Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Happy to report that I've been successful in my quest to acquire a used Decware Zen Triode 25th Anniversary amp (about six months old) and the Enleum 23R amp (new).  The Decware should be here in a few days and the Enleum will leave Korea shortly.  Will be careful to break in Enleum for 200-300 hours before going to battle.  Honestly, after reading about the synergy these two amps have with the Nens, I'm totally lost as to which might emerge the winner or if that might even be discernible--the differences boiling down to a matter of taste.  There's a third amp in the mix--well a fourth if you count my "reference" Vinnie Rossi L2iSE.  All I'll say about it now is that it's a highly regarded SEP with about double the output of the Zen. This should be interesting.

@stephendunn 

This should be interesting

Indeed!  As always I'm looking forward to your listening impressions. This should be quite informative. 

Charles

@stephendunn Fun times in the near future, for sure. The differences between all four amps and which ones draw you in the most will be very interesting to follow.

I’m curious and interested in the Enleum’s headphone performance. Is that an area you will be teasing out?

Another teaser from 6Moons... A driver based on the Neo V2 and F10 Select.

New Cube Audio Driver

David, yes I will be evaluating headphone performance as well especially since the mystery amp, a Decware Taboo MK IV, is actually a headphone amp that is also designed to drive speakers. My current long time headphone amp is a Melos SHA 1 which, despite its age (mid ’90’s), fixed power cord and single tube circuit, has held pride of place against all challengers, most recently the VR L2iSE (which admittedly is not designed as a headphone amp). My headphones are Hifiman HE1000se.

Despite my curiosity to hear the V2 driver, I’m approaching the decision not to upgrade simply on the basis of the new driver’s 3db loss of sensitivity. Even if one of the solid state amps wins the up coming shoot out, I think I would still want the original driver’s 93db sensitivity to check out other lower watt tube amps in the future. One of the great attributes of the original Nen driver IMHO is that it behaves as if it has much higher sensitivity, say 96 or 98db, probably because its load doesn’t dip below 4 ohms. I know Vinpic is happy with the upgrade and its pairing with the Enleum 23R, so if that amp emerges head and shoulders above the rest, I might reconsider. We’ll see.