"The Merlins (for better and worse) are more revealing of the upstream chain than any other speaker that I've heard"
Hi Masilu
I couldn't agree more with Marty's observations therefore if you are looking for the carefree nature of ss including long tube life, auto biasing, feedback adjustment, low heat with the presentation only tubes can provide I still say the Berning Zh270 or the newer zh230 is about as good as you can get and will eliminate the complaints above providing you like its natural presentation, we all have different goals, no? :) One cavaet though is that because of the very transparent nature of these amps, along with all the OTL's one must really pay attention to the upstream chain to a greater degree. I have used this amp with the VSM for 9.5 years now and have not come to the FULL realization of how natural this combo can sound changing just the smallest of details in the chain, it keeps rising, it is a lot of fun to come this far and know that it can still be improved upon in those oh so subtle ways that make the music listening experience so totally enjoyable and involving. The longer I own the amp the more I realize how special it is, all amps have shortcomings somewhere, right? The bass is both full, controlled and deep without any extra fat or lack of definition. This is one area where the Merlin's can suprise given all the comments of "where's the bass?" I have not heard ANY ss or tube amp, bar none, that controls the bass better with the Merlin's along with extended highs with absolutely no brightness or glare and this with that SET presence and that liveness/realness aspect you get. You will not approach this with ss, sorry to say, at least I haven't heard it come close. The Merlin's with their electrostatic clarity requires this to come to their potential which many folks that give up too soon never realize. The Berning is not as much in the conversation these days but it is as viable as ever and is special with this quite special speaker. The zh270 still becomes available used at around 4-4.5K. The zh230 at less power is quite a bit more expensive new and used. If in Florida you are quite welcome to come and hear for yourself.
One thing though that doesn't fit your criteria is that it is best to use a tube pre-amp rather than straight from source to amp although that is an option with the zh270 as it does have a mediocre volume control, not recommended however. Have you looked at any of the Class D integrateds, the ice amp?
