I would not give it a thought before 100 hours. Also tubes make a really big difference ...and not all NOS tubes are created equal. I use 7N7s(6SN7) with loctal adapters and 7062(12AT7) as the driver tubes.
I use HD650 and 800S with it for great results.
I do not think that being used as a speaker amp is it's forte unless you have very efficient speakers of 97db or greater in a near-field config..
Yup I know about the burn in. Just expressing my eagerness to get pass this stage. And, will do some rolling after the amp has settled.
And, it would suck if the amp's forte are not for speakers as that's how I intend to use it 90% of the time with my 99db Altecs. The amp that the Fisher replaced was also 1wpc and never turned the attenuator past midnight.
I know there is some burn-in at the manufacturer and I don't recall how long it took for it to become amazing.....but it will eventually reach that status. I'll second the HD800S on the MZ2 is killer. Probably the best I've heard the HD800S. @viggen, bring that HD58X home to hear on the MZ2!
I read the burn in is 60-70 hours at factory somewhere. I did bring the HD58X home last night. After the second hour mark, the sound is rather decent. Since I uninstalled my Fisher, I can't A/B it with the Microzotl. However, my dac, Metrum Amethyst, has headphone out. And, during the hour I A/B'd last night, I can hear how the Microzotl gradually catch up to the sound coming out of the Metrum's headphone out.
I left the music playing when I left for work this morning. So, there should be another 10 hours of burn by the time I get home.
However, listening to the HD58X at work right now, I can say the Microzotl has a lot of catching up to do. The 58X seems to have some magical synergy with the APPJ amp I have at work.
It's a good test to see if you come around to the MZ2 as a top-notch amp. I don't recall my initial reaction with little burn-in to the MZ2 but I've plenty of equipment that I made complete turnaround on after a period of break-in. Even so, the 58X may have some good synergy with the APPJ.
Definitely try a little tube rolling when you can. No rush. I'm using the stock NOS RCA 12SN7 + GE 6201 5-star tubes. I have a pair of 12AT7 Mullards to try and a set of Sylvania chrome dome 6SN7GTA coming from Brent Jesse.
Looking forward to your opinion of the MZ2 in about a week or so.
However, listening to the HD58X at work right now, I can say the Microzotl has a lot of catching up to do. The 58X seems to have some magical synergy with the APPJ amp I have at work.
There were many things that didn't work for me during the first couple of hours. There is a glassiness to the sound which I've heard before in other tube amps that were shipped with Chinese tubes. There's no "bite" to the sound as if the highs, mids and lows weren't aligned. Human voices sounded distant as if every vocal I listened to is washed out like the Portlandia theme music.
I've left the amp on for over the past 24 hours straight streaming Tidal tracks and took some time to take a listen as well as doing some component swap to try to discern any differences.
First thing is the glassiness has subsided quite a bit but still a hint of it there. Human voices still sounds a bit super natural to me. The bass is a bit annoying as if there's a slight distortion the kind that causes the ear a bit of discomfort.
So, I took the Grundig muVac out of storage and plugged it in as amp and MZ2 as preamp. The sound coming out of this combo is simply beautiful. As if the short comings of both amps suddenly dissipated. muVac sounded a bit lifeless and tiny bit grainy on its own now has more weight behind each note and increases in something I cannot explain other than clarity. Yes, it's like putting on a pair of glasses that allows you to see the world more clear.
Then, I removed the MZ2 from the chain and used muVac as integrated amp, sure enough, it's the same sound I remembered but lacking in clarity and tone the MZ2 provided. Then, I went back to using the MZ2 as integrated amp, and, has the tone but sound is still a bit smeared.
I think I prefer the MZ2/muVac combo over the Fisher KT100. But, that's more components and money. Further, one reason I wanted to the MZ2 is for its preout to hook up a sub. And, I wouldn't be able to do that if I use MZ2 as preamp instead of integrated amp.
One more note of observation. One of the favorite amps I've had was the 47 Labs Gaincard. I loved that amp for both its sound and aesthetics as well as how it changed my approach to achieving the sound I wanted. Eventually I replaced it with the muVac. I was happy but always missed the GC's ability to be both clear and lack of flavor (but it had this coldness in its sound which drove to me try out tube amps). The MZ2/muVac combo really reminds me of that trait but sans the coldness.
Further, one reason I wanted to the MZ2 is for its preout to hook up a sub. And, I wouldn't be able to do that if I use MZ2 as preamp instead of integrated amp
I used to use Khozmo preamp to split signal. Even at 5k ohm output, there was still degradation to the sound. I thought using a splitter would yield the same result. But, I could give the splitter you linked a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
With my MZ Preamp I worked with Mark at LTA so that the tall 7062s would clear. He made a slight change in the production top plate. For the 14N7s with adapters the holes in the top were fine already.
For my MZ2 I easily drilled out two 1.5" holes in the acrylic top plate to allow my 7N7s with adapters to work. LTA now sells a drilled plate as an accessory so this is not a problem. My 7062s clear in the MZ2 regardless.
Has anyone heard this in comparison to the Feliks Euforia? Interested to hear your thoughts as I am looking to pair a tube amp with my Mytek Brooklyn +
Quick update. The MZ2 has been sounding very good. But, I've been very impatient in getting it to sound good. So, I didn't really let it fully burn in before I started messing around with my system.
Since my last update, I've done these.:
1) Replaced 12SN7 Honeywell with 12SX7GT RCA
2) Replaced Tung Sol 12AT7 New Stock with 12AT7WA Sylvania
3) Replaced all detachable powercords in my system with Oyaide Tunami
4) Applied the Hammond 193m choke tweak
Result.
Focus. Information snapped in place. Detail, Information snapped in place. Bass, much stronger and enveloping. I think someone explained a sort of submarine sound in a post much earlier in this thread. That's what I am getting now. The bass is submersing me. And, there is a certain mellow halo surrounding the sound now especially after the choke tweak. Maybe the mellowness is noticeable now because the annoying high frequency emi is removed. You know the sound that is barely noticeable but irritates the ear. This is removed.
Anyways, I am happy with the MZ2 for now as a standalone amp. But, I had to do a lot of treatments to my system to get here.
Has anyone heard this in comparison to the Feliks Euforia? Interested to hear your thoughts as I am looking to pair a tube amp with my Mytek Brooklyn +
I have both MZ2 and Euforia. Even thought both are OTL, Euforia is for high impedance phones (Senn and Beyerdynamics), MZ2 has higher power output at lower impedance.
For Senn HD 600/800 and Beyer T1), Euforia has much better control. MZ2 works with lower impedance phones (Senn HD58X and Fortex).
I have a question about comparisons. I currently have a Hugo 2 going into my MZ2 as a dac. It took me a while before I started to get happy with the MZ2 I have. I put in the NOS 12v tubes and made sure to put both jumpers in their place. I'm getting close to the bass I want (I'm a bit of a bass head). I'm also looking to have as much clarity as possible, so I also just picked up a Hugo M-Scaler, which should be coming next week. So, my string is PC with Tidal HiFi > Hugo 2 > Chord (company) interconnects > MicroZOTL MZ2 (newest edition) > Lazuli Reference DanaCables cables > Focal Utopia.
With the M-Scaler coming next week, I was wondering if I should replace my hugo 2 with a Chord Qutest, to take advantage of the dual BNC connections and then sending the Qutest to my MZ2. This got me thinking, maybe I should replace the MZ2 with a Hugo TT2, and skip the Qutest dac altogether.
So, for all you that have heard the Chord Hugo TT2, how does it sound compared to the MZ2? Is it worth replacing the MZ2?
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