system: alón 2, marantz cd67 & sr770, ted's excellent reflection & insight.
i borrowed this z-man from ted over the weekend. sadly, it spent most of that time in the box. it sucks. i don't know what it does, but it isn't good. in a blind ear test, it sucked instantly, consistantly and thoroughly for all types of music. sorry i can't be any more descriptive, but it was kinda hard to listen to.

Jimmy C, nobody wants to read your opinion of someone else. The Z-Man Enhancer is not a "tube enhancer'. It is for SS gear that people want to sound like tube gear. It does a decent job of that, but who wants to do that. Just roll off the top and bottom and put some duct tape on the midrange speaker, and you have it. I cannot believe that anyone with your well developed level of ignorance would have the guts to ridicule someone else. The other guy made a lot more sense than you did.

Ed

In a word, the ASE makes music more musical on my system. Highs are less grating. Midrange also smoother. Bass more spacious and alive. If you are willing to sacrifice a bit of detail, and you've got a bright mid-fi system like mine, this thing will move you. One word of caution: take the Z-man at his word when he says the interconnect to the CD player is critical.
I found PBJ either too bright or too revealing, so I ended up upgrading my CD player, rather than downgrading my cable.

Denon DCM-560 CD changer
Z-man ASE
Harman Kardon AVI200MkII integrated
Tannoy System 600 studio monitors
Energy e:XLS8 subwoofer

Just to add some comments on the ASE vs line conditioner debate... expensive line conditioners do reduce harshness slightly. However, there are times when you have a crappy DAC and a $500 LC does little in reducing the harshness. Realistically, most under $1000 DACs sound like crap. If it weren't for the DTI Pro 32, I would have chosen analog a long time ago. So for average folks, the only remedies are the ASE or high freq buster cables. Both cost similar so it doesn't really matter which "tweak" you choose. Actually, a single $75 LAT Int DI-20 digital coax should do the trick. Oh yeah, the related components used:
Yamaha CDP765 changer
Yamaha RX-V992 receiver
Musical Fidelity X-Act
Sony toslink cable
Kimber 4VS
Kimber Hero
Transparent The Link
Paradigm Mini Monitor

Of course, the ASE has no place in a $6000 music system. It's a cheap alternative, not the best solution.

I am using a Z-man with the main in/outs on a yamaha 3090 that recieves the digitals inputs off a sony s3000 dvd and pioneer cld-a100, in the end all are connected to a pair of klipsch klf 30's. The Z is like a breath of life into the klipsch, they simply come alive with a warm and clear glow. The bass is more punchy and tight, and the vocals have a new floating sense to them. For $200 this is great. At least if you have a "good" dac like the one in the yamaha and are already using your players as transports. This may well be, in a mid-priced system, the icing on the cake. Remember audiophiles, its 200 bucks, so it won't sound like 2000! But in my opinion that's a damn good 200. Open up those horns!!!

I bought the Z-man one year ago. At first, I thought the thing wasnt working. Took it back to the dealer andhe told me that the "improvements" were really subtle and wait for more break in time. After days I noticed more weight on the sound and voices started to sound more pleasant. However, everything became artificial. It does reduce harshness, but it adds grain(that, to me, is a big NO-NO) I ended up taking the Zman off my sistem. Complained to the dealer and he told me to use high end cables withthe Zman. Bought Cardas Cross cables. THAT made a differnce! Clean, controled, sweet, delicious hights and voices sound more human than ever. Tried to use the Zman between my Nintendo 64 and the preamp. Good, but noticed more grain again. Never used the Zman again. And yes, I bought Cardas Cross speaker wire. Bottom line: Zman is a band-aid. If your sistem sounds good, you dont need it. Wanna improve your sound without side affects? Buy a power conditioner, upgrade cables or better speakers.My sistem: Definitive BP-10, Rotel pre/pow, Rotel 950 CD player and Cardas Cross interonnectors/speaker wires. Everything plugued into a Power Wege II.

This is a line buffer much like the Musical Fidelity X-10-D. It uses a single 12axt triode tube and some proprietary circuitry to stabilize a line level signal, such as that from a cd player, VCR, DSS, etc., before it sends it on to the pre-amp or receiver. It's benefits are most notable when used with lower to mid level cd players or changers such as Marantz, H/K, just about anything in the $300 to $600 range ar maybe a little higher. It warms up and sweetens hard or harsh sounding highs, gives bass more authority and cohesion, and reveals details not usually heard in cd players in this range. It requires pretty good quality interconnects to reveal its full potential, Kimber PBJ, Tara Quantums, etc. I own both this and an X-10-D. I've loaned the X-10-D to a friend.