Posted by Mike Borzcik on May 05, 2002 at 08:42:46

In Reply to: Re: Decware posted by JLM on May 05, 2002 at 04:05:58:

The Zen just sounded underpowered, even when it wasn't actually clipping (which it often was). The clarity and soundstage and all that audiophile crap were all there, but it just didn't have enough drive to make music. Listening to it was a chore, and every time I tried to give it another chance, I always switched back to my Jolida 302a after a day or so.

As for suggestions for other amps, Doc Bottlehead's Paramour has been getting a lot of attention on this board lately (you can do a search for it), but that's still in the same price range as the Zen. Personally, I've been looking at some of the offerings from Rogue Audio lately. They seem to be no-nonsense products that have plenty of power and still do all the audiophile stuff right. Haven't actually heard them yet, so I can't really say much more about them. Other than that, I'd think just about any low to medium-powered tube amp in your desired price range would probably work well.

Mike