Eddie Current Zana Deux S

There.
Looks like some of them don't have labels.

 

Here's something I wrote to a couple inquiring people after I sold some of mine. The bottom one looks like my daily driver Sylvania VT-229 6sl7GT, the one above it seems to be the mentioned TungSol 6SU7GT, and if that RCA is a 5961 it is likely pretty laid back

 

The top two are la fivre 6sl7s. The 3rd one from the top is an rca 6sl7gt. the next two are sylvania 6sl7gts.

 

I heard this today. The ZDS is rather soft, not that dynamic (The Speedball Crack and Grace M9XX are more so), and is an OTL that imprints its own bass timbre on DACs as varied as the Bifrost Multibit and the Grace M9XX. Good staging though, like a scaled up Valhalla 2 without the grain. That being said, I think the THS6012 based amp in the Grace is technically better.

EC ZDS ruined Mickweed Fleet's drumming on Fleetwood Mac Rumors though. It made a 6'5 giant sized guy bashing well-tuned, real-skinned drums while high out of his mind on cocaine sound like a sober midget. EC ZDS is not for cavemen.

 

The Fivres are the best tubes in the bunch there. There are a couple variants and I've hoarded the best of the variants. They bring the amp to life and eliminate the thickness associated with the proverbial ZDS reference tube - Mullard ECC35. And they stage better than the rest as well. My ZDS is on par with my T3 in terms of dynamics (unless I swap in ultra aggressive 12AT7s), but is much fuller and does bass detail much better. Can't quite tell which version of the Fivres you've got there, but you're on the right track. There are Valvos that are nearly identical as well - same plate structure, etc. Slightly less holographic though.

 

The Fivre I tried seemed bassier than the VT-229, but I need to spend more time with them to know if I like that or not.

Am I the only one who can only grasp about 10-30% of what @Psalmanazar says? Every post is like screamed metal lyrics. I'm pretty sure there's something about the devil in there, and I'm into it, but it could just be a shopping list.

 

@Psalmanazar Definitely has his own tastes and views. It seems he finds professional audio interfaces and amps to be technically more accurate and truthful for his intended purposes. Nothing wrong with that, but a lot of audiophile stuff has it's own character and is generally warmer and bassier than professional studio gear so he won't like most of it.

They're really apples to oranges, IMO.

 

Not really. Tons of "professional" stuff imprints a sound that masks that of a recording or gear higher up in the chain too rather than showing you what you feed it (high fidelity/faithfulness/transparency). The EC ZDS just has that otl bass combined with soft attack and transient compression making kick drums sound like tossing a raw steak around. It's not deflated tires or pool noodles style sound but it's definitely colored.

 

Oh I agree. It's euphoric, as they describe it on their site.

I've read a lot about which DACs you prefer, can you recommend some good amps? I think you use Asgard 1?

 

No, nothing wrong with his opinion.. I just can't always piece together what he's talking about. My fault. I went to a state college.

 

Thanks. Does that mean Gungnir Multibit or do the last four letters mean something else?

 

Gumbreya is a Gungnir Multibit that was frankenstein'd to use the analog output stage of the Freya pre-amp

 

Some @Psalmanazar greatest hits:

• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ove-appreciation-thread.44/page-35#post-51090
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...jotunheim-impressions.2700/page-31#post-79482
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...jotunheim-impressions.2700/page-30#post-79334
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ags-and-poor-redditors.3369/page-2#post-99664 (not for the faint of heart)
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/tube-vs-solid-state.3296/#post-100510
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/neurochrome-hp-1.3089/page-9#post-103087
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...d-four-hot-amps-a-comparison.2456/#post-64470
  
• http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...s-total-single-chassis.140/page-35#post-64250

 

Basically as I gather Psalm's recommended components at a lower level are:

Budget:
Modi 2U 4396 + Asgard2 + HD650

Middle:
Gungnir Multibit (DC-1 if speakers are also involved) + BW2 + HD650/modded HD800

 

This isn't the thread for it but there's no real point in searching for the old Modi 2U. Just buy the new one. I would say for a budget under 500 make something from the Schiit lineup with the Modi 2U with the 600 or 650. Or just get the Grace M9XX if you need a dongle despite XMOS drivers. If you're using speakers get one of the Steinbergs as those actually work more often than the Focusrites despite using a worse chip. Mid-tier has tons and tons of options but the DC-1 and the Gungnir Multibit are both good and incredibly bang for buck. BW2 is colored but I hate the modded HD 800 even though modded it's perfectly listenable but still beyond forward in the upper mids/low treble; it's crunchy.

 

I heard Sheldaze's. I have no idea which make and model of ZDS it was. I am just reporting what I heard which was soft and compressed transients that made Mick Fleetwood sound like a wimp.

 

I can say that with my OG Zana Deux with upgrades, dynamics, frequency response, clarity, and staging are all highly dependent upon tube selection as well as interconnects. I have gone back to my least favorite tube, and interconnects, and ironically they are the perfect match for each other!

Full chain is Steinberg MR816x coax->Gungnir Multibit->Bal Pangea Audio XLR->Jensen ISOMAX->Pangea RCA->Zana Deux with Sylvania VT-229.

Until I found this combination I was always listening for faults in my gear, where I wanted more of this or that. Now, anything I play is engaging, dynamic, and musical. I've caught myself listening while squirming in my chair because I have to pee so bad. I can't stop!

TLDR: Zana Deux/S with the appropriate chain/tube is amazeballs!

@Psalmanazar, the balanced out from Gungnir Multibit to Jensen ISOMAX cleans up the Gungnir Multibit bass weirdness.

 

That's physically impossible as the signal has already been fucked with and you can't go back; you're just planting the bass timbre of the Jensen ISOMAX over the Gungnir Multibit's bass error weirdness. Think a tattoo coverup versus removing the tattoo with a laser, which is impossible here.

 

That makes sense. What I was trying to say is the balanced output with the Jesen conversion is superior and has less of a bass bloom/funkiness compared to the summed single ended output.