Decware Mini Torii

The Decware Mini Torii is, frankly, a damn amazing piece of work! This is the swiss army knife of single ended amplification. Ostensibly a single ended 6V6, the amplifier can take 6L6 tubes with no adjustment, which opens up a very wide range of output tube combinations. Input tubes are 12AT/AU/AX7 and any of their wide variants. I tried a LOT of tube combinations in this beauty, finally settling on 6BG6 output tubes driven by a 12AT7. How many tube combinations are there? Out of the box the Mini Torii is your choice of a single ended 6V6, 6L6, 6Y6, 6K6, 6F6, 5881, 6BG6, 807, 5933 or 350B.

One of the most amazing features of the Mini Torii is the tube regulation, on both the input and output sections separately. Switches on the back defeat this feature, but I can't imagine why the user would not want to have it on, I found it to be a great asset of this design. With separate stepped attenuators and multiple inputs (and even a subwoofer output!) this amplifier is super expandable and can be used quite effectively without a preamp, although I liked the sound better through my Minimax pre.

What can I say, the Mini Torii is certainly one of the finest examples of tube amplification I have ever experienced. With suitable speakers, I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed. And Decware gives the original owner a full lifetime warranty. My highest rating, next to the smaller, uglier but slightly better sounding Decware SE84C+.

Using adapters, the Mini Torii can take a wide range of cheap, easy to source and very good sounding tubes. Here it is pictured running a pair of Sylvania 5933. Beside the amp is a pile of 807 tubes, which use the same adapter as the 5933 "super tubes". Great vintage American 807 tubes, like the 6BG6, can be had for a few dollars each. I bought 10 pairs for $45.

350B is a tube that requires no adapter, costs only about $50 for a new pair and sounds stunningly good; rich, airy and detailed.

And finally, pictured above, the Mini Torii running 6BG6 tubes with an adapter, my favorite sound from this amplifier. Next to the amp is a pair of Tung Sol 6AR6 with adapters to 6L6.