going for unrestricted listening of exceptional quality.
CIRCUIT DESIGN
The Zen Taboo amp is a combination of simple yet unique circuit design, high quality parts
selected for their signature, intense quality control, and layout. The small size makes pos-
sible the art of hand soldering the entire circuit with only parts leads and no hook-up wire.
The ground buss is silver and so are the cathode leads.
The power supply is significantly over sized and breaths naturally with the music while
holding steady to less than a 0.05 millivolt sag at clipping.
There are less then 11 solder nodes between the input and output jacks of this amplifier
making it around the complexity of a single Op-amp. The output transformers were me-
ticulously designed and hand built in the USA for this amplifier, as is the power trans-
former.
These features combine to create a unique and magical amplifier that sounds better than
anything in its power range. If you find this to be less then 100% true please return it on
the 30 day trial period.
INPUT OPTIONS
This amplifier features input jacks on the rear with a front mounted ALPs volume control so
that you can use it without a preamp. Using a good pair of interconnects directly from the
outputs of your CD player or DAC will clearly demonstrate how bad most preamps really
are. That said, the Taboo has a higher then normal input sensitivity of around 3 volts.
That means that without a preamp you will not be able to clip the amp, even at full vol-
ume. A good preamp with gain (such as our SE84CSP ) will add weight, body, dynamics,
and size to the sound of this amplifier and is often recommended.
BIASING
One of the hallmarks of this amplifier like the stock Zen amp, is the fact that it is self-
biasing. That means you never have to adjust the bias, even when you change to different
tubes such as from an EL84 to an SV83. This eliminates the headache of owning tube gear
resulting in a product that never requires maintenance or tune-ups. Just replace the out-
put tubes every year or so and that’s it. This also makes it possible to run un-matched
output tubes with no sonic side effects other then the obvious fact one tube will be slightly
stronger then the other - or put another way, one channel would clip slightly before the
other. (
If this ever became an issue it is a strong indicator that you need more efficient
speakers or higher power amplifiers for your listening habits.)
LISTENING
There is no doubt you may find the fidelity of this amplifier superior to almost anything
within its power range and everything above it’s power range regardless of price. It really
is that good. Having said that with great confidence we find many people do not experi-
ence the full potential of its spell casting abilities due to
weak links
in their system - usu-
ally these weak links are speaker and room related but don’t be surprised if it’s your
source!