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Decware - any substance here?

With such a nice and extensively detailed website, I've long been curious about Decware. But with little in the way of genuine reviews, and not much in the way of discussion here, I always wonder if they are nothing more than that, a great website. They clearly have a dedicated fanbase, but my problem with the fanbase is this: most of them (not all of course) seem to have limited experience with products besides Decware, as if they stumbled upon Decware and never bothered with other brands. Maybe this is positive, that once experienced they don't have the typical audiophile itch to try other amps. I'm specifically struck by the new Torii MKIII push-pull amp, which in description and looks is just beautiful. So does it interest anyone here? Has anyone actually heard it, or it's previous incarnations? If so how does it rate amongst the other quality tube amps, whether Blue Circle, Cary, Vac, Almarro, Atma-Sphere, etc...?
128x128jtnicolosi
sberger
146 posts
 
Those tubes are almost impossible to find.
jeff_ss
91 posts
 
The OP back in 2010 mentions no genuine reviews. There is one on the Zen Torii in Tone Audio, Issue 41 November 2011.
samelung
3 posts
 
I have only owned Solid State amps that cost a bit more than the Torii MK III and the Bob Latino ST-120 KT-88 tube amp. I really liked ST-120 but my Torii blows everything away that I have tried. It is the most musical amp I have ever owned. I never believed in “break in” until the Torii. After about 300 hours the amp was probably 25% better. It actually became more dynamic. I will probably never want another amp.
douger
104 posts
 
Now that I have had my Torii MKIII for nearly two months, I am ready to make an educated comparison with my other amps.
My Bottlehead 300B Paramounts are a great bargain, and a great way to experience 300B goodness on a budget. They give
world-class clarity using EH Gold tubes, and with my Clarity
speaker cables they have serious 8 watts each indeed...

Then I have my PrimaLuna Prologue 5 stereo amp, Gold Lion KT88s, no NFB, 36wpc. This amp is very clean and powerful into my 96dB Tannoy Canterbury SEs, very smooth and involving, also very cost-effective and reliable. It gives a very good account of the music, and not bad space...

My Torii MK III exhibits very high power with excellent clarity and it increases the level of detail, with no hifi artifacts at all, just the music.

I hope my economic world doesn't collapse so I don't have to sell any of them, but the Torii is really special!
hygienist
5 posts
 
I'm strongly considering the Torii MK III, but I'm in a delicate situation.

I'm pursuing a system that maximizes involvement and vocals (a romantic sound, basically), and though I don't have anything against accuracy/detail/dynamics/bass, I'll sacrifice them without a second thought if it gets me more of those two traits.

So, would the Torii be for me? It seems most people are espousing the traits like detail/bass/dynamics that I do not care about, whereas I've heard worrying things about involvement and vocals. In regards to involvement, I've heard from one person this errs more towards an intellectual presentation than an emotional one. Not that the Torii isn't emotional, but if I'm searching for the most emotional/involving amp possible, would I be directed towards the Torii? I also haven't heard much about the vocals, which to me I guess means they're good but not a standout, I'd suppose?

It's a sticky issue for me whether or not to audition, mostly because I can't. I'm sitting on Cary 805C monoblocks that I just purchased, and I'm trying to figure out whether I made the wrong decision and I should just get the Torii. I don't have a pre-amp, so I'll have to buy one, and after that I just don't have the money to float to get a Torii.
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