In my unnecessary but non marginal upgrade dream from the marvellous Sansui Alpha amplifier, because i am anyway already in sonic heaven , i dream to buy only one tube amplifier:
The Berning ZOTL because the designer is a physicist who revolutionize tubes amplification design with the results being , save the acclaimed top S.Q. with his new technology , extended long life span and COLD tube staying cold forever ...The S.Q. reviews are always only positive on the upper top... The price is not too much... And my AKG K340 need powerful steady constant amplification but especially clean amplification...
I am pretty sure even without any listening experience with it , reading all there is to read about Berning that his amplifier will not be a marginal improvement over my Sansui alpha already clean amplifier...Anyway studying before buying, without any possibility of listening before buying, may seems risky but it is not if you know how to read between lines ...It served me well... I never regret my buyings based on studying and i regret all impusive one in amplification and for dac or even speakers ... Because i hate all my 9 past headphones, studying here did not go well because almost all headphones cannot be to my licking : i ask for "outside the head" speaker like soundfield with no roll off in the bass before 30 hertz and natural Timbre quality sound ...And electrostatic non fatiguing high frequencies...Only the K340 could gave me that at low price and even at higher price...It delivered as promised and all negative reviews reflect complete misunderstanding of reviewers more than real negative factors, i know because i experienced all the negative and cure them all... The K340 is the most hard and picky headphone to drive...The hasrdest headphone to understand right before modifying it...
i hate tubes because they become hot even in summer and they die sooner than later whithout bothering to say it to you before the long agonizing act and decreasing S. Q. and they are cost added each year... I sold the only one i bought after a year and even gave my 60 different tubes at low price... I never look back save when i read about Berning...
Berning device put tubes in the 10,000 hours life span because tube stay cold forever in his amp... The sound quality is not the colored rich harmonics or pleasurable distorsions usually associated with tube amplifier most of the times compared to S.S. amp ...And i need for the very sensible feminine reactive K340 a clean S.S. amplification but with more delicate fluid touch as the Berning amplifier only seems to be able to give me ...The Sansui alpha did not have any negative review and is the top of Sansui even better than my loved past more tube- like sounding Sansui Au 7700 because it is cleanest and with a lower noise floor ...
Sorry but reading about tubes rarity and cost suggested this post to me...