Eddie Current Zana Deux S

Received my ZDS from EC yesterday and I have to say, so far I'm quite impressed! I had a BW v2 previously, and while I enjoyed the smooth and enveloping sound, I found it lacked a bit of treble presence and general "liveliness" with the 650. Once I was confident that I was going to stick to dynamics for the foreseeable future, I sold it and went with the ZDS. Since then, I've been using a Vali 2, so take my gushing with a grain of salt!

I'm using the stock 6SL7, but have a few other options on the way (RCA 5691, Phillips JAN 6SL7, Tungsol 6SU7GTY). Even with the tube still burning in, the sound is nothing short of amazing with my modded HD650/580. I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before, but the synergy is impeccable. My 650 has the full suite of "SBAF" mods (not KISS mods) and the impact, soundstage, and speed is remarkable. The low end of the BW was voluptuous, but if my memory is serving me properly, it didn't quite have the speed and texture that I'm hearing on the ZDS. With the output impedance set to High, it can really slam hard, and adds some mid-bass warmth. For warm-ish recordings, I can put in on Low if it gets too muddy. The mids are remarkably smooth and render voices and acoustic instruments in an eerily realistic way. But perhaps the greatest "trick" that I've noticed so far, is that the treble has the uncanny ability to have both a fair amount of presence/detail while remaining unfatiguing.

This is my first purchase of a tube amp of this caliber, and I'm mightily impressed. Was hard to turn it off and go to bed last night! Thanks to Craig, Judi, and the EC crew for making such an awesome amp!

 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a DAC I could use with the Zana Deux Super? Currently I am using a Chord Mojo or a AK380 to feed it. I also have a Violectric V850, but this one is too far away at the other side of the room (to feed the V281) to connect it via RCA. I guess I would need a 6-10m cable for that and fear that there could be too much influence on the sound quality considering the length. So my plan is to place my Intel NUC near the ZDS and use another DAC between the both. However now I am looking for a DAC which matches the ZDS capabilities. Any suggestion?

 

ZDS #115 in the house.

 

I am usually more of a monochrome guy. But on the Zana Deux, I like the grey top and bottom plates. Very nice!

 

wow that is nice

 

Driving the Utopia on low, on an album like Jazz at the Pawnshop, I could crank the volume up to the maximum and the average SPL only reaches around 85. Is that normal?

Also, static noise can be heard sometimes (especially on high), but there are also times wherein it's not there, any idea what's possibly causing this?

 

Needless to say, this is highly abnormal behavior. I usually have the dial around 9-11 o'clock. I would check source/cable issues and make sure tubes are in place. Otherwise I would reach out to EC directly, barring another member's sage advice.

 

For some reason, removing the Jensen transformer from the chain solved the problem. I got the transformer used though, so it may have some problems.

 

Try setting the dip switches on the jensen so that it passes ground through (set them all to ON). I had a similar problem with static noise on my 445 and that fixed it.

The transformer will reduce the signal level as it is meant to convert from pro to consumer levels. Not sure if it's enough that you would need to max it out for Utopia though.

 

So, I was discussing with @JoshMorr and others how good I think the Spinal Tap vinyl sounds compared to CD, when this realization happened.

Zana Deux (and most other EC amps) has Eleven "volume dots", Craig a Spinal Tap fan?


Or am I way overthinking this in pursuit of an Easter Egg that's not there?

 

Fencepost problem. 11 demarcations are necessary for 0 to 10 indexing by 1. Look at the picture and you will count 12 demarcations (3 is hidden behind the knob).

 

Haha yes you are right. Behind the scenes we had a huge discussion about this. Depends on if the first dot is supposed to be 0 or 1, examples of both can be easily found by simply googling pictures of volume knobs. Additionally, I believe it was @Stapsy who noted that the knob can go past the last dot, so even if the last dot is supposed to be ten, you can get to 11

Of course this is all silly conjecture to begin with

@cizx.6 how do you like the pairing, and amp in general?

 

No matter whether it is 11, 12 or whatever, I'm sure we both agree the Zana Deux provides an exceptional component to a system capable of extraordinary listening experiences.

 

10


11(ish)

 

So far so good. I'm trying to make more opportunities to listen, so that's a good indicator.

 

So my ZDS came with a bunch of 6SL7 type tubes and a second set of the really big ones. Is there any info on what works best? I want to see if what I have is any good before trying them all.

@RiddleyWalker how did those extras you got work out?

 

The 6SL7 is the driver and the one most like to roll. I'm sure if you listed them some of us are bound to have opinions. As far as I understand it, the big power tubes don't beget much variety to choose from, but it's nice you have a second pair because they are only rated at 750-1000 hours (what do people usually get out of them? I'm approaching 700 or so)