The David Berning ZH270 should be on your list. It has plenty of guts, is zero-hysteresis OTL, will drive lower impedences well without an impededance matcher(transformer) like the Atma-Sphere. Sounds great, and will save you a bundle of cash. There are very few tubes since the ZOTL circuit doesn't use rows of tubes for impedance matching, and the tube life is 10-20 years of normal use. The catch is, that Berning has only about 3 dealers, and mostly works factory direct. So it is hard to find one to audition. Do a search in the archives on Berning ZH270, and you'll find lots of lively discussion and comparisons to some pretty high-dollar amps. The ZH270 is about $4500 new.
Wyetech, thoughts comments on amp.
I am presently demo'ing a atmosphere m1 amps, and compared to the bryston 7's currently in the system, the atmospheres blow the brystons away. It was like taking a burlap bag off the wilson speakers the minute the m1's were turned on. I was truly a euphoric experience. Since this will be my 3rd amp (hopefully the last). I am going to demo a few others and purchase one in about a month, being somewhat more cautious, since selling used audio at 50% is never that exciting. The name wyetech, cary, wavac, came up as possible considerations. Arc has been ruled out after a demo of them it didn't seem to offer much more than the brysons. A demo of a wyetech amp is possible if driving 5 hours each way and back again is not a problem. Some say it is worth trying. Especially the sales person, who also said atmospheres were built poorly. I live in Phila area. Presently have wison 6 (over priced) speakers. Budget 10k. Any info would be appreciated.
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- 14 posts total
- 14 posts total