[Powermankw]

Lacking... Hell no. That's nuts.

 

[darktooth8]

Lacking... Hell no. That's nuts.

Great to hear. I've been waffling on my purchase as I wait. No reason to fret, just try em out when they get here I suppose. I am a little worried due to using ZMF's high impedance headphones, but zach of ZMF says he owns both ZOTLs.
Have you tried yours w/ headphones or are you mostly speakers?

 

[ardbeg1975]

Great to hear. I've been waffling on my purchase as I wait. No reason to fret, just try em out when they get here I suppose. I am a little worried due to using ZMF's high impedance headphones, but zach of ZMF says he owns both ZOTLs.
Have you tried yours w/ headphones or are you mostly speakers?

MZ3 et al. have no issues driving ZMFs (a Susvara or HE-6 yes but most other cans no problem).

 

[jonathan c]

ZMFs + LTA MZ3 ==

 

[darktooth8]

ZMFs + LTA MZ3 ==

It's the woo audios sitting to the side that tell the story here. Thank you!!

 

[Powermankw]

Great to hear. I've been waffling on my purchase as I wait. No reason to fret, just try em out when they get here I suppose. I am a little worried due to using ZMF's high impedance headphones, but zach of ZMF says he owns both ZOTLs.
Have you tried yours w/ headphones or are you mostly speakers?

No, I bought it specifically because the headphone circuit is the main circuit, not some afterthought. I was going to get a Z3, then realized I could buy up and consolidate everything. All the Z10 owners here got my wheels turning. My Headamp GSX-mini was a step up in bass, but the Z40 was a next level. Not just quantity, but quality I have never heard. Now sure... not the same tubes as a Z3... But the attributes raved about the ZOTL circuit are not exaggerating. All the slam and dynamics... certainly not slow and rolled off.. FULL frequency range, and all he magic of tubes. It was a risk selling off my stuff... but damn... single best decision I have made so far in all this. It made my Utopias a whole new headphone.

 

[jonathan c]

It's the woo audios sitting to the side that tell the story here. Thank you!!

…I use those too with ZMFs (+ the other h/p in my ‘signature’)….

 

[Powermankw]

Great to hear. I've been waffling on my purchase as I wait. No reason to fret, just try em out when they get here I suppose. I am a little worried due to using ZMF's high impedance headphones, but zach of ZMF says he owns both ZOTLs.
Have you tried yours w/ headphones or are you mostly speakers?

Oh... duh, here is all you need to know... Talking with LTA, whether or not it would drive my bookshelfs well... The fact I needed it returned to put a sub out in... Nick said you might find you don't need a sub. I don't know if it is a must have.... OK there salesman, dial it back a notch. Geezzz... don't need a sub out... Um he wasn't joking, and he was 100% right. No, it did not turn my bookshelf into subs, and they can't do what my sub does... but what comes out of my bookshelf is just staggering. I have a micro sub, but in my office, it gives back that warmth and substance that was missing... and then there is the bass heavy stuff. But the low level response from the LTA defies belief. all the warmth and substance. Substantial meat, and the accuracy... for music alone, I could easily do without a sub. And yes... I have told Nick that. My friend came to the same conclusion with his set.... and it had the same effect on my headphones. I took my EQ out.

 

[cats4cans]

Oh... duh, here is all you need to know... Talking with LTA, whether or not it would drive my bookshelfs well... The fact I needed it returned to put a sub out in... Nick said you might find you don't need a sub. I don't know if it is a must have.... OK there salesman, dial it back a notch. Geezzz... don't need a sub out... Um he wasn't joking, and he was 100% right. No, it did not turn my bookshelf into subs, and they can't do what my sub does... but what comes out of my bookshelf is just staggering. I have a micro sub, but in my office, it gives back that warmth and substance that was missing... and then there is the bass heavy stuff. But the low level response from the LTA defies belief. all the warmth and substance. Substantial meat, and the accuracy... for music alone, I could easily do without a sub. And yes... I have told Nick that. My friend came to the same conclusion with his set.... and it had the same effect on my headphones. I took my EQ out.

I bought the MZ3 primarily as a preamp. There was a huge improvement in bass. Nevermind that the other pre was a fraction of the cost and meant as a stopgap that I used much longer than I originally intended. And now I’ve also discovered how nice it can be to take the room out of the equation with headphones. My subwoofer plans are on indefinite hold.

 

[skhan007]

If anyone has a lead on a preowned MZ3, please let me know.

 

[Karnicopia]

I recently picked up @ardbeg1975's MZ3 and I'm really loving this thing. I went to can jam Chicago this year and I was in no way looking for a tube amp but I had decided to check out everything that was available and this was actually the first booth I stopped at and I just really enjoyed the sound and in general I really fell in love with the idea of tubes and planars. One of the other booths that got me thinking this way was Wells Audio had a TC, HEK, Dan Clark's booth had a Stealth on Ampsandsound and the Audeze out of the MZ3 and all of them were just really mesmerizing but I ended up going with the MC3 it brought that incredible detail and speed of the planar but just added that touch of tube magic it really sounded nice clean and quiet but brought all of those benefits.

Overall I'm really shocked at what it has done to the sound of the Diana V2 I feel like that is a completely different headphone out of this amp in a way that I wasn't really prepared for. I'm wondering if it was underpowered but I had a TT2 powering it so that should have plenty but whatever it is it sounds amazing out of the MZ3. The main thing is it opens up the soundstage like tube amps do but the imaging of the Diana is pinpoint and the background of the amp is black so that makes sound layer really well and distinct and then it adds that touch of euphonic sound but without really messing with detail retrieval or the bass like some of your tubier tube amps can do so it brings a lot of benefit but doesn't really give up much of the V2's strengths. On a few songs the Diana could lack a bit of timbre compared to some of the ZMF that I'm used to but that bit of tube magic really helps it here and just nudges it enough in the right direction that it sounds amazing.

I was excited to pair it with the Atrium and it sounds great but is just kind of blowing my mind on how much of a difference it is making on the Diana V2 so I've been cycling through a lot of music on those. Overall though just really love the build of the amp it is absolutely quiet and I'm also shocked at how cool it runs. I had it running most of the day yesterday while I was working and listening off and on and it ran cool the entire time. Also I'm really liking the remote and number of volume steps as well as the volume display is really helpful if I have to adjust for a song to get right back to the level I was at before. Overall the amp is doing everything I wanted and surprising me in a lot of areas, I'll definitely get into tube rolling but it is sounding great with whatever the stock tubes were so I'll probably just enjoy that for a while.

Here's a pic (because I always enjoy seeing them) excuse the cable mess I'm kind of figuring out where to put everything first but for now I've just been listening.

Here's a song that really blew me away on the Diana how the MZ3 opens up the soundstage and the layering was really impressive.

 

[skhan007]

Nice.

 

[George Hincapie]

ZMFs + LTA MZ3 ==

I see you have the AudioLab 6000CDT. I bought one earlier this month to add to my main system and am considering another to add to my headphone system. I am very happy with it

 

[George Hincapie]

If anyone has a lead on a preowned MZ3, please let me know.

Have you contacted LTA? They do list traded amps from time to time.

 

[skhan007]

Have you contacted LTA? They do list traded amps from time to time.

Yup, I'm in regular contact with them (and I hope I'm not annoying them) asking every few weeks if there are any trade-ins coming. I'll drive up in a heartbeat, if they get one in. Currently, there are none and it may be months before their current MZ3 demo unit would be eligible for sale (it goes to hi fi shows with them and then is going out to a youtube reviewer this fall). I've spent time in the shop and absolutely love it.