Thanks for sharing this video. I have mention this, I was a bench tech for years back in 1975 to 1981 and I heard many types of equpment on the same bench, same speakers, same music source etc... from my bench. We all used JBL studio monitors to make sure we didnt miss anything before packing up a repair. Every time I repaired a Tube unit, I always enjoyed the sound from them no matter how much quality was in the solid state units ( Marantz, Pioneer, Bang/Olson, Fisher, Scott, Grundig etc... ) I still have an old ST-70 and I swapped it from time to time just to see how it compared to whatever system I had at the time at home. The thing you said " More Relaxed " Kinda sums up what I was hearing. Not only that, being a musician, I hear things in the specific instruments that solid state seems to miss. Its a refreshing moment when I realize how a 30 year old tube amp can compete with a modern day HiFi system and bring back the joy of a good mastering. Thanks again for sharing your findings.
Very well said, George. 100% agree. I too work as a tech, mostly doing guitar repairs, but also amplifiers. I’m a musician as well, and I absolutely agree with your assessment. Thank you.
@@genesmith4019 I’m sure they are. Adcom made some great solid state amps. I own a GFA 545 and a Parasound a23+ both of which I run a tube preamp through but mostly in the summer, because tubes can heat up a room. I obviously don’t hate SS amps, I just prefer tube. This hobby is of course very subjective.
We're honored you've chosen the MicroZOTL Preamplifer as your new reference preamp, Steve. One note, for full transparency, the preamp as reviewed is a Level 2 with Balanced Input Transformers, with a total price of $5750 USD. ~Nicholas
Well Tim de Paravicini designed his EAR 509s with industrial grade components for reliability and performance and ever since we've been looking for someone just like David Berning to do as good with something else. Well the ZOTL power amplifier you know isn't it but there is market demand for an EAR 509 made from old Television stuff. Why the Scotsman John Logie Baird even made a television using parts of an old washing machine. But it wasn't a television like our RCA system, it was a television something more akin to 17JN6 as a rival for the KT88 tube. We all need David to go back to the drawing board and pull a white rabbit out of that Top Hat, speaking of which I have a Grace Slick record here.
@@keplermission Some individuals choose to ask questions in promotional videos. Some individuals choose to make tangential posts without punctuation. As the late Charles Hansen may have wrote, "YMMV".
Love the Moody Blues too. Just wish Steven Wilson could have a crack at remastering some of their albums. +1 for Moondog behind you from 1968, just like Beggar's Banquet.
I agree-Beggar's Banquet is my favourite RS album. Brian Jones on sitar, slide guitar and mellotron on various tracks adding special touches. Jigsaw Puzzle maybe their most underrated track.
Wow ... 'Beggars Banquet', I never heard it since the 1970s and today listen to a whole load of music aimed at the sexually active younger age group, 1994-present. I just listened one time to the words and they were all about coming around to my place and all that, my ex and stuff but really sweet music. 'Beggars Banquet', wow, that's too long ago for me. How about 'Sweet Thing' by David Bowie?
The prices may look high but the build quality looks great and the components seem to be top notch. In a way the LTA products punch above their price point.
If done well, its pretty hard to beat a good tube amp & pre amp I bought a VAC tube amp and ARC LS15 tube pre amp back in 1995 They are still goung strong to this day! Tube change on both only once! That amp weights 75 lbs and my ARC LS15 has a remote My stereo rig with my Maggie's is not crazy money, but it sure is magical for money spent
Well you know the VAC Phi 30i Kappa is reminiscent of the latest Audio Research 80S and we want Steve's readers to see that stuff but I'd have to say that Radio Shack's Realistic STA-2000 and Optimus X-100 are just awesome, even although a lot of viewers don't like 'the Shack', and dub it 'Rat Shack' they had some great stuff and I know a lot of Americans will agree with that. Their stores were a real oasis in the agricultural communities of the United States, fondly remembered.
got a great deal on Klipschorns from a fellow who described them as harsh. He was driving them with a 100 plus watt Yamaha SS amp. With tubes Scott 130 pre, 208 power amp... I have never been happier with the glorious sound!
Yes but back in the 1950s it wasn't really a case of you know tubes, everything then was tubes and there was a 'Gain' issue and attempt to reduce stages all perfected in the British Empire Radford STA-15, that was basically just a transformer and tubes with the fewest components to alter the reproduced sound. With Klipschorns you know there was always a tone that some listeners heard and others didn't and this had to be engineered out. So when we listen to the Citation V, we have to know what speakers were really meant to go on the end. Output Transformers were always wound for just one brand of speaker. QUAD used Goodmans and harman/kardon used JBL and so forth. But after Solid State we could use other speakers but ... amplifiers are still pretty much one-speaker happy. Manley Snapper you know ... what speakers are they even meant to use? Tannoy? Probably Tannoy.
@@johnvincent4048 Yeah because the 1990 La Scala suits low DF and Quicksilver is ten and that's capable of driving an x-over and a tweeter but not much more than a 2-way speaker.
I'm a young kid just getting into Hifi with less than 3 months in total my first setup is a old Pioneer table. A pair of 1959' H.H. Scott 99d integrated mono block tube amplifiers. With ADS L710 SPEAKERS . And honestly it sounds amazing
hello Steve ........." the sound is not particular tube ...." That's one of the BIG miss conceptions about tube sound ...........tube sound or what it's called is NOT due to the tube technology or the tubes .......but the way they are used and expescially the OPT's !!! Another lie is that tubes are for people /audiophiles who like distortion.....tubes are more linear actve device ..............and they are NOT subjet to thermal distortion as solid state /transistors are. ( that's why they can be used and run WITHOUT NFB ! ) Transistors lack some qualities that vacuum technology preserves better .... Many beliefs are .......................beliefs only . It's hard to convince people to question their beliefs . By the way a good solid state sounds better than a cheap designed tube amp ...........and a good class A/B amplifier sound also better thén a lesser quality so called class A amplifier , but outside those exceptions .............for music reproduction the LESSER components and connections to pass trough in the musical signal path and a good tube design in class A still rules. Kind regards and thank you for the hart warming uploads . You and Herb are testimony of real history and the lessoins it has teached ....
if I had no health problems I would be happy to consider that ....meanwhile I share what I can within my possiblility with who wants to learn or share ... Kind regards .@@MrBazsi888 We all learn one from another.
With Ayre Acoustics, I'm going in the other direction... Tubes to Solid State. The secret is Zero Negative Feedback. Charlie Hansen (Ayre) was a tube guy who wanted the dynamics / reliability of solid state, and the magic / musicality of tubes. With the Ayre gear, I want for nothing...
I’ve been a glass-head for decades, often, at least early on, at the jeers from solid-state snobs. If patience is truly a virtue, then my love for the sound of tubes makes me far more virtuous than my overall life would dictate.😉😂🤡
Yeah but ... the ZOTL ultralinear amplifier is a little strange, Steve says it doesn't sound like tubes and when look up the 17JN6 tube we find it's a Beam Tetrode but not a Kinkless type like KT88. No it's a strange one, for 'Class C' output amplifiers and that's why there are no quoted distortion figures. Not only that but this tube cannot use Output Transformers, even although it's a real clever use of surplus television components, nobody buys these anymore. I suppose ... you know most tubes are 6.3 volt and 17JN6 is 17 volt but best not split hairs. I mean Sam Altman was born in 1985 and that's the age of the entrepreneur we're talking about with ZOTL.
@@keplermissionvery strange indeed. Are we supposed to believe that a 38 year old can do things? Absolute hogwash! Any good amp designer is at least 66 years plus.
@@king-jazzbo The 17JN6 is for a Volt Line amplifier used in olden times department stores for records and announcements. The tube isn't audiophile and its use as such, is strange but you know making cheap, otherwise useless tubes sell at a profit.
Stray cat blues is my favorite on that rolling stones album. Playing mine on a rega p2 Arcam Sa20 integrated. Kef 350's Klipsch r120 sub. I've been longing for some tube style equipment. With my budget the Schitt Freya would have to be on my list. Love hearing different systems. Good job as always.
No tubes are what salespeople call 'toys for the real boys'. But the Audio Research 80S would be a better partner for the Klipsch Heresy in the Audio System of the Day. The 80S ... wow, so cool with its power meters looking through to the power tubes but the D.F. is 8 and that's why the woofer surround on the Heresy is a Disco stage, long cable type that looks a little like an accordion. The Yamaha A-S2200 is for other speakers and realities. Clint Eastwood once said 'a man's gotta know his limits'.
Steve - thanks for such a great review of Linear Tube Audio - it was very confirming. I am a newbie audiophile - I first saw the LTA equipment at 2022 Axpona. I loved what I heard and ended up with the Micro ZOTL pre-amp and separate amp you reviewed. I power the Wilson Sabrina X speakers and couldn’t be happier. I encourage your listeners who are looking for a new pre-amp or amp to check out LTA. They will send equipment for try outs (I did an A/B at my local hifi shop). Thanks again.
LTA ... wow ... but Wilson Sabrina X are only $25000 and the MicroZOTL pre works with $167000 Eggleston Viginti. But you know Steve is playing old records and some of us ... are still playing old Stereos! We'd be happy with a Hafler DH100/DH200. Come to that Radio Shack RS would sound good with their custom designed speaker systems. It was never easy getting the right separates to sound good and that's what Radio Shack did until the separates rack systems came along with speakers and you know, everything in one handy matched up package. Why not check out Bang & Olufsen next time?
@@keplermission Kepler not sure where you are going with your comment. I play old records as well - mono deep groove jazz. I am happy with my system and I am glad you enjoy your system. Have a good day.
No xlr output to power amp is a downer … sad that the company Audiovalve no longer exists but you should really try to get the Solaris and try it as a pre. When it comes with a dac it’s around 6k and 4.5k without. It’s designed to operate as a headphone amp but can be used as a pre as well as a power amp, too. Much like this one. What’s great is that you can fine tune the degree of signal boost and it also has two operating modes (well three actually but the third is the Stax mode for Stax Headphones).
@@jm_1214 Before you make a statement like that, you need to know what xlr is and how its implemented. To start with, xlr is a 3 pin connector. That's it. It doesn't tell you anything about the component itself. That said, when the term xlr is used, it typically means some form of balancing is implemented. I say some form because there are different ways a component can be balanced. In general, there are 2 main types of balancing. Fully balanced or fully differential, and point to point or truly balanced. A fully balanced component has a path for the 2nd signal through the entire component. This is most likely what you were referring to in your post. Yes, its expensive to add that 2nd path. Point to point balancing is when a single ended signal is converted to balanced. The conversion takes place on the inputs and outputs of the components. This is the type of balancing that's implanted on the 2 pieces in this review. A balanced signal from a source travels through a balanced cable and goes to the xlr input on the preamp. As soon as the balanced signal enters the preamp, its immediately converted to single ended (non-balanced), for 2 reasons. The components are not balanced and balanced and single ended operation is not compatible. You can't mix the 2, so you can either make the signal balanced on both ends or SE. Point to point balancing is cheap. It allows you to get some of what a fully balanced system does, but not all. Its a low cost alternative and is widely used. In order for the xlr input on the preamp to make any kind of difference, the source has to be balanced as well. It can't just have xlr outputs. The signal that comes out of it must be balanced. If all the conditions are not met, you default to single ended operation. When this happens, your xlr connections are identical to using non balanced (RCA) connections. There's no place for the 2nd signal to go, so its simply not used. Only 2 are.
Excuse me. I've been building circuits for nearly 40 years and have been a field tester for many high end audio companies. It requires a more complex signal path to implement two ground planes. The only advantage would be in long runs of interconnects or long microphone cables. In just a standard 1 menter interconnect it almost always degrades sound compared to RCA. However you are free to think what you will. Sound is all subjective anyway. To each their own
I was referring to true balanced which you correctly described as have a completely separate signal path which to me makes the sound more restricted and held in. However if you're using solid state then I guess it makes little difference. Solid state and digital hurt my ears and gives me a headache in the forehead. I did enjoy it in the discos in the early 80s
I have owned the LTA preamp for about a year. Steve's review is spot on with his assessment on the preamp. This pre would be very flexible had it have a balanced out, but that's a minor quibble from my end. However, the performance of the preamp is really good. I think it does punch above the asking price. Like Steve said, you won't hear a typical warm & bloomed tube sound. What you will hear clear, open, and relaxed sound (just a very slight edge off). Sound is addicting for me to sit and listen to music for many hours. I've had more expansive SS preamp, but this tube preamp beats it hand down.
Not a 'Tube Bloom' sound ... you know, that's only for elite buyers. We don't get 'Tube Bloom' in ordinary places, it's just for a few buyers. You know nobody ordinary could ever enjoy a 'Tube Bloom.' sound.
What Steve didn't mention were some of the XP 30's features that the Microzotl.does not have. First, the Pass is a fully balanced design, which is superior to single ended interconnection as it cancels noise. Next, the Pass can accommodate both multiple XLR inputs and outputs. The output strength of the Pass is superior also; there are some who use 10 or 20 ft long cables; the hight output of the Pass can easily drive the signal over these distances. Another feature is that if one likes to bi-amp a speaker, the XP 30 has another whole variable gain stage output so you can match-gain a second amp with didfferent output ratings so an even overall output can be made on a bi-wireable speaker with an amp for the bass, and one for the mid & high fequencies, which adds a different dimension of tuning and flexibility. Next, the Pass is dead quiet and the XP 30 goes to great lengths by separating the potentially noisy power supply section and putting it in its own solid aluminum chassis, and then each audio channel has it's own heavy aluminum chassis for greater nosie isolation. The blackness that the XP30 presents is something else. All this isolation and additional.space for componentry is an advantage. To talk about the length Pass goes for ultimate sound includes a high quality Plitron transformer with large filtering capacitance reserves for each stereo channel, and a separate transformer for the display and logic controls to isolate this function to eliminate noise. That's a total of three transfomers. Next, inouts and ouputs are isolated and switched off by relays for better sound. Lasty, Pass Labs gear is audio jewelry and the build is and quality appearance is top notch. Since the XP30 is solid state, there no other running costs in the future and Pass's customer service is legendary. So the Pass brings other items to the table that Steve didn't mention. I will say that the Microzotl is quite an accomplishment if Steve gives it high praise.
@@rw3915 I use Pass X250.8 amp with MicroZOTL pre and I like the combo very much. Yes, the review sample hasn't left his place for awhile and became his reference preamp says a lot especially when he owns XP30. I heard XP22 and XP12, both are fantastic preamps. Love Pass gear.
Great review, as usual. In addition, the LTA Z40+ Integrated is a good way to save almost $4k over separates. Especially if you buy from LTA today or tomorrow -- all their equipment is 15% off, so you can save more than $5k. To my ears, the Z40+ Integrated gets you 90% of the sound heard from separates. Of course speakers matter. I am using efficient, dual concentric -- Tannoy Cheviots.
Wow my exact component paring at the moment. After two years of putting together my 2-ch system. Tubes can further tailor the signature to precisely to suit individual taste. Fantastic pairing.
I just switched from a solid state amp to tube. For me it was because I listen mostly at low volume - this is where you will hear a significant difference - at low volume a lot of solid state amps lose their detail, accuracy and strengths, whereas a quality tube amp will still shine greatly at low volume, with exceptional detail, accuracy and 3D soundstage.
That's an interesting observation and I tend to agree that amplifiers are too often designed with the mindset of having excellent THD, SNR and frequency response because those are the specs most often listed. A poorly designed transistor amp might not be very linear on the amplification around the zero crossing of the voltage even it performs excellent at higher levels and the THD data looks great for nominal levels.
@@ThinkingBetter Nope. You know, there's no one rule of thumb for tube amplifiers versus Solid State. What is Stone telling us? Well he's got an amplifier with a round power iron that drives its own specially made speakers best at high volumes. So Stone reckons that applies across the board and it doesn't because we get low power Solid State that uses low power speakers. It hasn't got much to do with being 'poorly designed' either so much as being 'poorly matched' with suitable equipment you know? Not just speakers but inputs, tubes used to a have a whole sensitivity thing, we used to get full output with 80mV and most SS couldn't do that today.
Steve I’m really surprised at this video. I’ve heard you say many times that you want your tube equipment to sound like tubes, but your new tube reference doesn’t sound like tubes. I recently heard this combo and wish I had heard it before I got my latest tube preamp and tube amp.
Cable risers are the modern CD Stoplight pen! One guy in the comments says he hears 'massive distortion' caused by one cable sagging closer to the floor. Chasing placebo ghosts! You'll never win that game because it's created in your head, it keeps snake oil companies afloat. Like the $20 magic fluid that gives you 10% better MPG! Too funny.
"Chasing placebo ghosts!" Assuming that's true, where are you getting your information from. You can only claim placebo effect if a placebo is introduced as part of a scientifically valid test. If not, you're guessing. Can you reference 1 test where a placebo was properly administered during a test that meets scientific standards, on any piece of high end audio equipment ever made? Just 1 example.
People that laugh at other people are not too bright (or nice). People who laugh at audiophiles are not too bright either. You wouldn't expect lower IQ people to hear the somewhat subtle improvement that the green pen makes, by absorbing at least some of the scattered laser light from the cd player. Getting cables above the static field of a carpet makes a bigger improvement tban the pen. It's biggest improvement is in openness, but with the equipment the Doubting Thomases usually have, maybe nothing could make their sound expansive & open sounding .Their sound is likely closed in; like their mind. People with open minds I'm sure have a much more open sound. They tend to choose better equipment right from the start also.
Steve. Could you do a side by side comparison of Borreson X3 with PS Audio FR10? Price and size are very close. Looks like both are aiming at same projected market.
Steve! I really enjoy watching your channel. It's been eons since we last saw each other (either at Sound by Singer or CES). I am surprised by your choice of the LTA . You preferred the Meitner PRE to it when you did that review. Please explain.
Beggar's Banquet was my first SACD purchase way back in the day when ABKCO was remastering the Stone's back catalog. It completely blew me away and changed how I listen to the Stones!!
Awesome. I love that you've found a reference piece (the preamp) for under $6000. Finally it seems that some sanity is returning to the hifi market. Especially given the hand built aspect of these.🎉
These aren't hand built amplifiers, no more then a fosi product from Shenzhen china is. Im not knocking their sound quality, but i do have a problem with the marketing of these amps. These are printed PCB integrated circuit boards with component soldered to their surface like all my cheap gear is. My fully handmade and hand wired amps and pre's, every single one of them, use pole boards and point to point soldering with intense cable management being required, because the circuits are hand made, not printed by a machine after being designed in software. Regardless of sound quality, the internals of this amp scream cost cutting measures. The initial prototypes may have been fully hand made/designed. But these production units are not. Not even close. Just the presence of a printed PCB alone means these amps, are by definition, and 100% in-arguably, NOT hand built. If these things are fully hand made, then so is the little fosi amp that lives hooked up to my PC that i payed under $100 for, and so is my crappy cell phone and my mexican factory made EVH guitar head. Period. There is no supportable argument against this observation either. One doesn't exist. NONE of those components are hand made, and neither is the circuit itself. The only thing in these that MIGHT be hand made is the chassis, but i highly doubt that. It was likely assembled in the exact same way my cheap chinese crap was, and all the evidence i need to confidently make the claim is all over the guts of this device in plain view. The only difference was each step of production wsn't handed off to a new set of hands along an assembly line, which improves quality control, that's about it. They are not hand made amps, at all, they are simply "Non assembly line assembled". Although ignorance, especially in the audio world, is bliss and a self-served ego tickle both. I would not even begin to approach the statement "it seems sanity is returning to the market." over this amplifier. To me this amplifier states the opposite, and is good example of how absurd the home audio market is continuing to become, and how the ignorance of the average consumer of these products is being taken full advantage of. The guitar player community would tear a company a new a**hole for calling an amp that looks like this on the inside, a fully hand built tube amplifier. You can simply look at it, and tell that it was not.
The track 2'nd from end of side 2 (I think) on "Sticky Fingers" before the brilliant ending track "Moonlight Mile" is the closest thing to a type of free-form... (i'm sure it was structured tho, to their usual degree) combined Rock /Jazz/ Blues upbeat number I've ever heard the Stones do, slightly unique for them, i reckon, called "Can't You Hear Me Knocking". "Beggar's Banquet" was the last time Brian Jones played on a the Stones album, Jagger said in interview, he did the cool sounding mellow slide-guitar addittions on that slow track, tr'2 side 2 (I think) off the cuff & they (obviously) kept it in, called "No Expectations" & that was it & the his last Stones number ever. Jagger said "they knew it was near his end with the Stones by then, never knowing if he'd turn up for scheduled sessions or if he was capable to do anything depending on what state he'd be in if he did turn up.. .." & Mick Taylor must be the single most uncellebrated long-term member of the Stones, he shunned limelight & interviews or personal publicity b4 he'd had enough & enter Ronnie by 'Black & Blue' time or before(???) &, do all Stones fans even know of Mick Taylor?, I often thought even decades back when listening to fellow young brits talk & rave about them, he hardly got a mention despite all the time years he was rhythm / lead'ish guitarist who gelled perfectly with Richards. Even finding his face on a Stones L.P. cover is like a finding Waldo pic' but near impossible, (he's on a Decca compilation sleeve is all I've spotted. Maybe he's on their 1'st in 1 of the tiny pic's
My complaint or drawback to the LTA Preamp or whole line is the lack of a Phono Section. Now your adding another cost with adding a high end MC or if you use them MM phono section. I would have a hard time moving away from my made in the USA by hand also VAC Signature Mk IIa SE With Built In Phono MC and MM and is a much higher quality Phono section the something like your Parasound. Yes it cost a lot more then the LTA but starts getting close when you add in a high quality Phono Stage. To my point as popular as vinyl has become I find it strange they don't even have a phono stage available. That would be a deal breaker for me.
Steve, im looking at some options for an integrated for a spatial audio X3, LTA Z40+, BAT VK80i, Allnic, or perhaps NAT audio. Trying to soften the forward sound in the upper registers and get more sound stage. Any thoughts?
If you go to the AudioCircle posts from when Clayton Shaw was still at Spatial Audio, you can make contact with many X3 owners there, and you will get great feedback - a very open, friendly bunch of people. Clayton was a huge fan of LTA, and usually used them to demo his speakers at shows You could also try the people who are now running Spatial Audio for suggestions
I went the other way. Went from tubes to high end class A and A/B solid state. I find that they have a clear/crispness to them without adding in artificial warmth (distortion) and I like that. It's probably not surprising that I also generally prefer studio recordings (lossless, flac, cd quality) over live recordings. I do get how many people like that sound though. Having said that, tube audio goes better with live recordings, in my personal opinion.
Welcome to the LTA pond Steve! Been a long-term owner of the LTA MZ pre and a former owner of the UL (excellent amp). For my Spendor D9.2’s, decided to switch over and monoblock the LTA ZOTL40+ (for a little more umph) and have enjoyed the extra muscle. While everyone will jump on their equipment (no doubt for all the right reasons) let me throw my own appreciation to the team at LTA; world class in service, education (want to tube role????) and support.
Tube amps are instruments that produce nirvana. Back in the day, in the 80s I so loved my Edison monoblock tube amps, beautiful sound, organic, emotional, hitting all the buttons but......Yes a but, my greatest angst was reliability...aaaagh!! Fast forward today, I am in love with music again, my solid state French integrated with zero feedback, Atoll IN100SE is an absolute dream.
Hi Steve, thanks for your nice reviews. I'm thinking about making the jump from Solid State (creek 5350 SE) to a Tube integrated amp. what do you think about the Wellsento R8, a very affordable tube amp? I would love to hear your take on it. Rich
Steve, great content as ever. However, your shirt is way, WAY too conventional... TRY HARDER!!😜😂 (nothing will EVER beat the shirt with equations/graphs on it though).
Loved seeing Moondog there behind you; "Bird's Lament" is a piece I come back to again and again. PS: thanks for introducing a to me completely unknown brand, and thanks for your enthusiasm.
Unknown Steve I follow you like the guy who goes by the cross. I have a question? Do you Recall the, name of the Blue Amp 100watts.?Let me know. Thanks
I was a pro-audio electronics tech for 36 years. Pro-audio gear is designed more for power and durability. It is my understanding that tube amps are preferred by audiophiles for their tonal warmth. The natural compression of a driven tube is very pleasing to listen to. But would they be the preferred amp to use in a studio where accuracy and precision is required? It is my understanding that different brands of power output tubes have different sonic characteristics. So do audiophiles go for the amp and tube brand that sounds most pleasing to their ears, and recording studio engineers go for solid state amps with high accuracy?
Steve is an enthusiastic listener, the Zotls and good tube amps are closest connection with enthusiast musicians tmho ,microphones and speakers are coloring devices far more than amps , and if you like to go to bed early , stay with solid state, fu"k it is early in the morning again, that what tubes can if fed by good sounding digital and or analog equipment ,hopefully I shall own a zotl once myself Thank you Steve for your enthusiasm about berning designs , they really do that little special regards from Holland
I have yet to hear a solid state preamp that I like... Given my limited budget I ended up with great Chinese preamps(Doge 8) in both of my systems(Pass XA25 and Coda no.8)
one cant justify price on long labor costs. if you chose this line of work without the source of more efficient manufacturing then thats not a customer problem. it doesnt make sound any better, most of these small subjectivly oriented companies come and go, they dont last.
Nice Video… as usual. I was a solid state guy for about 15yrs in the early 70’s. Switched to tube and have never been tempted to go back. After another couple of decades I ended up with primaLuna 400 series pre and 2 400 series mono blocks. Had them for about 3 years and think this is my last system. No switching back and forth for me!!
I have had my Joule Electra 160 watt OTL monos for 10 years and they sound sublime getting rid of the transformers really opens up the sound. OTLs and big Soundlabs are heaven on earth.
credit is also due to the great late Nicky Hopkins on keyboard. first heard this album on its release. its a revelation to hear it again on 21st century gear.
Thanks for the review of what seems an exceptional product. About 'excptional'.. do you think we could one day see the review of a Wavac amp? That'd be a great moment in audio review too. I apreciate down to earth audio daily.. it's nice to dream.. ;-)
To me the largest improvement in sound quality happened when I switched to basic microphone cables such as the Gotham GAC-4, GAC-2, and the Mogami 2549 and had them Deep Cryogenic Treated. Ridiculous how much better these simple cables sound vs the thousands of dollars worth of cables I had from big name companies.
Thanks for sharing this video.
I have mention this, I was a bench tech for years back in 1975 to 1981 and I heard many types of equpment on the same bench, same speakers, same music source etc... from my bench.
We all used JBL studio monitors to make sure we didnt miss anything before packing up a repair.
Every time I repaired a Tube unit, I always enjoyed the sound from them no matter how much quality was in the solid state units ( Marantz, Pioneer, Bang/Olson, Fisher, Scott, Grundig etc... )
I still have an old ST-70 and I swapped it from time to time just to see how it compared to whatever system I had at the time at home.
The thing you said " More Relaxed " Kinda sums up what I was hearing.
Not only that, being a musician, I hear things in the specific instruments that solid state seems to miss. Its a refreshing moment when I realize how a 30 year old tube amp can compete with a modern day HiFi system and bring back the joy of a good mastering.
Thanks again for sharing your findings.
Very well said, George. 100% agree. I too work as a tech, mostly doing guitar repairs, but also amplifiers. I’m a musician as well, and I absolutely agree with your assessment. Thank you.
Thanks, I knew I wasn't alone. 😂
My L-100s are very happy with their GFA 5500.
@@genesmith4019 I’m sure they are. Adcom made some great solid state amps. I own a GFA 545 and a Parasound a23+ both of which I run a tube preamp through but mostly in the summer, because tubes can heat up a room. I obviously don’t hate SS amps, I just prefer tube. This hobby is of course very subjective.
@@NickP333 Yes it is! I am reminded of hobbyists who use film in their cameras!
Steve --- I am worried about you! That's the most normal shirt I have ever seen you wear!
Ron from “New Record Day” let him borrow it
Have to say I prefer most Gutenberg-shirts over this one.
Winter is coming...
It’s a sneak attack, he’ll let our retinas let down their guard and then in the next video - Kablooey!
Must be laundry day
Wait! Did you get lost in Vermont and wander into some lumberjack’s closet? That shirt is pure woodsman not Brooklyn!
We're honored you've chosen the MicroZOTL Preamplifer as your new reference preamp, Steve. One note, for full transparency, the preamp as reviewed is a Level 2 with Balanced Input Transformers, with a total price of $5750 USD. ~Nicholas
Well Tim de Paravicini designed his EAR 509s with industrial grade components for reliability and performance and ever since we've been looking for someone just like David Berning to do as good with something else. Well the ZOTL power amplifier you know isn't it but there is market demand for an EAR 509 made from old Television stuff. Why the Scotsman John Logie Baird even made a television using parts of an old washing machine. But it wasn't a television like our RCA system, it was a television something more akin to 17JN6 as a rival for the KT88 tube. We all need David to go back to the drawing board and pull a white rabbit out of that Top Hat, speaking of which I have a Grace Slick record here.
Is there a version available with multiple balanced inputs? I want at least 3.
@@maggierosebikeshop Why don't you do your own research?
@@keplermission Some individuals choose to ask questions in promotional videos. Some individuals choose to make tangential posts without punctuation. As the late Charles Hansen may have wrote, "YMMV".
@@maggierosebikeshop We just have the one version with a single balanced input. We'll keep this request in mind for future products. Thank you.
Hey Steve… great review, I’m getting my LTA preamp next Tuesday… level 2 with balanced input…. SUPER EXCITED 🤩
Love the Moody Blues too. Just wish Steven Wilson could have a crack at remastering some of their albums. +1 for Moondog behind you from 1968, just like Beggar's Banquet.
I agree-Beggar's Banquet is my favourite RS album. Brian Jones on sitar, slide guitar and mellotron on various tracks adding special touches. Jigsaw Puzzle maybe their most underrated track.
Wow ... 'Beggars Banquet', I never heard it since the 1970s and today listen to a whole load of music aimed at the sexually active younger age group, 1994-present. I just listened one time to the words and they were all about coming around to my place and all that, my ex and stuff but really sweet music. 'Beggars Banquet', wow, that's too long ago for me. How about 'Sweet Thing' by David Bowie?
The prices may look high but the build quality looks great and the components seem to be top notch. In a way the LTA products punch above their price point.
If done well, its pretty hard to beat a good tube amp & pre amp I bought a VAC tube amp and ARC LS15 tube pre amp back in 1995 They are still goung strong to this day! Tube change on both only once! That amp weights 75 lbs and my ARC LS15 has a remote
My stereo rig with my Maggie's is not crazy money, but it sure is magical for money spent
Well you know the VAC Phi 30i Kappa is reminiscent of the latest Audio Research 80S and we want Steve's readers to see that stuff but I'd have to say that Radio Shack's Realistic STA-2000 and Optimus X-100 are just awesome, even although a lot of viewers don't like 'the Shack', and dub it 'Rat Shack' they had some great stuff and I know a lot of Americans will agree with that. Their stores were a real oasis in the agricultural communities of the United States, fondly remembered.
David Berning is a genius . I wish he (or LTA) made a Berning-designed phono preamp .
I was just on the phone with them today and they told me one is in the works now.
I have thier headphone amplifier. Really happy with it!
got a great deal on Klipschorns from a fellow who described them as harsh. He was driving them with a 100 plus watt Yamaha SS amp. With tubes Scott 130 pre, 208 power amp... I have never been happier with the glorious sound!
Yes but back in the 1950s it wasn't really a case of you know tubes, everything then was tubes and there was a 'Gain' issue and attempt to reduce stages all perfected in the British Empire Radford STA-15, that was basically just a transformer and tubes with the fewest components to alter the reproduced sound. With Klipschorns you know there was always a tone that some listeners heard and others didn't and this had to be engineered out. So when we listen to the Citation V, we have to know what speakers were really meant to go on the end. Output Transformers were always wound for just one brand of speaker. QUAD used Goodmans and harman/kardon used JBL and so forth. But after Solid State we could use other speakers but ... amplifiers are still pretty much one-speaker happy. Manley Snapper you know ... what speakers are they even meant to use? Tannoy? Probably Tannoy.
Klipsch horns and tube amps.. match made in heaven..
If ever want to go new tube amps, give Quicksilver Horn Mono a thought. 25watt per Mono block. They make my 1990 La Scalas sing.
@@johnvincent4048 Yeah because the 1990 La Scala suits low DF and Quicksilver is ten and that's capable of driving an x-over and a tweeter but not much more than a 2-way speaker.
I'm a young kid just getting into Hifi with less than 3 months in total my first setup is a old Pioneer table. A pair of 1959' H.H. Scott 99d integrated mono block tube amplifiers. With ADS L710 SPEAKERS . And honestly it sounds amazing
hello Steve ........." the sound is not particular tube ...."
That's one of the BIG miss conceptions about tube sound ...........tube sound or what it's called is NOT due to the tube technology or the tubes .......but the way they are used and expescially the OPT's !!!
Another lie is that tubes are for people /audiophiles who like distortion.....tubes are more linear actve device ..............and they are NOT subjet to thermal distortion as solid state /transistors are. ( that's why they can be used and run WITHOUT NFB ! )
Transistors lack some qualities that vacuum technology preserves better ....
Many beliefs are .......................beliefs only . It's hard to convince people to question their beliefs .
By the way a good solid state sounds better than a cheap designed tube amp ...........and a good class A/B amplifier sound also better thén a lesser quality so called class A amplifier , but outside those exceptions .............for music reproduction the LESSER components and connections to pass trough in the musical signal path and a good tube design in class A still rules.
Kind regards and thank you for the hart warming uploads .
You and Herb are testimony of real history and the lessoins it has teached ....
Frank You should start a UA-cam channel ASAP and please teach us!
if I had no health problems I would be happy to consider that ....meanwhile I share what I can within my possiblility with who wants to learn or share ...
Kind regards .@@MrBazsi888
We all learn one from another.
Thank you Steve, for continuing to have the highest signal to noise ratio of anyone I follow on YT. Always a treat.
Thanks!!
I see what you did there
Ha, non-audiophiles would go, "Huh?"
@@BruceCross I don't know, it's pretty self-explanatory .... Signal is good, Noise is bad....
I don't think you can say that these are hand made when they are full of PCB's?
With Ayre Acoustics, I'm going in the other direction... Tubes to Solid State. The secret is Zero Negative Feedback. Charlie Hansen (Ayre) was a tube guy who wanted the dynamics / reliability of solid state, and the magic / musicality of tubes. With the Ayre gear, I want for nothing...
I’ve been a glass-head for decades, often, at least early on, at the jeers from solid-state snobs. If patience is truly a virtue, then my love for the sound of tubes makes me far more virtuous than my overall life would dictate.😉😂🤡
My experience with tubes is like your's.. I've never been able to go back completely to SS, after meeting that musicality I was looking for..
The LTA microZOTL is an awesome preamp. It’s really gives a detailed tube sound.
Yeah but ... the ZOTL ultralinear amplifier is a little strange, Steve says it doesn't sound like tubes and when look up the 17JN6 tube we find it's a Beam Tetrode but not a Kinkless type like KT88. No it's a strange one, for 'Class C' output amplifiers and that's why there are no quoted distortion figures. Not only that but this tube cannot use Output Transformers, even although it's a real clever use of surplus television components, nobody buys these anymore. I suppose ... you know most tubes are 6.3 volt and 17JN6 is 17 volt but best not split hairs. I mean Sam Altman was born in 1985 and that's the age of the entrepreneur we're talking about with ZOTL.
@@keplermissionvery strange indeed. Are we supposed to believe that a 38 year old can do things? Absolute hogwash! Any good amp designer is at least 66 years plus.
@@keplermissioncheck the datasheet again. Its brother, the 6JN6, has been used in transformer coupled amps like the EA-230.
@@king-jazzbo The 17JN6 is for a Volt Line amplifier used in olden times department stores for records and announcements. The tube isn't audiophile and its use as such, is strange but you know making cheap, otherwise useless tubes sell at a profit.
LTA makes beautiful gear!
Stray cat blues is my favorite on that rolling stones album. Playing mine on a rega p2 Arcam Sa20 integrated. Kef 350's Klipsch r120 sub. I've been longing for some tube style equipment. With my budget the Schitt Freya would have to be on my list. Love hearing different systems. Good job as always.
No tubes are what salespeople call 'toys for the real boys'. But the Audio Research 80S would be a better partner for the Klipsch Heresy in the Audio System of the Day. The 80S ... wow, so cool with its power meters looking through to the power tubes but the D.F. is 8 and that's why the woofer surround on the Heresy is a Disco stage, long cable type that looks a little like an accordion. The Yamaha A-S2200 is for other speakers and realities. Clint Eastwood once said 'a man's gotta know his limits'.
Nice system my friend.
😳Oh my goodness me! He's feeling knobs again 😮
Because, knobs have feelings too!
Steve - thanks for such a great review of Linear Tube Audio - it was very confirming. I am a newbie audiophile - I first saw the LTA equipment at 2022 Axpona. I loved what I heard and ended up with the Micro ZOTL pre-amp and separate amp you reviewed. I power the Wilson Sabrina X speakers and couldn’t be happier. I encourage your listeners who are looking for a new pre-amp or amp to check out LTA. They will send equipment for try outs (I did an A/B at my local hifi shop). Thanks again.
LTA ... wow ... but Wilson Sabrina X are only $25000 and the MicroZOTL pre works with $167000 Eggleston Viginti. But you know Steve is playing old records and some of us ... are still playing old Stereos! We'd be happy with a Hafler DH100/DH200. Come to that Radio Shack RS would sound good with their custom designed speaker systems. It was never easy getting the right separates to sound good and that's what Radio Shack did until the separates rack systems came along with speakers and you know, everything in one handy matched up package. Why not check out Bang & Olufsen next time?
@@keplermission Kepler not sure where you are going with your comment. I play old records as well - mono deep groove jazz. I am happy with my system and I am glad you enjoy your system. Have a good day.
I went from tubes back to ss and am happier.
Tubes aren't for me, either, but I get the appeal.
No xlr output to power amp is a downer … sad that the company Audiovalve no longer exists but you should really try to get the Solaris and try it as a pre. When it comes with a dac it’s around 6k and 4.5k without. It’s designed to operate as a headphone amp but can be used as a pre as well as a power amp, too. Much like this one. What’s great is that you can fine tune the degree of signal boost and it also has two operating modes (well three actually but the third is the Stax mode for Stax Headphones).
That lack of XLR outputs really got me... I would never buy it
@@renatogomes2396xlr ha no place in home audio. It requires much more circuitry that always degrades sound
@@jm_1214 Before you make a statement like that, you need to know what xlr is and how its implemented. To start with, xlr is a 3 pin connector. That's it. It doesn't tell you anything about the component itself. That said, when the term xlr is used, it typically means some form of balancing is implemented. I say some form because there are different ways a component can be balanced. In general, there are 2 main types of balancing. Fully balanced or fully differential, and point to point or truly balanced. A fully balanced component has a path for the 2nd signal through the entire component. This is most likely what you were referring to in your post. Yes, its expensive to add that 2nd path.
Point to point balancing is when a single ended signal is converted to balanced. The conversion takes place on the inputs and outputs of the components. This is the type of balancing that's implanted on the 2 pieces in this review. A balanced signal from a source travels through a balanced cable and goes to the xlr input on the preamp. As soon as the balanced signal enters the preamp, its immediately converted to single ended (non-balanced), for 2 reasons. The components are not balanced and balanced and single ended operation is not compatible. You can't mix the 2, so you can either make the signal balanced on both ends or SE. Point to point balancing is cheap. It allows you to get some of what a fully balanced system does, but not all. Its a low cost alternative and is widely used.
In order for the xlr input on the preamp to make any kind of difference, the source has to be balanced as well. It can't just have xlr outputs. The signal that comes out of it must be balanced. If all the conditions are not met, you default to single ended operation. When this happens, your xlr connections are identical to using non balanced (RCA) connections. There's no place for the 2nd signal to go, so its simply not used. Only 2 are.
Excuse me. I've been building circuits for nearly 40 years and have been a field tester for many high end audio companies. It requires a more complex signal path to implement two ground planes. The only advantage would be in long runs of interconnects or long microphone cables. In just a standard 1 menter interconnect it almost always degrades sound compared to RCA. However you are free to think what you will. Sound is all subjective anyway. To each their own
I was referring to true balanced which you correctly described as have a completely separate signal path which to me makes the sound more restricted and held in. However if you're using solid state then I guess it makes little difference. Solid state and digital hurt my ears and gives me a headache in the forehead. I did enjoy it in the discos in the early 80s
I have owned the LTA preamp for about a year. Steve's review is spot on with his assessment on the preamp. This pre would be very flexible had it have a balanced out, but that's a minor quibble from my end. However, the performance of the preamp is really good. I think it does punch above the asking price. Like Steve said, you won't hear a typical warm & bloomed tube sound. What you will hear clear, open, and relaxed sound (just a very slight edge off). Sound is addicting for me to sit and listen to music for many hours. I've had more expansive SS preamp, but this tube preamp beats it hand down.
Not a 'Tube Bloom' sound ... you know, that's only for elite buyers. We don't get 'Tube Bloom' in ordinary places, it's just for a few buyers. You know nobody ordinary could ever enjoy a 'Tube Bloom.' sound.
What Steve didn't mention were some of the XP 30's features that the Microzotl.does not have. First, the Pass is a fully balanced design, which is superior to single ended interconnection as it cancels noise. Next, the Pass can accommodate both multiple XLR inputs and outputs. The output strength of the Pass is superior also; there are some who use 10 or 20 ft long cables; the hight output of the Pass can easily drive the signal over these distances. Another feature is that if one likes to bi-amp a speaker, the XP 30 has another whole variable gain stage output so you can match-gain a second amp with didfferent output ratings so an even overall output can be made on a bi-wireable speaker with an amp for the bass, and one for the mid & high fequencies, which adds a different dimension of tuning and flexibility. Next, the Pass is dead quiet and the XP 30 goes to great lengths by separating the potentially noisy power supply section and putting it in its own solid aluminum chassis, and then each audio channel has it's own heavy aluminum chassis for greater nosie isolation. The blackness that the XP30 presents is something else. All this isolation and additional.space for componentry is an advantage. To talk about the length Pass goes for ultimate sound includes a high quality Plitron transformer with large filtering capacitance reserves for each stereo channel, and a separate transformer for the display and logic controls to isolate this function to eliminate noise. That's a total of three transfomers. Next, inouts and ouputs are isolated and switched off by relays for better sound. Lasty, Pass Labs gear is audio jewelry and the build is and quality appearance is top notch. Since the XP30 is solid state, there no other running costs in the future and Pass's customer service is legendary. So the Pass brings other items to the table that Steve didn't mention. I will say that the Microzotl is quite an accomplishment if Steve gives it high praise.
@@rw3915 I use Pass X250.8 amp with MicroZOTL pre and I like the combo very much. Yes, the review sample hasn't left his place for awhile and became his reference preamp says a lot especially when he owns XP30. I heard XP22 and XP12, both are fantastic preamps. Love Pass gear.
Great review, as usual.
In addition, the LTA Z40+ Integrated is a good way to save almost $4k over separates.
Especially if you buy from LTA today or tomorrow -- all their equipment is 15% off, so you can save more than $5k.
To my ears, the Z40+ Integrated gets you 90% of the sound heard from separates. Of course speakers matter. I am using efficient, dual concentric -- Tannoy Cheviots.
Wow my exact component paring at the moment. After two years of putting together my 2-ch system. Tubes can further tailor the signature to precisely to suit individual taste. Fantastic pairing.
With all those tubes I am surprised that Steve feels the need to wear a long-sleeves shirt.
Continue to enjoy Steve’s exploration. This one verification of what we must all know by now-tube pre amps make everything more musical.
someone said funky
true theyre smoother and has nice 'attack' but normal ones also great
A tube amp makes music more musical? What does that mean?
That z40 is bad to the bone. I use tubes but I could see the z40 being my ( I’ll be buried with it” system.
I just switched from a solid state amp to tube. For me it was because I listen mostly at low volume - this is where you will hear a significant difference - at low volume a lot of solid state amps lose their detail, accuracy and strengths, whereas a quality tube amp will still shine greatly at low volume, with exceptional detail, accuracy and 3D soundstage.
lmao what a bunch of made of horse shit. Science doesnt lie buddy.
That's an interesting observation and I tend to agree that amplifiers are too often designed with the mindset of having excellent THD, SNR and frequency response because those are the specs most often listed. A poorly designed transistor amp might not be very linear on the amplification around the zero crossing of the voltage even it performs excellent at higher levels and the THD data looks great for nominal levels.
@@ThinkingBetter Nope. You know, there's no one rule of thumb for tube amplifiers versus Solid State. What is Stone telling us? Well he's got an amplifier with a round power iron that drives its own specially made speakers best at high volumes. So Stone reckons that applies across the board and it doesn't because we get low power Solid State that uses low power speakers. It hasn't got much to do with being 'poorly designed' either so much as being 'poorly matched' with suitable equipment you know? Not just speakers but inputs, tubes used to a have a whole sensitivity thing, we used to get full output with 80mV and most SS couldn't do that today.
Very true - although low volume "presence" also greatly depends on the speakers and their sensitivity.
Hmmmm… I have both. I’ll have to give that a listen. Good food for thought 😊
Reminds me of Julius Futterman. David Berning is an unsung hero of audio design
Charlie Watts’ drumming is superhuman? Are you a patient on medical cannabis? Don’t expect Nelson’s Xmas sleigh to visit you this season🫵🤣🥶🙈.
Steve I’m really surprised at this video. I’ve heard you say many times that you want your tube equipment to sound like tubes, but your new tube reference doesn’t sound like tubes. I recently heard this combo and wish I had heard it before I got my latest tube preamp and tube amp.
Cable risers are the modern CD Stoplight pen! One guy in the comments says he hears 'massive distortion' caused by one cable sagging closer to the floor. Chasing placebo ghosts! You'll never win that game because it's created in your head, it keeps snake oil companies afloat. Like the $20 magic fluid that gives you 10% better MPG! Too funny.
"Chasing placebo ghosts!"
Assuming that's true, where are you getting your information from. You can only claim placebo effect if a placebo is introduced as part of a scientifically valid test. If not, you're guessing. Can you reference 1 test where a placebo was properly administered during a test that meets scientific standards, on any piece of high end audio equipment ever made? Just 1 example.
People that laugh at other people are not too bright (or nice). People who laugh at audiophiles are not too bright either. You wouldn't expect lower IQ people to hear the somewhat subtle improvement that the green pen makes, by absorbing at least some of the scattered laser light from the cd player. Getting cables above the static field of a carpet makes a bigger improvement tban the pen. It's biggest improvement is in openness, but with the equipment the Doubting Thomases usually have, maybe nothing could make their sound expansive & open sounding .Their sound is likely closed in; like their mind. People with open minds I'm sure have a much more open sound. They tend to choose better equipment right from the start also.
Steve. Could you do a side by side comparison of Borreson X3 with PS Audio FR10? Price and size are very close. Looks like both are aiming at same projected market.
Steve! I really enjoy watching your channel. It's been eons since we last saw each other (either at Sound by Singer or CES). I am surprised by your choice of the LTA . You preferred the Meitner PRE to it when you did that review. Please explain.
I started out as a solid state guy, and still am. But I have to say my dream amps would be the VAC Statement preamps & new Master 300IQ mono's
Lta is a beast.. holo serene is a bad arse pre with a great hp amp as well
I'm with you on Beggars Banquet; the first of their greatest four: BB, Bleed, Sticky, and Exile. Moody's? Not so much.
ZOTL= Zero-Hysteresis Output Transformerless
The 4-6 weeks backorder isn't bad at all, considering they're hand-built, broken-in a week, and tested.
Beggar's Banquet was my first SACD purchase way back in the day when ABKCO was remastering the Stone's back catalog. It completely blew me away and changed how I listen to the Stones!!
I'd be interested in hearing your take on the LTA line compared to Atma-Sphere (OTL) products.
I've had friends who just Rave about Linnear Tube Audio, but I haven't had the chance to listen to them myself. Got to remedy that. Thanks, Steve!
Not really that expensive considering the super high quily volum control and fit and finish
A Technics turntable as a reference piece. Hmmmm
Awesome. I love that you've found a reference piece (the preamp) for under $6000. Finally it seems that some sanity is returning to the hifi market. Especially given the hand built aspect of these.🎉
These aren't hand built amplifiers, no more then a fosi product from Shenzhen china is. Im not knocking their sound quality, but i do have a problem with the marketing of these amps.
These are printed PCB integrated circuit boards with component soldered to their surface like all my cheap gear is. My fully handmade and hand wired amps and pre's, every single one of them, use pole boards and point to point soldering with intense cable management being required, because the circuits are hand made, not printed by a machine after being designed in software. Regardless of sound quality, the internals of this amp scream cost cutting measures.
The initial prototypes may have been fully hand made/designed. But these production units are not. Not even close. Just the presence of a printed PCB alone means these amps, are by definition, and 100% in-arguably, NOT hand built. If these things are fully hand made, then so is the little fosi amp that lives hooked up to my PC that i payed under $100 for, and so is my crappy cell phone and my mexican factory made EVH guitar head. Period. There is no supportable argument against this observation either. One doesn't exist. NONE of those components are hand made, and neither is the circuit itself. The only thing in these that MIGHT be hand made is the chassis, but i highly doubt that. It was likely assembled in the exact same way my cheap chinese crap was, and all the evidence i need to confidently make the claim is all over the guts of this device in plain view. The only difference was each step of production wsn't handed off to a new set of hands along an assembly line, which improves quality control, that's about it. They are not hand made amps, at all, they are simply "Non assembly line assembled".
Although ignorance, especially in the audio world, is bliss and a self-served ego tickle both. I would not even begin to approach the statement "it seems sanity is returning to the market." over this amplifier. To me this amplifier states the opposite, and is good example of how absurd the home audio market is continuing to become, and how the ignorance of the average consumer of these products is being taken full advantage of.
The guitar player community would tear a company a new a**hole for calling an amp that looks like this on the inside, a fully hand built tube amplifier. You can simply look at it, and tell that it was not.
David Berning is a LEGEND !
Absolutely!
One of my younger Uncles gave me his copy of “This Is…” when I was kid. Instant fan😊
Hi Steve, will you be reviewing the Clayton Shaw Caladan speakers? 🤞🤞🤞
Yes
The track 2'nd from end of side 2 (I think) on "Sticky Fingers" before the brilliant ending track "Moonlight Mile" is the closest thing to a type of free-form... (i'm sure it was structured tho, to their usual degree) combined Rock /Jazz/ Blues upbeat number I've ever heard the Stones do, slightly unique for them, i reckon, called "Can't You Hear Me Knocking".
"Beggar's Banquet" was the last time Brian Jones played on a the Stones album, Jagger said in interview, he did the cool sounding mellow slide-guitar addittions on that slow track, tr'2 side 2 (I think) off the cuff & they (obviously) kept it in, called "No Expectations" & that was it & the his last Stones number ever.
Jagger said "they knew it was near his end with the Stones by then, never knowing if he'd turn up for scheduled sessions or if he was capable to do anything depending on what state he'd be in if he did turn up.. .." & Mick Taylor must be the single most uncellebrated long-term member of the Stones, he shunned limelight & interviews or personal publicity b4 he'd had enough & enter Ronnie by 'Black & Blue' time or before(???) &, do all Stones fans even know of Mick Taylor?, I often thought even decades back when listening to fellow young brits talk & rave about them, he hardly got a mention despite all the time years he was rhythm / lead'ish guitarist who gelled perfectly with Richards. Even finding his face on a Stones L.P. cover is like a finding Waldo pic' but near impossible, (he's on a Decca compilation sleeve is all I've spotted. Maybe he's on their 1'st in 1 of the tiny pic's
Good reminder. Get yer ya yas out is their best live album ever and the only one I know with Mick Taylor?
Audio is becoming too expensive. Already spent 22k on speakers and amps in my home. This is getting ridiculous
My complaint or drawback to the LTA Preamp or whole line is the lack of a Phono Section. Now your adding another cost with adding a high end MC or if you use them MM phono section. I would have a hard time moving away from my made in the USA by hand also VAC Signature Mk IIa SE With Built In Phono MC and MM and is a much higher quality Phono section the something like your Parasound. Yes it cost a lot more then the LTA but starts getting close when you add in a high quality Phono Stage. To my point as popular as vinyl has become I find it strange they don't even have a phono stage available. That would be a deal breaker for me.
I will stick to my Chineseum made tube equipment. It glows n plays. And with my tinnitus I wouldn't justify £6,000 for a tube amp/preamp lol
Steve, im looking at some options for an integrated for a spatial audio X3, LTA Z40+, BAT VK80i, Allnic, or perhaps NAT audio. Trying to soften the forward sound in the upper registers and get more sound stage. Any thoughts?
If you go to the AudioCircle posts from when Clayton Shaw was still at Spatial Audio, you can make contact with many X3 owners there, and you will get great feedback - a very open, friendly bunch of people.
Clayton was a huge fan of LTA, and usually used them to demo his speakers at shows
You could also try the people who are now running Spatial Audio for suggestions
Nice Preamp Steve ! Thanks for the video '
I went the other way. Went from tubes to high end class A and A/B solid state. I find that they have a clear/crispness to them without adding in artificial warmth (distortion) and I like that. It's probably not surprising that I also generally prefer studio recordings (lossless, flac, cd quality) over live recordings. I do get how many people like that sound though. Having said that, tube audio goes better with live recordings, in my personal opinion.
The more processing the food the more natural it becomes......and healthy ...
@@frankgeeraerts6243 freedom is slavery.
All talk, no sound. Shame.
Welcome to the LTA pond Steve! Been a long-term owner of the LTA MZ pre and a former owner of the UL (excellent amp). For my Spendor D9.2’s, decided to switch over and monoblock the LTA ZOTL40+ (for a little more umph) and have enjoyed the extra muscle. While everyone will jump on their equipment (no doubt for all the right reasons) let me throw my own appreciation to the team at LTA; world class in service, education (want to tube role????) and support.
Thanks for the kind words, John. We pride ourselves on the quality of our equipment and the quality of our service. ~Nicholas
Personally, after years of trying diiferent gear, I prefer a tube preamp and SS power amp.
Is an AB amp solid state or tube? I bought an Emotiva
Solid State
Wonder how this xompare to the benchmark la4? Anyone?
Tube amps are instruments that produce nirvana. Back in the day, in the 80s I so loved my Edison monoblock tube amps, beautiful sound, organic, emotional, hitting all the buttons but......Yes a but, my greatest angst was reliability...aaaagh!! Fast forward today, I am in love with music again, my solid state French integrated with zero feedback, Atoll IN100SE is an absolute dream.
Hi Steve, thanks for your nice reviews. I'm thinking about making the jump from Solid State (creek 5350 SE) to a Tube integrated amp. what do you think about the Wellsento R8, a very affordable tube amp? I would love to hear your take on it. Rich
Steve, great content as ever. However, your shirt is way, WAY too conventional... TRY HARDER!!😜😂 (nothing will EVER beat the shirt with equations/graphs on it though).
Loved seeing Moondog there behind you; "Bird's Lament" is a piece I come back to again and again.
PS: thanks for introducing a to me completely unknown brand, and thanks for your enthusiasm.
Unknown Steve I follow you like the guy who goes by the cross. I have a question? Do you Recall the, name of the Blue Amp 100watts.?Let me know. Thanks
I was a pro-audio electronics tech for 36 years. Pro-audio gear is designed more for power and durability. It is my understanding that tube amps are preferred by audiophiles for their tonal warmth. The natural compression of a driven tube is very pleasing to listen to. But would they be the preferred amp to use in a studio where accuracy and precision is required? It is my understanding that different brands of power output tubes have different sonic characteristics. So do audiophiles go for the amp and tube brand that sounds most pleasing to their ears, and recording studio engineers go for solid state amps with high accuracy?
AUDIOPHILES JUMP from SOLID-STATE to TUBE AUDIO because it's "cool". In reality, it's hotter.
Speaking of burn- in. Currently burning- in new B.J. Cables, speaker cables; on "my wife's" TV system.
Steve is an enthusiastic listener, the Zotls and good tube amps are closest connection with enthusiast musicians tmho ,microphones and speakers are coloring devices far more than amps , and if you like to go to bed early , stay with solid state, fu"k it is early in the morning again, that what tubes can if fed by good sounding digital and or analog equipment ,hopefully I shall own a zotl once myself Thank you Steve for your enthusiasm about berning designs , they really do that little special regards from Holland
Snake oil Audiophile, has lost his ability to reason.
I have yet to hear a solid state preamp that I like... Given my limited budget I ended up with great Chinese preamps(Doge 8) in both of my systems(Pass XA25 and Coda no.8)
one cant justify price on long labor costs. if you chose this line of work without the source of more efficient manufacturing then thats not a customer problem. it doesnt make sound any better, most of these small subjectivly oriented companies come and go, they dont last.
FWIW Andrew Robinson & his partner didn't seem to get along at all with the $5000 LTA Z10's bass.
Nice Video… as usual. I was a solid state guy for about 15yrs in the early 70’s. Switched to tube and have never been tempted to go back. After another couple of decades I ended up with primaLuna 400 series pre and 2 400 series mono blocks. Had them for about 3 years and think this is my last system. No switching back and forth for me!!
The price seems fair.
I have the audiotechnica pl20 turntable and 2 Mcs 6700 turntable and thinking about adding fluance 81
LTA is solid quality. I've owned it. I wish they'd improve the aesthetics, however.
Threshold of a Dream and Beggar's Banquet; we're the same generation. Tubes and vinyl!
I have had my Joule Electra 160 watt OTL monos for 10 years and they sound sublime getting rid of the transformers really opens up the sound. OTLs and big Soundlabs are heaven on earth.
credit is also due to the great late Nicky Hopkins on keyboard. first heard this album on its release. its a revelation to hear it again on 21st century gear.
now LTA vs Holo Serene
I am personally suspicious of an audio product where you can only use a remote to access certain functions. Great video.
i miss my tubes but i live in a tropical country now. use to have a Audible Illusions pre. good stuff. have the new Rega Elex mk4 now..
Yes Steve, late 60s Stones, amazing, thanks for remembering like I do
Thanks for the review of what seems an exceptional product. About 'excptional'.. do you think we could one day see the review of a Wavac amp? That'd be a great moment in audio review too. I apreciate down to earth audio daily.. it's nice to dream.. ;-)
Nice shirt, but you could up your game with a Lindsay tartan. Shirt and scarf.
Tape monitor- SOLD!
Tubes mounted to circuit boards always make me question overall build quality and long term value.
Not an issue with LTA. The build quality is top notch. My original Berning MicroZOTL is pushing 20 years.
Steve - hoping you will bring back the sarah300b as one of your reference setups.
All this is gREAT,BUT I WANT TO hear it!iF I DONT hear IT,I DONT BUY IT.
Like that preamp and it's tube life rivals the 6h30 tubes that's impressive
I’d rather go for the Herron Audio preamplifier and mono power amplifiers. 💎
Steve can u make a video review of the Audio Research Ref9 CDP.
Im sticking with my integrated amp.
To me the largest improvement in sound quality happened when I switched to basic microphone cables such as the Gotham GAC-4, GAC-2, and the Mogami 2549 and had them Deep Cryogenic Treated. Ridiculous how much better these simple cables sound vs the thousands of dollars worth of cables I had from big name companies.
@@garynilsson416 After the change, I don't hear the cable any longer.
Glad you've joined the dark side steve. You can't beat valve enhanced staging xx
Sadly I tried one of their much lower priced preamps the MZ’2 and it just sounded weird😢
Soooo.... why DO audiophiles jump from SS to tubed gear?