Tenor 75 Wi OTL

I have heard the ZH270s on many occasions over a period of more than a decade, in my friend's system. He has a pair strapped for mono, driving a pair of large Acoustats. They are wonderful, bullet-proof amplifiers. However, to my ears they do not give that last 5% of clarity that one can get from a true OTL. I am specifically referring to my own Atma-sphere amps driving a pair of Sound Lab M1 speakers. I and my friend give the edge to the Atma's. I have a longstanding curiosity regarding the Tenors, and I look forward to hearing what you think of them compared to your S30s. Too bad heat is such a big issue for you.

By the way, the ZH270 was once one of the screaming bargains in audio, when it sold for $2500. Evidently David Berning (one of the geniuses in audio, IMO) met up with a marketer who raised his prices about 10-fold. I think the ZH270 was discontinued just to facilitate the price rise. Of course, there is no crime in that.

So far as the zh270 going up in price 10 fold, i'm not too sure about that Lewm. I wasn't aware that they were ever 2500.00 when they were first introduced but if that was the case I can't imagine Berning doing anything but breaking even if one is to consider that the amps took him 30 hours to assemble. The wiring for the impedance converter alone must be done manually and I can only imagine how tedious that task alone is. Yes indeed, at 2.5K it must be one of the greatest values ever in audio. at its final price with all the modifications I believe it listed at 5.5K

There were some substantial improvements, at least in my experience with several of the mods that improved the amp's performance no less than a wiring change and a few input caps along with some other lesser changes including cryoed outputs. The total net gain was significant. While I have done a direct AB to a Joule VZN80 in my system many years back the Joule clearly was harmonically richer with greater density where as the Berning was somewhat leaner. This was before I performed any of the mods and tweeks including much experimentation with vibration isolation. Sure would love to do an AB with the Atma-sphere in my set-up, I have always been curious all these years. I can imagine your system, great choices!

I live in Destin which is in the panhandle of FL. As my wife says lower AL.

With my open floor plan of my house and the fan thought I might be able to pull it of.

Tube,

thanks for the offer to hear your amP. When in the area I will look you up.

Glory, I have heard the Tenor's on several occasions and IMHO, they are an excellent amp. They will give off a lot of heat into the room, but that is to be expected with most tube amps. I saw these on 'Gon before you bought them and was tempted to buy them myself. BTW, the same seller has a JR model 8 for sale; this is one of the amps that I currently use and it is also an excellent piece. Perhaps if you don't like the Tenor's, then maybe the seller would allow you to trade them back for the model 8. The 8 has more power than the Tenor's and can control the bottom end better, it's not quite as holographic, however. But if heat is the issue, then the 8 would be a great swap.

I am certainly surprised by the comments of Blackburn. He insults countless people and companies in one statement. Who knows what his motivation is.

Anyone I know that has ever listened to the Tenor OTL has loved the sound. It is certainly, when paired with the proper speaker (impedance), one of the finest, if not the finest, sounding tube amplifiers I have ever heard.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me and I will be happy to help.

Jonathan Tinn