's very satisfying listening at lower volumes. For 25 watts it's amazing how loudly it will play, a surprising amount of bass. Watt wise, I feel 25 watts is all I need. If I wanna go nuts, I have two Emotiva monoblocks and a Primaluna preamp to harass the neighbors with.

If money isn't an issue and you like high db, you might look at the Mystery Amp...40 watts plus it got the Tone Audio product of the year award.

A, Thank you for your quick reply! While I have read all I can find on the internet about Decware, I too just had this "gut" feeling about the MKIV - and not the Mystery Amp (I have to admit the price, almost twice MKIV, had some effect but not all) as the amp to obtain. I have been a PrimaLuna fan (at least on paper - don't have one) for almost 8 months - they are SO highly rated by everyone (similar to GE)! But when you read reports by "users" (not professional "writers"), Decware users are so enthusiastic that it is hard to just flip off. In addition, I see some used PrimaLuna's on the market - no Decware.

I am primarily a light jazz, light classical, Sinatra/Martin, hymn type of listening guy. I don't turn the sound up to blow one out of the house, yet, my room is so large (24' tall, 20-30' long) that it requires some volume to fill the room. The reason I switched from the Vienna Mozart Grands (great speakers BTW) was that it just have the "ump" to fill the room with nuances. The 1s do a fantastic job! (I put the Mozarts back on after a couple of weeks with the 1s - so glad I made the change.)

While I do not have a TT table, I hope to add one this year. I do listen to CDs - of course not many are high density. I also listen to a lot of Rapsody. I have read several places that the MKIV seems to add a lot of sound value to CD but a huge amount to Rapsody. That I would like.

After much study, I too have come to the notion that 25 watts may be all I need for a "quality" tube amp - even for the 1s (same db rating as the 2s) it seems it will be enough. I have Emotiva mono-blocks also if I want to drive up the sound, but that is not my purpose. I like soft, quality background sound that carries a lot of rich fullness. I am coming to believe that the MKIV may have that. Would still like to know what Sandy is using with his home system (2s) -- (reminder Wayne).

Thanks again for you prompt response. I am in the final days of making a decision on a new amp - or pre-amp for the Emotiva mono-blocks. Right now MKIV leads the pack in that decision!

WayneWilmeth wrote: Sorry Bro Anthem, Ransom and others,
That video might have introduced more confusion than help.
I thought it was good to let you see how sound impinging on the glass of a tube can get carried through to the speakers.
And some tubes are badly microphonic, some not.
My point Bro Anthem was *in my initial setup* the bass notes from my Tritons (with the side radiating panel) were too near to my amp and impinging on my amp tubes and muddying up the sound. IF I could put my amp in the middle between my two Tritons, a good 5-6 feet from each one, then I might still be using it in my home theater. But, sadly, I can't put it there (and still watch the TV).
I probably would not use it in the home theater anyway, because I need that setup to ROCK!!!! LOUDLY.
I find my Triton 2s love to ROCK out, they seem to like to play loud. More so than my tube amp likes to do.
So it got relegated to the living room between two T 7s and makes that system sound oh, so sweet!!!!!
I hope this helps, and sorry for any confusion.
God Bless,
Wayne

No worries! I just wanted to be sure that anyone who happened across this did not get the impression that tubes, under normal conditions let's say, are flakey/unreliable. You must really like to rock out! Personally, I sit about 8 feet away from my T2s and 40ish per channel is plenty for me

anthem wrote: For Christmas I got a Decware Zen Torii MKlV > Oppo 105 > T2's

This is a dual mono 12 valve Class A Push Pull Amplifer - zero negative feedback - 25 watts

It comes with:
2 adjustable treble controls
2 reconstructive (positive) feedback switches
2 bass control switches
2 on/off switches
2 input Jacks and switch
2 speaker impedance switches
1 gain knob (volume control)

With all the different switches there are 16 sound combinations to experiment with. It's literally 16 different amplifiers at your fingertips.

As the weeks go by, I want to put my Primaluna Premium Preamp into the mixture and see what we can stir up.

Nice Anthem! Lots of tuning options. That's hours of fun right there! That's actually one of the reasons I went the tube route...so I could mix and match tube combos to experiment with the sound. I don't look at it as the fact that I HAVE to change tubes out as they die, as much as I GET to I'd love hear about your conclusions and preferred settings once you are done experimenting. I'd actually drive to any Denver GE owners home just to hear different amps and how they change the tritons character.

That being said, I did get a chance to hear the T1s a few day ago and they were wonderful. However, the room acoustics were definitely superior to my own listening space, which made it hard to tell just how much better they are over the T2. I'm tempted to ask the dealer to let me haul in my integrated and hook it up to the T1s. That would be one more piece that was the same at least.

Thanks Ransom for your input!!!!
That Prima Luna you have must be sweet, I have heard nothing but good about it.
Yeah, I enjoy the tube rolling aspect of having tube equipment too. I don't like the anemic 1.5 watt tube amps that have to be played on horn speakers and can play the sweetest syrupy female vocals, but bass is flabby and treble rolled off. I like tubes like yours that can take names and kick ass.
You do know you can crank up the volume on those Triton 2s don't you???? ha ha
They will ROCK!!!! What i am saying is, that a lot of us with the 2s find they really seem to like to play loud. And I guess I find myself playing them louder than any speaker I ever owned, just because they sound so smooth and controlled and effortless. That is what is SWEET to me.
I would really be interested to hear, if the dealer will let you listen to the Triton Ones with your amp, how it goes? I bet that would sound really FINE!!!!!
Thanks for your writing and joining in the fun.
It is FUN, music and movies and toobes,
God Bless,
Wayne