7
INTRODUCTION
You now own one of the best SET headphone/
preamplifiers in the world! It has many unique
features that set it apart from the rest. It’s
point-to-point construction, lack of circuit
boards, and direct coupled signal path means
nothing sold today is more transparent or hon-
est. Of course almost everything sold today
claims to be sonically transparent and absolutely
accurate, but when compared side by side to the
Zen Triode CSP2 it usually isn’t.
PERFORMANCE FEATURES
•
Power Supply
The CSP2 power supply is rated at 150 mil-
liamps even though the total current draw of
the circuit is less then 50 ma. When a power
supply becomes this healthy in relation to the
circuit it feeds, extreme reliability and rock
steady voltages without complex regulation are
the result. The USA made Decware power
transformers are proprietary to maintain abso-
lute quality. They can be pre-wired at the fac-
tory for any voltage.
•
Output Transformerless Design
The CSP2 is a no compromise Single Ended Tri-
ode OTL headphone amp. It has the ultra low
output impedance usually found with a trans-
former. It can therefor drive headphones be-
tween 30 and 600 ohms without problems and
without adjustments when switching from one
pair of headphones to another.
•
Gold Plated Connectors and Sockets
Gold plated Input & Output Jacks are provide
trouble free connections. Ceramic tube sockets
with gold plated contacts provide protection
from atmospheric contamination.
•
Non-Magnetic High Mass Chassis
The CSP2 is built on a T6 Aluminum plate
over 2mm thick for zero flex. This offers a
noticeable reduction in resonance when com-
pared to a steel chassis. To further eliminate
resonance, the plate is coupled to a solid
hardwood base. The powder coat finish is
baked on and nearly impossible to scratch
without significant effort. The rust proof
Aluminum combined with this finish ensures
the amplifier will look pristine for many,
many years to come.
•
High Reliability - Low Maintenance
With an oversized power supply and the
highest grade of capacitors the CSP2 has less
then 0.5mv of sag in the high voltage supply
when the amp is at full power and clipping.
This means the power supply is never taxed
and should therefor last for many decades.
In addition, the self-biasing design besides
sounding best offers easy tube changes with
no adjustments or re-biasing needed. These
are just some of the reasons why we can
offer a Lifetime Warranty with this product.
•
Tube rectification
This offers two distinct advantages over the
more common solid state rectification. First
is reliability. Solid state rectifiers when used
at these high voltages (600 volts) are suscep-
tible to voltage spikes and even static elec-
tricity. That means your amplifier would
need repair likely more then once during it’s
lifetime. Using a tube rectifier means that
you can easily change it yourself if ever there
was a problem. Tube rectification also
sounds different then solid state. And con-
trary to popular belief, the tube rectification
actually has far superior bass. It’s tighter,
more dimensional, and less artificial sound-
ing.
