Is the Berning ZH270 revalatory?

Zaikesman is asking a fair question. I find his posts to be thoughtful and well reasoned. It's understandable that some Berning fans would take offense. They, (we) love the ZH270.

No hype, no shilling, no blowing smoke!! The Berning is a wonderful product and lives up to all of the good things said about it. At the risk of sounding like a sales pitch, this is a component you should try in your system. I had several long conversations with Allan before I decided to listen to it with return privallages. Frankly, I just thought it would be fun to listen--I never thought I would keep it.

I could go on and on about it, but I think it's strengths have been well chronicled on many threads in this forum. It would be great for Zaikesman to try it in his system and give us a full report. thanks

Hi Mew

I for one have gone ga ga in my enthusiasm of this amp since I first acquired it almost 2 years ago and no, it hasn't waned. My only criticism on an absolute level is that it still doesn't sound like live music :).

I do understand your initial skepticism Zaikesman but I can assure you that there is a demand for the amps that exceeds supply. Allan is an extremely honorable man in my personal dealings with him. He wouldn't have to go to this extreme to get his product noticed, he doesn't have to since this is a word of mouth product. I will say that his enthusiasm for th ZH270 is at least on a par with other users as evidenced by his continual tweaking to enhance its performance.

The only amp I have personally heard that I feel is equally good but different, better or should I say preferable to me in some ways and less so in others is the Joule Electra. Neither of these amps would fall into the tube characterization of euphonic, dark or mushy. The transient attack of SS with the dynamic realism of the best tube designs.

I re-read my post and wish to emphasize that Zaikesman is a top flight member and I appreciate his suspicions. We do need to look out for one another. Thanks Zaikesman. To answer your question about when I'm getting mine: probably never. It's a money thing but also the realization that when one buys such a product everything else in the system would necessarily need to match it's level of performance and that's where the outlay gets huge. The Micro ZOTL may find a home with me though but actually the Holy Grail would be the best fit. I doubt if many of the posters here will agree with me on my reasoning but I will try to explain myself. I love music. While I can hear the improvements of "cubic dollar" components I also hear the shortcomings of the software more than on a lesser system. I'm not going to own a system that makes 90% of my library unlistenable and reduces all of my listening to the critical level. Color me a non-audiophile but I don't find critical listening to be any fun at all.

Dear 84audio, Zaikesman is not asking a question, his post is clearly insinuating.

Mew asked a question, a question to other Berning owners, a question that can only be answered by other Berning owners, so this thread is for current and past Berning owners, people who have already bought Berning amps, How can this be anything else?

Hi Lugnut

While I find it generally true that ultra resolving gear often exposes poorer than average recordings in a less than favorable light, I would think that this amp would be less critical than many in highlighting this so long as the cabling, and speaker/amp interface are satisfactorily addressed. It has a natural warmth and clarity.

My experience is that compressed poorly recorded rock and pop music sounds better with inexpensive less than revealing components. Who really wants to listen critically to what a horrendous job that was done on many of these tracks? I never want more than that when listening to for instance Steppenwolf or Motown, oh how it hurts so bad, unlistenable. Just my opinion but I do hear where you are coming from.