Tekton Double Impacts

Mac,

I don't know if you have considered the Zotl 10 for a Amp choice.
I have a good friend in Cali that has one but he is waiting on a MZ2 to pair with it,he is a guy that I trust his ears and we like a lot of the same things.You may have never owned a dht set tube amp before and you certainly can't go wrong with the top quality ones that have been mentioned.

I have one 300b set amp left in my collection of gear so I'm leaning towards the Zotl 10 myself.One thing for sure the DI's aren't going to need much pwr,8 to 10 quality watts is huge at least for me.

Best of luck to you,

Kenny.

Hello facten,
No I haven’t. I know several people whose hearing and listening impressions are simply rock solid and they’ve told me that the Canary 300b amplifer offerings are something special. Right in line with what Terry wrote earlier, "music makers" as opposed to "hifi". I understand his point.
Charles

Yes Kenny, the ZOTL 10.....especially the new, upcoming ZOTL 10 with a new upgraded power supply......was my choice until teajay's experimentation with amps. The LTA MZ2 driving the DI's with its one watt is fantastic but as Teajay mentions, the SET amps add more texture to the sound or meat on the bones and that's what I'm looking to add. I get plenty of volume, bass and dynamics using just the MZ2, adding the ZOTL 10 would give me more of the same. According to Teajay the MZ2 alone sounds better than the MZ2 with the ZOTL 40 on the DI's. I can't verify that but can verify that the MZ2 drives the DI's amazingly well. 

Mac,

I can relate to all you have said,and the direction you are going to get a quality dht set amp,that will give you what you are looking for in spades.Now the hard part begins finding the one for you amongst all the very good choices and also that meet your budget.

Yes the MZ2 is very good on it's own driving my DI's for about 85% of the music I listen too,but for full orchestra and the occasional classic rock played loud definitely needs a little more headroom.

I like mullard 12at7's from the 50's and 1940's slyvania vt231's the best so far for me,the 1940's tung sol round plates would be my 2nd pick.You definitely can't go wrong with the wonderful nos tubes that's for sure.I did also try new production tung sol and Sophia 6sn7's that I have used in other preamps with fair to good results but they both sounded terrible in the MZ2.They both were noisy and the tone shifted to the cool side which I did'nt like at all.

I'm going to use my MZ2 by itself for a wk or 2 and then pair it with a couple of amps and see which I like best.

Best,

Kenny.

Kenny,

youre totally correct regarding the limitations of the MZ. I rarely listen to classic rock and when I do I do so on my SS system. 

Im with you on using great NOS tubes with the MZ. I'm currently using the TungSol round plates and 40's Mullard 12AT7's and have a pair of 40's Sylvania 12SN7's on the way. Im loving my current sound and if the Sylvania's improve it further......better yet!