Decware TORII MKIII, ZEN TORII MK III User Manual

DECWARE ZEN TORII MK III MANUAL

Zen Torii Amplifier

Manufactured by High Fidelity Engineering Co. WWW.DECWARE.COM

26watts dual mono

Push Pull Class A amplifier

DECWARE ZEN TORII MK III MANUAL

GETTING STARTED

The TORII MKIII is two completely separate mono amplifies built side by side into the
same chassis. The only common thing they share is the power cord and front mounted
gain control.

This amplifier was built in two halves. Each half is a mirror image of the other. This
includes the jacks on the back and even all the parts on the inside. There are two power
switches, one for each side. Below the switches and jacks have been labeled in the
picture.

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TORII MK III – Rear View

DECWARE ZEN TORII MK III MANUAL

TUBING YOUR AMP UP FOR IT'S FIRST TEST

Use the image below to determine the tube locations.

The input switch (located to the left of the gain control) switches between the inside and
outside pair of input jacks. For example, on the left pair of input jacks, use the right
hand jack and on the right pair of input jacks use the left hand jack.

A B B A

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DECWARE ZEN TORII MK III MANUAL

TUBE SUBSTITUTIONS

Starting with the input tube 6N1P you may also try 6DJ8 or 6922. 6N1P is often the
warmer of the three, while 6922 is often the most dynamic and 6DJ8 a bit leaner with
the most detail.

Unlike the TORII MK II that used EL34, KT77, 6550 or KT88 without re-biasing the TORII
MK III uses our new Hazen Grid Technology to push the transparency, speed, tightness to
a level that greatly surpasses the alternate tubes. Since this is the case, extra voicing
was used to get the maximum sonics from the EL34 at the cost of making any of the
above listed alternates a waste of time because they will not sound as good.

The 5U4 rectifiers can be replaced with 5AR4 and 5Y3GT. 5U4 and 5AR4 typically give
the best performance.

The Voltage regulation tubes OA3 (aka VR75) can be replaced with only another brand of
OA3/VR75 if the sound of the amp is not to change. However you can experiment with
VR90's and VR150's as this will alter the grid voltage of the output tubes and change how
they sound. The overall gain of the amplifier will drop slightly with these alternates.

The Voltage regulation tubes OC2 are used to feed the input stage of the amplifier, and
can not be changed except to another brand without changing the sound of the amp.
However, just like before, you can substitue OB2 and others with some interesting
results.

BIAS SWITCH

The switch located to the right side of the gain control is the bias switch that adjusts the
bias of the output tubes. In one position the bias is lower and in the other the bias is
higher. The amount of difference between the two is subtle. You can adjust this switch
while you listen. SWITCH TOWARDS THE FRONT is the higher of the two settings. The
higher bias gives a warmer sound with more weight. The lower bias gives a drier sound
with less weight. Which sounds better will depend on your loudspeakers and room
acoustics.

The EL34 will be biased slightly warm sounding in the high position and neutral sounding
in the lower setting.

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