Decware - any substance here?

Gasm,

Thanks for the feedback.

Marty

I own the TORII MK III w/ VCAPS. I got the unit about 1.5 wks. ago after about a 2month wait. The amp is still breaking in, the VCAPS rather as I only have about 350 hours on the amp. The VCAPS take 1000 hours so a real review of this amp isn't possible. What I can say is the amp won't push my SF Auditors with any kind of volume, they are 88 db. I can say that the amp easily pushes a pair of Vince Christian E-6 90db to high levels with clipping. That combo with a sub is immensely revealing, too much so at its current break in point. It sound amazing but a tad forward, which is a combo of a very highly resolving amp and highly resolving speakers. Not to mention I have highly resolving cables.SR. The amp though at low volumes is truly amazing in its resolving power, I hear details I didn't know existed in my Analog playback hardware. Somewhat ruthless combo, if the material isn't top of the line then you hear what is on the material nothing more nothing less. The real deal, 100% percent. A value that goes beyond words, 100%. A complex piece of simplicity 100%. The last amp most would ever need 100%. Listening to the designer, worth the price of admission right there. I have compared it to a 4500$ Meridian Amp that is outstanding and a Jeff Rowland Amp. The Meridian Amps will stand up to just about anything IMO. They are sleepers, most folk think of Meridian for digital but they started out making amps. I have three M amps. The Rowland amps I have had are also great but in comparison to the Decware TORII MK III I'd have to say the Rowland and the Meridian at 2 and 3 times the price of the DECWARE, not in same league, even remotely. Hand built point to point bullet proof design, adding the VCAPS and Treasure Output Tubes set the stage/foundation for ANYTHING you can throw at it. NO AUDIO SALESPERSON has a right to cut this amp down because they know of something better, because in reality they don't and if they do it would cost 30K. The audio industry sells unbelievably overpriced crap in reality most which lose its value so fast you wouldn't have time to look at your watch. Its no wonder the like of many of these big companies keep changing hands, everything is unpredictable. I just don't know what to say about retail audio except for that it is a rip off big time not to mention a bad investment. I cannot think of ONE piece of audio or video equipment that even comes close to the value of the Decware Torii MK III or any of Decware's amps for that matter. Built to last a lifetime, amazing sounding, unbelievably flexible, economic, burn so much electricity I would consider them for LEED points opposed to almost all Transistor based amps. Its amazing more engineers don't get the BIG as well as Steve Deckert has, I am blown away at what kind of system a person can put together from Decware for the cost of a medium high end pair on speaker cables. Really makes me wonder just how much bullshit there is flying around from Audio Dealers and their respective lines. A true money making machine that we assist you into foreclosure in a heartbeat if you follow any one of these such dealers advice and buy say a Meridian Surround Sound Processor, or a Theta Surround Sound processor, or a Krell and the likes. Who needs a 35K pair of Wilson speaker's, to waste money. Its really sad, but the upside is you still can buy a Decware Amp and be ahead of the game in every regard and still have plenty of money to buy material to listen to This all from a guy who has learned the hard way.
Cheers

Several years ago, I bought a Decware 34I to replace my Audible illusions 3A and Belles Hot Rod amp. The 34I was so much more involving and i found myself stuck in front of my system for hours. I did not think that any gear could captivate an adult like this but this amp did it for me! It drove my Vandersteen 1Cs at low levels with such detail and also at such high levels but not clipping these speakers! Before the separates, I had the Cary SLI-80 which was sweet and tubey (and slow) compared to the Decware. The Decware 34I was more dimensional and fast,and the notes would just hang on some recordings. Then, a year or so later, i tried the 84C+ (with 1/2 the power) and the music sounded even clearer (but less powerful) with the Vandies so i reluctantly sent it back to the manufacturer. I owned lots of gear (Cary, Rogue, Belles, Audible Illusions)before, but the Decware amps are the best sounding amps that i ever had. Highly recommended.

Jwt,

From what you've written it sounds like the Torii is hyper resolving--is it ever distractingly so? I favor musicality, tone and dynamics over uber-detail. Do you think the amp errs to the analytical side at all?

For example, I have owned and ultimately sold Atma-sphere which seemed to do most things very right and impressively, but ultimately was uninvolving for my preferences.

The Torii is a serious contender for me--especially wanting a successor that sounds as good or better than my 845 SET without being as big a safety hazard to my infant son/putting out as much heat.

What I meant by very detailed at low levels, was that you hear all the notes of the music clearly at a very low level without needing to have it playing fairly loud to distingush all the instruments in the music. I would not call the amps i heard hyper resolving or analytical but more like a pleasantly dimensional sound of music.