Tekton Double Impacts

Hey Charles,

I have had many discussions with listeners regarding which gives most of the magic of David Berning's ZOTL circuit, the 40 watt amplifier or the Micro-ZOTL line-stage.  After trying the Micro-ZOTL with all kinds of  solid state and tube amplifiers it always brings it's virtues ( speed, a very special type of overall dynamic, great color, and a terrific sense of space/3D imaging) to such a level, that when it is removed the system sounds somewhat "dead/whimpy", loses color and sounds much more 2D overall.  Now don't get me wrong, I bought the 40-ZOTL and believe that it's a great amplifier, but my point is that much of the unique sonic qualities of Berning's design can be gotten with the preamp and then you can add any flavors to it with your amplifier.  

And as you said Charlies, to hear these nuances it takes a reference level speaker, plus the ability to be driven with very little watts to use many of the low watt/SET designs, without resorting to horn based speakers which are not my cup of sonic tea. 

Hey Kenny,

As I stated in my response to Charlies, either as a pure listener or as reviewer I'm not a great fan of single driver or horn designs that usually are the partners for 45 or 2A3 based SET amplifiers.  Therefore, I had a lot of different 300b/211/845 based amplifiers because they could drive the speakers I like.  Now, with the DI's I have the freedom to have fun with these great tubes and SET designs because you can drive them
with virtually no watts at all!

Teajay,

I'm with you that horn based speakers aren't my cup of tea either and I started with Khorns and McIntosh,30'yrs ago,and single driver speakers even though there is some very good ones have shortcomings that I find are hard to live with for the long haul.

Charles,

You are so right it does take a very fine speaker to allow this level of fine discrimination amongst very nuanced amps and that certainly includes solid state of various types as well.


I'm still shocked and amazed every single day listening to my DI's,
I can see myself being quite satisfied for a very long time and probably will even buy a 2nd set for my 2nd system.I listen at diff. times of the day and quite sporadically in the summer months,and it would be very nice to have a solid state and tube setup at all times.

I promised Eric that I would write a owners review for his website and I'm still working on it,right now it's way too long and I need to condense it down,Writing is not my cup of tea either'but I do my best.


Kenny.

Teajay,
I eagerly await your impressions of the 300b mono blocks headed to you for review.  I believe that at a certain level of execution it is not a matter of "best" but different presentations of excellence amongst various types of amplifiers. 

I can imagine both the 2A3  and 300b sounding superb driving the DI yet each distinctly different (as one would expect).  At this juncture it becomes a question of individual taste and preferences. Teajay,  no doubt that you're having a genuine ball listening to all of these exceptional amplifiers. 

The Double Impacts certainly seem to offer a legitimate alternative to horn speakers for those desiring to own lower powered SET amplifiers. This is a good development. 
Charles 

I too await Teajay's 300B review as I'm still trying to decide which way to go regarding an amp. For now I'm really enjoying the MZ2 but would like a tad bit more texture, air and warmth......qualities SET amps seem to excel at. For now I'll be content with rolling different tubes in the MZ2 to see if I can get those qualities. I have NOS TungSol round plates and KenRad 12SN7's along with Mullard 12AT7's on order. Hopefully some combination of them with or without my RCA's will get me what I'm looking for and I won't have to bother with an amp. If the NOS tubes don't bring me that SET magic I'm looking at the Triode Lab FFX with Hashimoto output transformers for $3800 US. I'm sure the 300B Frankensteins would fit the bill but they may not be within my budget this year......unless I happen to come across some used. Unlikely though as they don't seem to come up on the used market much. 

The great thing about the DI's is that they give you so many amp options. The not so great thing about the DI's is that they give you so many amp options :)