Is the Berning ZH270 revalatory?

Hi Mew. I've had the 270 for almost two years now, (actually I have two running as monoblocks). I also have had/heard other traditional OTL's of roughly equal nominal power output, well-regarded (for the time) traditional tube amps, and higher-powered SET's. I've either sold or am planning to sell all of others to keep just the 270's. For my system, and my listening preferences, the 270's are the best fit. Even wthout the mods and tweaks available for them, they outperform amps (in my system) costing several times as much. With the mods and tweaks, they are impressive to say the least.

84Audio: Thanks for your thoughtful words. I want to reiterate that was never, and am not, in any way skeptical about the quality or performance of the Berning amps. I have absolutely no reason to be, and plenty of Audiogon commentary from members whose judgements I respect indicates exactly the opposite. (And I would agree that the Berning company probably has no need of subterfuge to promote its wares.) What I was skeptical about was only the post itself, but I was ready to accept at face value any reassurances offered by those who might stand to benefit from this thread's influence, or from its author, who I would still glady hear from again.

Allanbhagan: Thanks for coming on this thread to respond. If you are stating that there is no intentional or directed shilling going on here - which is the question I invited your input about - then that's good enough for me. I was being 100% sincere in soliciting a denial of any undue involvement on the part of yourself or Mr. Berning, because I truly did not expect that there was any. Please consider that my way of affording you the opportunity to clear the air of any possible suspicions which may have been raised in readers' minds based solely on the post's *appearance*.

I disagree that there are "hundreds of threads like this" on Audiogon. This one may simply have been worded in such a way that it caused my eyebrows to rise, without any devious intent on the part of the original poster, and I recognized that possibility, but posts worded like this are actually quite rare here in my experience. It *reads* as if it might be disingenuous, and that combined with the fact that I had never seen this poster's username before is what prompted me check his forum history. Like I said, although it's relatively rare, this is not the first time I have noticed a post having this sort of tone being offered by someone with no previous forum contributions, and it's not the first time I've questioned one that does. The possibility of abuse in an anonymous web environment is not a fictional concern. If no wrong has been done, then please accept that no insult was intended. I have no agenda beyond the integrity of this forum.

Carry on with the Berning love-fest...

To this date, the Berning 270 amplifier remains at the very top of my most wanted list. It is without a doubt the finest sounding amplifer I have heard thus far.

To answer Mew's question, yes, without a doubt, this amp is in a special class that has very few members. My modded monoblock ZH270s are the first amp/amps that made my power hungry Salons sound like I thought they should. I was ready to sell the Salons until I tried them powered by the ZH270s. I recently brought my Merlins back into the room. The bass delivered by the VSMs is amazing. The Berning/Merlin combo is dynamic, articulate and musical. They have PRAT in spades. They will blast your face with air on some bass drum passages. I am sure the Bernings are not everyone's cup of tea but they have become the foundation of my system, period. I think they will drive just about any speaker with ease.
I will also add that everything Allan has said would happen sound wise has turned out to be fact.

I have just checked back in to see whether my inquiry received any replies and at first was pleased to see that it had and then dismayed to see that I had generated some unintentional discord. I take full responsibility for mentioning the name of the person from whom I acquired the amp. My zeal for the amp extends to the person who built it and the person who sold it to me. Neither suggested to me that I query other users about their long-term satisfaction. All of us in this hobby like to verify their judgments against the discernment of others, and I derive further pleasure from acknowledging the decency of the many people for whom the hobby is both passion and profession.
But again, if I breached the protocol of this forum, mea culpa.
Mark