Modwright LS100 vs LTA MicroZOTL

mdrone,

I own an LS100 and an LTA MZ2.

The LS100 was my daily driver for years and is a great preamp, plus Dan Wright is a joy to work with. It has no obvious flaws, and does just about everything right.

But in my system (Atma-Sphere M60s/Zu Druid Vs), the MZ2 was just slightly better, with the same great tonal qualities plus better inner detail. I lucked into an Atma-Sphere MP-3 preamp which, unsurprisingly, is the keeper, but the MZ2 stays as the spare and I'll be selling the LS100.

If you're looking at the MicroZOTL, I can only imagine it's a big step up from the MZ2. Hope you get a chance to hear both. You can't go wrong with either one.

David

I love Modwright products and have 2 modified Oppo’s. I have not listened to the LS100 so I can’t comment on it. I have owned an MZ2 and I have a MicroZOTL preamp. The MicroZOTL preamp is a keeper for life and the MZ2 can’t be beat at the price in my opinion. The MZ2 is the Swiss Army knife of audio since it’s a world class preamp, headphone amp and if you have some very efficient speakers, the 1 watt integrated amp is unbelievably good.

Does the MicroZOTL have a rich sound?

@mdrone 

The short answer is yes but not at the sacrifice of clarity or a noisy veil. It is the first preamp that improved the sound of my amp by a good margin. The ZOTL Pre is also sensitive to tube rolling so richness yes.

I’ll defer to @armstrod as he’s got the real goods, but by everything I’ve read the Modwright will sound warmer and the LTA relatively more neutral but still with some tube goodness.  I just got an MZ2 but it’s still in the box because my amp is getting fully modded at SMcAudio and won’t be done for another couple weeks.  I’ll report back on my impressions if anyone cares. I’ll also post my impressions of the MZ2 as a headphone amp in the headphone section as I’ll also be using it to drive my Hifiman Arya Stealths.  Again, if anyone cares.