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.
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.