Thank you for posting. I only check this thread every few months! That sounds like a very nice speaker, two questions, do you prefer tubes or SS? What is your budget range? Right now I am using my Prima Luna Prologue 5 with 6550 tubes, good power with very good detail. Are you in the US or Canada? If you give me your phone number I would be happy to call you. Doug Reid Omaha, NE
Hi, thanks for the compliment! I am still very happy with the Zen Torii MK3, and do not take back any praise. That said, in 2012 I ordered an Odyssey Stratos SS amp just in case tubes became prohibitively expensive, and Klaus assured me he could bias the Stratos similarly to tubes. The caution was that it would take 6 months to break in the caps and until that time it would sound quite harsh... It did, but 6 months later it did indeed settle down and now I use it for convenience and a little stronger treble. I have acquired new tubes for the Torii and will update it within a week or so when I will have time to listen extensively. I will update again...
Hi Dan, Congratulations on the 300B's! I live in Omaha, NE, but was born in Twin Falls, ID so feel great kinship with the Northwest. One of my favorite things on my Lottery List is traveling a lot, including up there! Enjoy the music!
Hi Charles1dad, Sorry to take this long to reply. I use only the speaker cable from Clarity, my digital cable is the least expensive Audioquest, but seems to work well. I need to stick to my budget which is not large. Thank you very much for the compliment, yours is also very nice!
Hi Dan, thank you for posting. I have actually read about your system for a couple of years but haven't posted, I am a pathetic typist... Your system is lovely and almost inspired me to seek a HE conversion for my 12" Monitor Golds, but I love how the Canterburys load my room perfectly. My Bottlehead 300B Paramounts are in the $2000 neighborhood factory assembled. Your VAC's cannot be slouches at all... When I put el34's in my PL Prologue 5 it was also quite good. The Torii simply offers better detail and depth at a very attractive price.
My Torii has been in the system for 10 days and sounds like it is pretty well run in, so I stretched its legs tonight... Trans-Siberian Orchestra "Night Castles" is a 2-disc CD set that has wide dynamic range and simple to complex music. I averaged 100dB tonight, and it was magical... Anyone who has read 'Meta-Gizmo' by Harvey Rosenberg may recall how he explains that tube amps are best when stoutly choked and using tubed rectification. Steve Deckert has incorporated these in the Zen Torii Mk III. There are many very good amps that will certainly do a great job as well, but the Torii is right at $3000... I am driving the amp directly from my CD player and DAC, and I use my preamp for phono, through the tapeouts.
Hi again, Audiogon system will not let me add my new Decware Torii MkIII amp, but I set it up 3 hours ago... Please read about it on Decware's site. The claims are not timid! Everything I have read and now hear bear it out. Mine has about 30 hours on it and already sounds very captivating! Depth, delicacy, power, clarity and control! 4 month waiting time but well worth it... slightly under $3000!
Congratulations, Dilly! I was going to repost after listening to my 300B's again, they do rock... Read the review by Doug Schroeder on Dagogo about the Clarity Cables, and contact Melissa about pricing. Enjoy your Canterbury's!
Hi Dilly For most music the 300B's are quite adequate and sound great. I enjoy most types of music, and only when it is very complex, such as Beethoven's Ninth, I can find myself wanting a little more power. I am 63 years old and my hearing is not as sharp as it was before all the rock n roll, and I still love the 'wow' factor of high volume. Clarity Cables speaker cable unlocked the fuller bass that I was not getting with 8TC cable, though I did not know that before I got the CC.
If you get Canterbury's new, realize that they will require 20 to 100 hours to break in. After that you will probably be very happy.
Please pardon me for taking this long to respond. Congratulations on purchasing your Canterburys! Interesting that you mention 'if I had to be selective', as I have been leveraging my system to see me out...(I'm 63) I do need to be selective, and I end up using the PL Prologue 5 all the time, best combination of power and clarity (36 wpc, no neg fb). My AVA tubed pre is 12ax7 based, and I love and respect it very much. I only consider other preamps in case I would need to replace this. I would likely look to Van Alstine again... Frank has great ears for music.
If your budget allows there are more paths that would beckon, and I love my 300b's until the music gets very powerful and complex, as Beethoven's Ninth. The Clarity cables do take those 8 1/2 wpc very close.
My possible last step is the Decware Zen Torii III that I have on order, will hit by early May, and I'll let you know.
