Linear Tube Audio Micro ZOTL - Version -3 in-depth upgrade information

Hello as we speak my Preamplifier is almost completed , please see below ⬇️ 

Here is a complete description from LSA Audio on all the substantial 

Upgrades to the New series 3 preamplifier ,and upgrade

Please see the link below with a full picture of the Much more substantial ceramic circuit board layout and the Blue Capacitors and small square caps are Amtrans from Japan  To complement the Excellent Red output caps Clarity caps Best - CMR caps from the U.K To then complement over 100 k in filter capacitance. The designer Mark and engineering team  further explains this below which is very helpful for any prospective buyers or upgrades !!

As other LTA product development brought advances in performance, a foundational change was required to enable the MicroZOTL Preamplifier to keep up. For Level 3 we completely redid the audio section: redesigning the boards, redrawing the layout, re-evaluating components, and improving the circuit.

Using a single larger circuit board instead of several smaller ones let us significantly shorten the signal path and reduce the number of interconnections, which removes opportunities for noise to enter the circuit. Combining the boards also meant that more of the signal path travels on the ceramic PCB. A larger board also gives us enough room to use the best quality components and optimize their placement. Improving the grounding scheme resulted in our quietest preamplifier yet. 

Building on what we’ve learned with the Velo and Aero, the power stage in the preamp was fully reworked to decrease noise and increase output capability. Shared sections of the circuit are separated to give isolated, dedicated power to each output channel. The total power storage increased by 70%, to over 200,000uF, with significantly more of that providing instantaneous power delivery right next to the parts that need it.

By redesigning our custom components and utilizing surface-mount parts in critical areas, the ZOTL stage achieves higher performance.

We’ve also added a high voltage delay and a soft-start filament circuit to warm up the tubes more gently.

So, tube circuit design has a lot of subtlety that makes big differences. The more circuit you have on the ceramic boards, the quieter the amp. The better grounding, the quieter the amp. Quieter means the music seems to float and come out of nowhere...and sounds more natural.  Having things closer together and reducing the signal path also improves the sound quality. Having the capacitive storage closer to the output improves the sound quality, as the extra power stored in the capacitor can be accessed quicker. Having more storage (ufs) always improves the sound quality. All of these things added together makes a better sounding, more natural, more musical preamp.  It's not just because the caps are more expensive. There is a lot more to it.   But we did try several brands of more expensive caps...Vcaps, AudioNote,etc, and selected some better sounding, more expensive caps in the 6 coupling cap positions.  We are also not trying to provide a handbook on how to make a better preamp for our competitors. It took months and years to figure some of this stuff out and properly implement it.  I hope this  helps.

https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/microzotl-preamplifier-level-3