Eddie Current Zana Deux S

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Luckbad, Apr 5, 2016.

  1. Deskaudio

    Deskaudio New

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    Actually the differences are very minute so it's really splitting hairs. With that in mind the brimar 6sl7gt and the mullard are very similar in terms of clarity, detail and articulation with vocals and strings. A small edge in bass to the brimar. The cv1985 has only slightly less realism, very slight. Again very small difference between them, all very good. Maybe the different burn in times explains the differences as they were bought used.
     
  2. skem

    skem Friend

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    Marv,

    Can you clarify what you meant by this? In what way do you dislike ZDS + planar?

    S
     
  3. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    High output impedance, low output power.
     
  4. skem

    skem Friend

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    Thanks, @thegunner100 (& @sheldaze, @Vansen).

    On power (or rather voltage), I can’t argue. But I find ZDS has enough output voltage for my volume needs on HEK. Certainly some planars won’t get anywhere loud enough, but others will. In any case, this doesn’t qualify as a general “sucking,” IMO.

    On output impedance: two issues here: one is power-transfer efficiency that leads to a loss of FR flatness; the other is distortion. Planars are fairly non-reactive (mostly resistive), so there’s almost no FR effect. On distortion, when ZDS is set to H output I can totally hear distortion. But when set to L impedance, I cannot; or at least not any that I would characterize as unpleasant, when using a 34Ω HEK. I A/B tested the ZDS on L setting against my 0.11Ω output-impedance solidstate amp, and much preferred the ZDS with the HEK.

    ZDS is a great amp and I don’t think I’d like people to be deterred by thinking it “sucks” if they are willing to live with reasonable listening volumes. Perhaps my hearing cannot discern what others find to be terrible distortion, but I for one don’t hear it when set to “L”.

    I will say I can hear distortion when the line-in voltage is very high, but that’s a different matter unrelated to headphones.

    FWIW, does anybody know the output impedance of ZDS when set to L? EC doesn’t list it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2018
  5. sheldaze

    sheldaze Friend

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    It is from the TH-X00 thread, which is a dynamic headphone that requires a low output impedance.
     
  6. Deskaudio

    Deskaudio New

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  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  8. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Yes.
     
  9. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I am disappointed. We are entitled to a 3000 word treatise on every point where the Zana Deux outpaces the Valhalla 2 due yesterday.

    SBAF? More like BS audio friends!
     
  10. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    I can feel the love vibing , mate:D
     
  11. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Hey man you asked "is it" so I answered as best I could :) Seriously though the Zana is very impactful, fast, and very open and holographic sounding. A bit warm and thick but not in the stereotypical tubey sense of the word, and you can run a driver tube that pushes it in either direction depending on preferences and headphones. And you only need to worry about rolling the 1 driver tube so you can do dumb stuff like buy an expensive mullard or fivre for it. Its as clean as an otl can be, and isnt very sensitive to power in my experience. I love it with the hd600/650/800, and also really nice with the Utopia and Elex/Eclair. Just don't plug a playnar into it cause it will self destruct in t-10 seconds.
     
  12. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Nonsense! I plugged HE-6 into it and it worked. You could faintly hear sounds like screaming mice.

    Seriously though, its not that bad with effecient planars but it's also not the tightest or clearest amp for them.
     
  13. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Those were the sounds of sacrificial mice dying.

    Seriously though if you have a freaking planar just use a different freakin amp, even just a magni or Vali hybrid so and so. Does the Zana produce sound with a playnar? Sure, but let's be real. By this rationale any headphone will make sound with any amp but then what are we doing here looking for what goes well with what. Might as well just shut sbaf down for good cause game over haha
     
  14. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    Now I’m in love with it! Cheers\/
     
  15. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Are you changing your avatar every other post now?
     
  16. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    I don’t know if this a identify crises, or my audio nervosa it’s melting into a full OCD.
    I should not probably stop my Meds to drink sakê:drunk:
     
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    If you want transparent, use the saga.
     
  18. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I agree with @zerodeefex I was using Freya for volume control convenience with ZD and Jot hooked up as well as Vidar for speakers. I mostly used Freya in passive mode and with ZD which meant single ended. So really just an expensive volume control. Saga is the cheaper more transparent option.
     
  19. bxh

    bxh Friend

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    The EY500 are the correct equivalent tube to the 6D22S, just keep in mind they are almost a full inch taller than 6D22S and with the power supply chassis of my 445, they do not fit, but I run it topless. Do this at your own risk as it is high voltage. There are lots of EY500s on ebay for ~5$ each, just make sure to get a matched pair.

    I've had good luck with NOS GE EY500 which Craig recommended, they sound better than the 6D22S having a more open soundstage and higher quality low end.

    EDIT: Forgot the ZD does not have internal rect tubes, I guess height isn't an issue so long as you have long enough leads for them.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2018
  20. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    After few days using Yggdrasil to freya to ZDS , I’m not happy with the results. My thoughts are aligned with some friends earlier impressions. The freya add a blur in the resolution and image of the instruments. I could felt it even in the passive mode. My other hypothesis was the new cable adding, but I don’t want to enter this matter. Using the tube buffer, as expected worsened the problem, specially in the lower frequency. But the sound was less bright and edgy when compared to passive preamp. Maybe this can improve with time... some people have observed burn in in freya. For now, I using ZDS connected to Yggdrasil with better results and working out my fat ass to get up from the sofa to change the volume between songs. Tchau amigos
     

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