wanted: negative ZOTL comments

[kelly]

There are a few paradigms in audio that I've come to accept. One is that no component is perfect. Another is that no component costing only around $800 is remotely perfect.

And yet I can't find any negative criticism for David Berning's microZOTL headphone amp. Sure, it's ugly. It's so ugly that it's just almost cute. The volume knob is on the top which annoys me. Fine. I don't allow these things to move me and put them aside fpr want good sound.

I bought and sold an MG Head OTL and, which I didn't care for. It was great for guitar rock but not enjoyable to me for classical or jazz. Its noise floor was too high, it was slow and it rolled off the upper frequencies. Furthermore, I found the "OTL mode" to be bloated, muddy and worthless. However, the sound was much smoother than my Corda HA-1 and much more natural sounding for human vocals and electric guitars, especially. But ultimately I couldn't keep it with its shortcomings. If you're only into rock, a pair of HD600s with the MG Head has got to be a fantastic value for you. For me, it just wasn't enough.

So off I go to spend even more money. And the ZOTL keeps coming up everywhere. It's far cheaper than many of the other tube amps that don't get mentioned at all and while markl gave a slight edge to the Melos SHA Gold, he didn't offer much negative about the amp even after its sale. So what's the deal. What's wrong with this thing? Why would I consider not buying it?

Kelly

 

[johnnylexus]

I'm not sure about the ZOTL, but a few heads here love the Audio Valve ... and it's beautiful to the eyes. But, as you may know, it's several hundred more than the ZOTL.

 

[pigmode]

Same here. No experience with the Zotl, but I can tell you that the RKV has a great sound top to bottom.

 

[kelly]

I've also heard nothing but great things about the RKV amps. However, I've never read anyone comparing the RKV to the ZOTL and it does cost $500 more. Despite how beautiful the RKV is, I can't justify another $500+ without having some idea of what that's buying me.

Kelly

 

[dcg]

kelly - no offense, but I hope you don't get a lot of responses to this thread (because I just bought one)

Dave

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by dcg kelly - no offense, but I hope you don't get a lot of responses to this thread (because I just bought one) Dave

Thus far, Kurt had previously mentioned that he suspected a single ended tube like the Cary SEI would sound better ($5000) but hadn't directly compared them.

Kelly

 

[MirandaX]

Also, to add to Kelly's question, how much of a tube sound does the ZOTL have? From my experience, the MG Head is very tubey, while the Melos is halfway between solid-state sound and tube sound. Can anyone compare the ZOTL to another tube amp?

 

[shivohum]

See http://headwize.powerpill.org/ubb/sh...fnum=2&tid=322 on a ZOTL/RKV comparison on a Headwize thread.

 

[dcg]

FYI Kelly - Vertigo's got the RKV for sale in the FS forum.

Dave

 

[kelly]

Thanks Joe and Dave for pulling my head out of my ass. My immediate dilemma and reason for posting this thread is now quelled as I grabbed Vertigo's RKV.

However--morbid curiousity still dictates my nature and I'd be very interested in more reviews or comparrisons of either of these amps.

Kelly

 

[dcg]

Well, if you're ever in the DC area (and by "ever" I mean before I graduate in 3 months), stop by and you can review and compare them yourself. After 3 months though, God knows where I'll be.

Dave

 

[Dusty Chalk]

My only complaint about the RKV is the noise floor -- hiss.

dcg -- you have both? I was going to invite you to the DC/MD/VA get-together (Hirsch -- he's the one I was thinking of), so that we could have a ZOTL/RKV shootout, but sounds like you're shooting out by yourself (uh, that sounded bad). Well, you're still invited...whenever we get around to it...

 

[dcg]

Dusty,

No, I just have the ZOTL (not yet actually, just sent Paypal for it today). I was implying that Kelly could bring the RKV along.

Didn't know there was gonna be a meet around here, but I'd love to come. I'd be interested to hear the RKV.

Dave

 

[KurtW]

The ZOTL is very neutral, not very tubey sounding in that it doesn't seem to have the typical downfalls of tube amps, such as tubby bass, hiss, rolled off highs and lows, can't drive low impedance phones very well, sluggish sound. Yet it's less edgy, more airy and liquid sounding than most solid state amps. Hard to beat for the price if you're looking for a neutral sounding amp (but not everyone is).

 

[Hirsch]

You're not going to hear much negative about the ZOTL from me (except for the time I mistook it for a toaster/oven, but that was early in the morning).

I'm still in the process of learning it. I'm buying a LOT of inexpensive tubes right now, to learn how different variants, particularly of the 6SN7, affect the ZOTL. Once I get a handle on which of the 6SN7 types sounds best, I'll probably spring for a premium pair.

One really nice thing about the ZOTL is that it runs the tubes relatively cool. Expected tube life running several hours daily is over ten years.

I've got one set of tubes that can make it sound pretty much like a classic tube amp, but with others its sound is really different: not a classic tube sound, most certainly not solid state. With most of the tubes I've used, it's really hard to characterize. I still haven't found the exact right set of tubes that I'm going to stay with yet, so it's difficult to characterize the sound without writing an essay on the sounds of the different tube variants (which I'll do at some point, once I feel I've got a handle on it, if anyone's interested. It just won't be soon.)