RockCity Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I just have some perfunctory questions before I plunge for this purchase. Did Craig make any official statements regarding the differences between the new '09 models and the earlier ones? (I'm getting the earlier model # 18.) Similarly are there any revisions between serial numbers? Secondly, is the ZD specially tailored for Senn HD6XX? It seems that most OTL amps are. It's a short list, but any tips right now would really help me submit my final decision. Thx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recstar24 Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) I want to say the only differences have been the rectifiers. Whether the most recent ones are better are not is debatable. I believe the rectifiers he uses currently with the plate caps on top are better matched. My ZD that I owned was from the prior run to this current run. As far as I know that is it. Cosmetically the newer runs have the nice eddie current silver plaque that actually looks pretty nice. Should be it, enjoy! EDIT: I cannot find it, but I also believe that with the new rectifiers comes with a couple of power supply improvements and tweaks. Again what this means sonically who knows but the ZD itself is a fine sounding circuit and Craig did a great job with a well executed OTL with an extremely stiff PSU. I bet it would sound heavenly with the hd800's. Edited January 31, 2009 by recstar24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elephas Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I've owned a ZD since Jan. 2008. It is the best dynamic amp I've heard, but that isn't really saying much since I haven't heard many amps. Besides the Senn HD600 and HD650, I find that the ZD drives just about any of my other dynamics well. I think it is better than the AT-HA5000 with the W5000. Tubes for the ZD are simple compared to other tube amps. You just need to collect a variety of single 6SL7. Most are sold in pairs, so you'll have a backup. I think that we ZD owners are doing all those matched pairs of 6SL7 a horrible disservice by splitting them up, but what else can we do? I even have a set of matched quad that I'm splitting up. I've replaced the fuse in the power supply with a Furutech, and I think there was a marginal improvement. It's difficult to AB, though, taking too much time between changing fuses. I also tried replacing the black rubber feet with a set of Finite Elemente Ceraballs, but there doesn't seem to be any difference. My favorite 6SL7 include Mullard, Brimar, Valvo and Tung-Sol 6SU7GTY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the reply. I took a look at your review, Ryan. It's identical to yours, including the former rectifiers. Can you tell me how many orders Craig take for the each run? What was the price then ($1900?) compared to the $2200 now? Did he include any tubes at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recstar24 Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the reply. I took a look at your review, Ryan. It's identical to yours, including the former rectifiers. Can you tell me how many orders Craig took for the first run? What was the price then compared to the $2200 now? Did he include any tubes at all? Not sure. 1st run was 1600, 2nd run on maybe 1900, only included rectifiers. Have you emailed Craig? He is great with communication and will get back to you within hours in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 E-mailed Craig. "The 6DM4, and 6D22s rectifiers are both damper diodes with similar spec's. The change was made because the 6D22S is a current production tube, easy, and inexpensive to find. The current production ZD has a high frequency ground, and an extra filter cap. #18 would have been in the second run of ZD's, about two years ago. There would be no sonic difference between #18, and 09' production playing the HD 600, 650's, or even the new 800's." The more you know :star: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sacd lover Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 E-mailed Craig. "The 6DM4, and 6D22s rectifiers are both damper diodes with similar spec's. The change was made because the 6D22S is a current production tube, easy, and inexpensive to find. The current production ZD has a high frequency ground, and an extra filter cap. #18 would have been in the second run of ZD's, about two years ago. There would be no sonic difference between #18, and 09' production playing the HD 600, 650's, or even the new 800's." The more you know :star: #18 .... is that Blutarskys amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 No, it should be northshore's who claims to be the original owner. Unless Blutarskys himself can come here and verify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sacd lover Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 No, it should be northshore's who claims to be the original owner. Unless Blutarskys himself can come here and verify. Nevermind .... I just remembered Blutarskys amp has the new style rectifiers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recstar24 Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 E-mailed Craig. "The 6DM4, and 6D22s rectifiers are both damper diodes with similar spec's. The change was made because the 6D22S is a current production tube, easy, and inexpensive to find. The current production ZD has a high frequency ground, and an extra filter cap. #18 would have been in the second run of ZD's, about two years ago. There would be no sonic difference between #18, and 09' production playing the HD 600, 650's, or even the new 800's." The more you know :star: Well I am glad to see he answered your questions! I also love the fact that Craig gave you a straight up no BS answer. Rather than trying to persuade you to go with the 09 production, he told you straight up that there should be no sonic difference with the used one. The last sentence though implies that possibly the newer run may have some increased performance with low impedance grados. If you are a grado or low impedance user, it may be worthwhile to ask further questions from Craig. Rest assured IME he will give you a honest straight answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadphoneAddict Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Blutarsky says he is #40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Alright, I'll most likely pay him tomorrow. Ryan, he's giving me the Tung-Sol black glass 6SU7GTY, any experience with this tube? The other tubes were provided by Craig. I should also mention it's stopping by Craig's place first for check-up, since all three of us are in CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulveling Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I've got a Zana from the older runs with the first type of rectifier. Works great with all the headphones I've used on it: 600/650 and L3000, Qualia, HP-2. I've been using mostly that Tung-Sol 6su7; it's a fine tube. Keep a spare set of power tubes on hand. Last few months my amp seemed like it started to lose its edge from the high level it should be at. Finally replaced those tubes with new 6C18Cs. The old ones very likely had >= 3000 hours on them - they did last a while. Much better now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absorbine_Sr Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 The last sentence though implies that possibly the newer run may have some increased performance with low impedance grados. If you are a grado or low impedance user, it may be worthwhile to ask further questions from Craig. I don't want the OP to think the ZD performs poorly with low impedance cans. I just love the RS1's out of my Zana. It can handle just about any can you can throw at it. The only one I haven't liked is the K701 and that's just because there's no energy in that headphone, IMHO. I have #11 - it's pictured in Ryan's review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well, I paid for it. Just have to wait to hear from Craig then. I'm not worried about low impedance cans since that's what the Melos is for. Speaking of which, the Melos never sounded poor with anything other than Beyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulveling Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well, I paid for it. Just have to wait to hear from Craig then. I'm not worried about low impedance cans since that's what the Melos is for. Speaking of which, the Melos never sounded poor with anything other than Beyers. Congrats, you have chosen wisely. Having owned a Melos Gold Reference in the past (which I did like), I think you will find the Zana the better amp with both low & high impedance cans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadphoneAddict Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Blutarsky's Zana Deux and Melos SHA Gold are both fantastic, with a tiny 1% edge going in favor of the Melos. Nevertheless, his Zana Deux is great with low impedance like HF-1, RS-1, HP-1000, PS-1, Denon D2000 and also with 300 ohm HD600 and HD650. His Zana Deux was the first amp I heard that made the HD650 sound like they were worth owning (before he got the Melos). The Melos however is stunning driving HD600 from the pseudo-balanced XLR preamp outs with a female XLR balanced APS v3 cable. The Melos does have very good/costly upgraded Telefunken tubes in it from Larryminator I think. I know I would be happy to own a Zana Deux, although I am already very happy with my Maxed WA6 with pseudo dual power supply and Sophia Princess 274b rectifier. I think they actually sound very similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^^ Is it possible to BAN avatars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadphoneAddict Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^^ Is it possible to BAN avatars? Why, there is nothing wrong with yours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinp6301 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^^ Is it possible to BAN avatars? if you have firefox and the add-on adblock plus, you can block it forever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Why, there is nothing wrong with yours... Exactly ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 if you have firefox and the add-on adblock plus, you can block it forever Thanks for the tip, I never thought of that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmore Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 From all headphones I tried with Zana ( my was nr.38 EU 230V version ) the best results were with HD650 with RAL cable, quite natural match... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCity Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^ Kay, I'll post back hopefully with pictures. I have all 580/600/650(x2) so it's obvious what I'll be using. Maybe not, since their nuances can be a bit tricky. How long is Craig going to keep up the ZD? If it's going the same road as the PS-1, then it's a good investment. I seriously think there's only 50 or less out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recstar24 Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 ^ Kay, I'll post back hopefully with pictures. I have all 580/600/650(x2) so it's obvious what I'll be using. Maybe not, since their nuances can be a bit tricky. How long is Craig going to keep up the ZD? If it's going the same road as the PS-1, then it's a good investment. I seriously think there's only 50 or less out there. Congrats, with those senns you should have a really good time with the pairings. The ZD I am positive was always planned on being a limited run of some sort. If you look at the current data and track record of the value moth and eddie current gear has maintained, you will see that they usually garner near their original retail price and sometimes even more. When I posted my ec hd-25 for sale, I received 5 offers within a hour, 3 at original retail price. Don't be an idiot like me and sell it hold on to it and its value and sound will only mature. Of course I was able to offset that loss with the acquisition of the last and one of the most tweaked si2a3 moth's to be created but that's another story:p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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