Me and my Zana Deux (+ pics)...

[riceboy]

(starts costing flights to Hawaii)

Yeah.. Would be easy if I was at least in the CONUS.

[mulveling]

Good points for sure mulveling. The Dragon is great. I've been happy with it from day one. I'm not sure what is meant by a continuous volume pot, but I'm assuming it is like my SP SLAM PPX3. It doesn't have a stepped attenuator, but the Dragon does. I do like the fact that I can dial in to what I'm listening to on my SLAM, and once in a great while have some trouble dialing in just right with the Dragon, but it's a small thing for me, and the sound with the stepped attenuator installed is probably better than having it without one.

Sure wish you guys could come over and check out the Dragon... Just come to Hawaii and enjoy the sun and beaches.

BTW, what type of GE12AY7 am I looking for. I see some from 1950s and then some from 1960s? They vary in price from $50 for one to $20 on Ebay. I'm pretty much a tube noob , so not sure where a good reliable place would be to purchase tubes. Any insight and help is much appreciated.

Nice offer

Too bad I hate traveling, heh.

Hmm, I got curious partially through Jethro Tull Under Wraps and just switched from the Supra to Zana. Yep, I really did miss it.

Not sure about the variants on the GE 12ay7 - I've got two types that look similar except one type has red print and the other has white. They sound the same. The reds have some numbers like "63-52" on them, perhaps that means 1963 vintage? I'd doubt the premium prices are worth paying, though I know the temptation to go for them when tube shopping just to "be sure".

[riceboy]

Nice offer

Too bad I hate traveling, heh.

Hmm, I got curious partially through Jethro Tull Under Wraps and just switched from the Supra to Zana. Yep, I really did miss it.

Not sure about the variants on the GE 12ay7 - I've got two types that look similar except one type has red print and the other has white. They sound the same. The reds have some numbers like "63-52" on them, perhaps that means 1963 vintage? I'd doubt the premium prices are worth paying, though I know the temptation to go for them when tube shopping just to "be sure".

Thanks Mulveling. I saw one at tube world that I might purchase just to try it out. Thanks again for your help.

[complin]

What got me about the Zana was how it's unlike other tube amps - where's the coloration? I've heard tube amps that are quite warm, lush, tubey - the SDS being the perfect example here. And then I've heard tubes that run the opposite end of the spectrum and are even somewhat aggressive in the upper mids/lower treble area. The Zana sounds neutral, just totally unbiased towards any part of the spectrum. Grain-less like good tubes. Great slam & dynamics like powerful tubes. Tonally natural like great tubes, not at all tonally sterile like most SS. Not tonally soft, not hard. Fast & resolving like any great amp, tube or SS.

I must admit I'd become used to the warm organic sound of the SDS and the extra "kick" it adds to the bass. The result is totally unfatiguing and a good match, to my tastes, for really hard rock and metal. It also happens to sound excellent with really good recordings of slower stuff. The Zana, however, seems to be optimized for the good recordings. Of course it can still really rock down with heavy stuff like Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, and Judas Priest (I was listening to Judas Priest "Sin After Sin" tonight and damn did it sound sweet on the Zana!) - but the Zana seems voiced more so for the best recordings. I reserve the right to tweak my opinion on this matter in the future Stuff that seemed just right for the Zana included my LP's of: Steely Dan - Aja, Michael Jackson - Thriller, Dire Straits - Love Over Gold, Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat, and Madonna - Madonna. It's amazing the cleanness and separation with which the Zana can render these albums. When I listened to Aja for the first time, it was completely mind-blowing how distinctly reproduced each layer of music was, totally unaffected and uncolored by any other layer, and how as a result they all summed to form a much greater whole. It's like when the brain doesn't have to spend the processing effort to separate things that have been blurred together along the audio chain, the analytical side of the brain can shut down and the creative side of the brain is left to observe in awe. The Zana excels at this kind of stuff.

Anyways, I'm really enjoying the Zana Deux so far. The SDS is currently unplugged (ran out of rack space), so I'll need to do some more formal comparisons with the Zana later on. The Zana Deux also seems to be excellent as a preamp. Really, really excellent. With prices from all the major manufacturers' top amps seemingly on the rise, is the Zana Deux the last "bargain" in high end headphone amplifiers? Recently, $1900 doesn't seem the overly generous budget it used to be...

Pics:

So has the Zan surplanted the single power in your affections?

You seem to say that the SP's have a house sound that you would not describe as neutral or life like?

I feel this to be tru but have been having a converstaion with someone else at the other place who insists this is wrong. I just cant saquare his opinon with what ive heard myself!

[darkless]

So has the Zan surplanted the single power in your affections?

You seem to say that the SP's have a house sound that you would not describe as neutral or life like?

I feel this to be tru but have been having a converstaion with someone else at the other place who insists this is wrong. I just cant saquare his opinon with what ive heard myself!

AFAIK it greatly depends on which SP amps you compare with and also the installed tubes. IIRC the SDS with 6SN7 tubes is warm and euphonic whereas the SP Extreme is very dynamic, focusing on clarity and speed. As for which one feels more "real", that's probably a matter of taste.

[mulveling]

Zana Deux

It's still a tough choice of the 3 amps, but based on the raw numbers I've been liking the Zana Deux more often, on most of my recordings. The Supra SE sounds super-clean and does a bit better than the Zana on the best-mastered new records. The Supra SE has a very clean, tight sound that's very exciting at first, but with time I noticed it's perhaps a bit over-"hard" in some cases. I have the hunch the Supra SE would be superbly voiced for SACD, and I need to confirm this suspicion soon. However, the bulk of my records are from the 70s and they mesh better with the warmer, inviting tone of the Zana. The Zana is just more musical and unrestrained on these albums, and certainly does excellent as well on the new stuff - that's the great thing about it, you can just sit down with ANY album and be confident it's in good hands. The SDS prototype is even warmer but clearly lacks some power and low-end control (especially on low impedance cans) compared to the other two. Certainly good for a change-up on things every now and again. The SDS and Supra SE sound quite different, so I'm not sure about a SP house sound. Purk's SDS SE does sound like the best attributes of the two combined together (tone & soundstage of SDS++, lows of Supra SE), though.

Please keep in mind that I DO NOT subscribe to the idea that synergy involves balancing attributes off against each other, hence why I like to pair things up that have similar attributes - obviously this breaks down when you're paring up things with severe colorations, but none of the above gear has that problem

The Zana Deux, HD650, and now HP2 all sound somewhat like "vinyl" to me, hence why they all go great together

[mulveling]

Re-posting the latest Zana & friends images here, so sue me

Also, I switched to a Tung-Sol 2c51 driver tube on the Supra SE a while back and got a good touch more warmth (I like), but still a slightly colder tone than the Zana.

[jeffreyj900]

I got the last spot on the latest Zana run I am really looking forward to getting it, and appreciate your impressions! And pictures Oh, and that Supra is HUGE!

Jeff

[mulveling]

I got the last spot on the latest Zana run I am really looking forward to getting it, and appreciate your impressions! And pictures Oh, and that Supra is HUGE!

Jeff

Congrats on nabbing that last Zana! You made an excellent choice for musical enjoyment over a WIDE range of headphones, plus it's not a half-bad investment in that it should hold value very well. Especially considering the falling dollar these days - why hold onto worthless dollars when you could have something fun?

Yeah, the Supra is a big shiny tank!

[Smeggy]

I bet those Joe Grados sound spiffy on the Zana too.

Jealousy meter rising....

[mulveling]

Hp-2's with the ZD is a pretty epic pairing.

Yep, I gotta admit I've been listening for a few hours and it's hard to stop. Finally, I get to hear them on a truly appropriate source & amp

The hp2's have that super-clean and pure midrange, beyond what the 650 can muster on my rig, and similar to what the uber-cans (R10, orpheus) do there. The sound stage size is quite good and seems to benefit nicely from vinyl; to a noticeably greater degree than the L3000 does. The HD650 still wins on sound stage, (and the R10/Orpheus will crush it) but the hp2 has those nice clean mids. I've always thought the macro-features of the frequency range balance between the 650/hp2 sounded quite similar and I still feel that way - it's a balance that I find extremely agreeable with vinyl.

What I like about the 650/hp2/l3000/qualia over some of the other uber cans is the sense of weight, power and guts to the sound, especially in the low end. The hp2 especially lends an extra-firm weightiness to notes that's exhilarating, without sacrificing the overall flow of the music (which is so crucially important to listen-ability). Some gear achieves this weight/fimness at the expense of flow (and I always end up disliking it), the hp2 excels at both, perhaps better than anything else other than the Qualia (Qualia also gets near perfect scores here). The L3000 and Hd650 have excellent weight (better in the L3000's case), but lack that last touch of firmness. The Qualia is an odd devil in that the dry-ish mids can be strange at first (even distant and hollow), but it's somehow capable of sounding brilliantly more speaker-like (sans room acoustics issues) than any other headphone experience I've had. It's not a trick of massive perceived sound stage either (like R10), they just...disappear...hard to understand, even harder to describe.

btw - I NEVER got the "hp2 neutrality == kinda boring" philosophy, and I NEVER will. There is NOTHING boring that I can hear. What's boring to me is the aforementioned gear that seems to impede musical flow...truly a boring listen.

[Elephas]

What I like about the 650/hp2/l3000/qualia over some of the other uber cans is the sense of weight, power and guts to the sound, especially in the low end.

I agree the HD650, HP2, L3000 and Qualia have very good sense of weight and mass behind the sound. Bass impact is seems to be more solid and have more substance. The R10, HE90 and others such as the W5000 have very good quality bass, but they have less sense of weight behind the bass notes. I do prefer the R10, HE90 and W5000 (recabled) over the HD650, HP2 and L3000 (stock), though, for other reasons.

For jeffrey, here's a shot of the ZD with PS-1 and Qualia. Note, the headphones were placed there only briefly for the photo, the ZD gets very warm.

[mulveling]

Beautiful pic, Elepahs. I'm glad I lucked out with the shiny face plate, but admit I'm jealous of the nice new logo plates on top. Also jealous of you guys with your fancy winged-C 6c33's! Where do I find those? Also have yet to hear the PS1, which reports indicate should be up my sonic alley

I'm interested in the story behind the newer diode tubes, but the 6DT4 tubes in mine are cheap so no major complaints there

[Elephas]

I got the Winged-C 6C33C tubes from eBay seller "galperj" (something like that, I believe he's also on Audiogon). They were expensive, but they came sealed in plastic bags and giant-size cardboard boxes.

The rectifier tubes are inexpensive. Craig included a pair and I got two more pairs on eBay. Overall, the 5 tubes in the ZD are not very costly and that's one of the things I like about it.

The PS-1 is definitely a basshead headphone. Its bass can seem too dominant at times to me, a supposedly non-basshead. But after listening for a while I get used to it and then everything else seems to have dinky bass. Well, not the L3000, that's another basshead headphone.

Yeah, I think the shiny black faceplate looks better, I'm jealous. I remember seeing a silver faceplate that also looks very good.

[recstar24]

That is whom I got my winged C's from as well. Very good guy, those tubes were in their original packaging and hermetically sealed in plastic bags that was typical of svetlana at the time. One of mine went dead within a couple of hours and the seller replaced it, good integrity.

As you can see mike the new diodes have those plate caps. I did touch the top of the tube one time before installing the plate cap in the beginning - biiiiigggg mistage. Nice shock of whatever B+ was going through it.

And I concur, the HP2 with zana is pretty epic. RS-1 aint shabby either. It helps that in the low impedance the ZD doesn't really drive much voltage but there is a good chunk of current flowing through the 6c33cb's, coupled with their low gain you get a really nice grado amp.

I got the Winged-C 6C33C tubes from eBay seller "galperj" (something like that, I believe he's also on Audiogon). They were expensive, but they came sealed in plastic bags and giant-size cardboard boxes.

The rectifier tubes are inexpensive. Craig included a pair and I got two more pairs on eBay. Overall, the 5 tubes in the ZD are not very costly and that's one of the things I like about it.

The PS-1 is definitely a basshead headphone. Its bass can seem too dominant at times to me, a supposedly non-basshead. But after listening for a while I get used to it and then everything else seems to have dinky bass. Well, not the L3000, that's another basshead headphone.

Yeah, I think the shiny black faceplate looks better, I'm jealous. I remember seeing a silver faceplate that also looks very good.

[jeffreyj900]

Nice pic Elepahs! I plan on having the Zana on the top shelf with nothing above it. I'll be using it with RS-1, HD650/580 Cardas, and Meridian G07. Hope it pairs well!

Jeff

[Elephas]

Haha, one of my Winged C 6C33C also died within the first hour, but I was dumb and bought another one from the seller. I figured the tube was brand-new, so it wasn't the seller's fault anyway. I guess it never hurts to ask.

Since then, which was about four months ago, the two Winged C 6C33C have been working fine.

Yeah, the ZD needs plenty of ventilation and should be on the topmost shelf. The RS-1 and HD650/HD600 sound great with the ZD.

[postjack]

Please keep in mind that I DO NOT subscribe to the idea that synergy involves balancing attributes off against each other, hence why I like to pair things up that have similar attributes - obviously this breaks down when you're paring up things with severe colorations, but none of the above gear has that problem

Though I don't completely discount the idea of complimentary synergy, I too tend towards what I once read Jahn call "additive" synergy. My 840C > 840A > Quad 12L is a great example of this, with a super clean sound from top to bottom, and a cool but liquid midrange with good treble extension in all three components.

Also, the way you organize your records looks kind of like the way I organize mine in the extra bedroom, which has become the "throw all your audio crap in here" room.

[mulveling]

Though I don't completely discount the idea of complimentary synergy, I too tend towards what I once read Jahn call "additive" synergy. My 840C > 840A > Quad 12L is a great example of this, with a super clean sound from top to bottom, and a cool but liquid midrange with good treble extension in all three components.

Also, the way you organize your records looks kind of like the way I organize mine in the extra bedroom, which has become the "throw all your audio crap in here" room.

Indeed, a record shelving set is long overdue here, but I'm trying to holding off until I move. I am sooo looking forward to moving, hopefully later this month (please, no more delays), where I'll finally have ample room to consolidate both rigs, and no residential neighbors in sight so I can run the speakers loud as hell all night, at least in theory Vastly cheaper rent will mean more gear funds. I get all that and that and a vintage big fat metal main entrance door - will post pics when I move in. That thing is a work of art, so cool

Speaking of cool, clean mids - the hp2 and Qualia are the rare cans I love that lack a warm coloration to the mids. The hp2 perfectly exemplifies "clean, cool, but liquid", though perhaps then even there "cool" is too strong a word. I love my Tannoy TD10 mains so much because mids are even a bit cleaner, but then freedom from room effects is why I still love headphones.

[jeffreyj900]

Beautiful pic, Elepahs. I'm glad I lucked out with the shiny face plate, but admit I'm jealous of the nice new logo plates on top. Also jealous of you guys with your fancy winged-C 6c33's! Where do I find those? Also have yet to hear the PS1, which reports indicate should be up my sonic alley

I'm interested in the story behind the newer diode tubes, but the 6DT4 tubes in mine are cheap so no major complaints there

Will I get the "shiny face plate" with my new one? Also, I will be purchasing tubes from Craig when I buy it.... Do I have to say anything special to get the winged-C's when I tell him which tubes I want

[Elephas]

I don't think Craig has the "Winged C" versions of the 6C33C, just the regular "upside down Y" versions. Those will work fine, and are less expensive. Only crazy people have to have the "Winged C" versions.

Craig only included a pair of rectifiers with my ZD, I got the other tubes off eBay. Many 6SL7 are sold in pairs, so you'll have extras. We ZD owners are barbaric, breaking apart all those nicely matched pairs.

If you get a shiny faceplate, I'll trade you my cheapo-looking matte black faceplate for it.

[jeffreyj900]

I don't think Craig has the "Winged C" versions of the 6C33C, just the regular "upside down Y" versions. Those will work fine, and are less expensive. Only crazy people have to have the "Winged C" versions.

Craig only included a pair of rectifiers with my ZD, I got the other tubes off eBay. Many 6SL7 are sold in pairs, so you'll have extras. We ZD owners are barbaric, breaking apart all those nicely matched pairs.

If you get a shiny faceplate, I'll trade you my cheapo-looking matte black faceplate for it.

Thanks Elaphas. So.. I'm straight on tubes. Going to buy them from Craig to start out with. We will have to see on the faceplate trade

[bobmajor108]

I had the great fortune to send in a downpayment for the Zana Deux on my birthday, June 1st and Craig had a cancellation so I'm to get one of the next batch.

I'd been thinking of getting a tube amp but was put off by my only hearing of the Singlepower MPX3 (toaster). Perhaps the tubes were not to my liking but the whole presentation was warm and as if covered in honey, with not much natural soundstage left.

So the reviews of the Zana Deux made me excited to get one. I've been living in cramped quarters for the last two years and haven't been able to set up my speaker system. Next year I'll finally have more room and was thinking about a tube preamp for my system so having the tube headphone amp and a good preamp to use later was perfect.

I had used my Headroom Max 2004 amp as a pre before with pretty good results but I think the ZD will really be great for my system.

Since getting the GS-1000 which is practically as detailed as my speakers I haven't felt any hardship without the speaker system set up (VMPS 626R). I used a tube integrated amplifier (Dynaco) for almost 20 years so I know how great this will be.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and information about tube rolling.

Bob Major

[JBLoudG20]

I had the great fortune to send in a downpayment for the Zana Deux on my birthday, June 1st and Craig had a cancellation so I'm to get one of the next batch.

I'd been thinking of getting a tube amp but was put off by my only hearing of the Singlepower MPX3 (toaster). Perhaps the tubes were not to my liking but the whole presentation was warm and as if covered in honey, with not much natural soundstage left.

So the reviews of the Zana Deux made me excited to get one. I've been living in cramped quarters for the last two years and haven't been able to set up my speaker system. Next year I'll finally have more room and was thinking about a tube preamp for my system so having the tube headphone amp and a good preamp to use later was perfect.

I had used my Headroom Max 2004 amp as a pre before with pretty good results but I think the ZD will really be great for my system.

Since getting the GS-1000 which is practically as detailed as my speakers I haven't felt any hardship without the speaker system set up (VMPS 626R). I used a tube integrated amplifier (Dynaco) for almost 20 years so I know how great this will be.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and information about tube rolling.

Bob Major

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[guzziguy]

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Sorry about your thin skin.