Just to make everything a little more confusing for those considering amplification options for the DI's I thought I would add my findings to the discussion. I purchased the DI's as a downsizing move to integrate my room back to home theater and needed a speaker line with center and surrounds to add later but was hoping for a speaker that could also still satisfy the 2 channel lover inside me (Thank you Kdude66 for your time and knowledge). At heart I prefer tubes and/or simple electronics that have less parts and less opportunity to wreak havoc on the audio signal (NOS dacs, SEP amps, Vinnie Rossi LIO etc...). That being said I have known Bill D (Grannyring) for a long time and he has consistently extolled the virtues of his Lyngdorf TDAI-2170. I ended up buying it because I knew I could plug my blu ray, cable box, and fire stick into it and my wife and kids would be able to figure out how to watch movies without my help. It was a simple and elegant solution that was reasonably affordable. I also purchased Linear Tube Audio MZ2-S and got to hear the ZOTL 10 from a friend (and briefly owned the ZOTL40) as the basis of a tube based system for critical listening.
To reiterate, I had zero intention of using the Lyngdorf as my main amplifier but after it burned in and with the room correction in place, I am dumbfounded by the sound coming from it...vivid tone, rich texture, presence, 3 dimensionality, air around instruments, fantastic imaging, great woofer control, and an absolutely silent background. I have had the misfortune of owning way too many class D amps in the past and don't think one of them has lasted more than 60 days in my system so I was not expecting what I'm getting from the Lyngdorf. I must give a big shout out to Grannyring and have to agree with all his praise for the unit. I can say that I prefer it by a very wide margin compared to the MZ2-S driving the DI's (better tone, presence, imaging, and bottom end control). Adding the ZOTL 10 to the mix was a huge upgrade with the MZ2-S and really had much better presence, imaging, and PRAT but still lacked the tonal saturation of the Lyngdorf.
I have taken care creating the theater room and it was built on the Fibonacci progression with dedicated circuits, and innovative room treatments hand made and installed by Dale Pitcher of Intuitive Design. Even with that, I must admit that the improvement in sound when the room correction is on is huge and definitely confirms that the room and meticulous setup play an enormous role in the quality of sound you get.
The DI's are incredibly revealing of the differences in what you feed them and the environment they are playing in. I have seen pictures of Teajay's setup (Thank you for being a fearless kick ass reviewer) and know my setup and speaker placement is significantly different as is the construction and composition of room materials and digital source. I also know the music he tends to gravitate toward isn't the mainstay of what I listen to so I'm not surprised at all we have different preferences. I also appreciate Charles1dad's feedback that adds to the collective experience. I admire anyone that can find audio bliss and stay there as long as he has.
For me, the Lyngdorf experience has really opened my eyes to just how much the room influences what's coming from your speakers and expect that because of that room interaction, there will likely be great variation in what people prefer to feed the DI's.
I do hope this thread continues to be educational for those interested in the speakers and doesn't get sidetracked by those with negative agendas.
David
