MicroZOTL 2

Yes, I do - if you look closely, you can see them in the avatar (needed tall tubes for a better visual match with the powers ). I have listened to them briefly - they will be next after the Brimars... probably in a week.

 

I listened via the 7062 for three nights but they sounded more congested and muted than the Brimar but not as bad as the Tungsram. Switched to Mullard CV4024 but was not vastly impressed. Returned to the Siemens E81CC tri-mica tonight and immediately fell in love again - punchy bass, clear treble, wide soundstage, lots of detail and very engaging. No more driver rolling for me I guess - except the Siemens are getting on my nerves with different power tubes.

 

You are tempting me to out the Siemens... but your description of the 7062 is so far off from what I've experienced with those tubes and everything I've heard from others I trust and folks like Brent Jesse that I don't know what to think ! Hmnmm.....

 

I understand your dilemma Keep in mind, that I must be a bit deaf as I still regard my modded mZOTL2 as pitch black, even though the added wires to the tube sockets should capture tons of RFI and EMF noise.

 

The mz2 is black but it *is* susceptible to noise externally with its acrylic top. They need a metal top option IMO. Try putting it close to a wifi router sometime. Mine sputtered like crazy when I had it in the "wrong" place on my desk in close proximity to a WAP.

 

same experience as Bazelio! When mine was placed close to a Wifi router.... it sputtered significantly as well. Took me a bit of time to figure out it was the router...

 

Correct. Same here when I put the baby monitor next to the amp. I was just trying to make a bit of fun with regards to the current development on the HF mZOTL2 thread (mod 'till you drop). I will not comment on the need to buy a >1000$ LPS and all the other stuff but was amused by the suggestion to remove wires because they would act as antenna. Well, in my case I added lots of wires and capture nothing. So I must be deaf then

 

a bit digressing here, but I almost fell into the trap, at least what I consider a trap... of tweaking (vibration absorption, coupling, sorbothane, LPS, etc.).
Didn't spend too much on it though, but wasted quite a bit of time.... spending time on proper speaker placement was much more efficient and significant in terms of improvement.

what really stopped me on the LPS as far as the MZ2 is concerned, is when I realized that, with all those tweaks, I was trying to make my MicroZOTL 2 sound like my amb M3.... which costs way less.... that's when my thirst for improving the MZ2 sounded too stupid to be pursued. The MZ2 representing quite a bit of money, I still wanted to have a pleasant sound out of it. That was done with the right selection of tubes which didn't cost me too much.

So the thread on HF, about all those tweaks and mods is just.... scary in terms of spending logic.... spending more than the amount of the amp on a power supply... it doesn't make sense to me. And it is only praise, praise and praise. I would, rather spend 2000$ on an Eddie current amp than spend around 1000$ more on LPS, changing the potentiometer, etc. to make the MZ2 better.

 

I agree, the modding suggestions seem to be a bit over the top. I also cannot stop the thought that it's rather an attempt to sell stuff (DIY kits, super-duper LPS, etc.). I went for a cheap(er) LPS (SBooster), which, looking at the measurements with the stock power supply, still seems to be a sensible idea. However, I was amused how quickly the seller of the 'other' more expensive supplies judged that the SBooster is lo-fi and not recommended.

 

Yeah the Mojo Audio thread, errrr I mean the microZotl2 thread, on HF has quite unfortunately become a dumping ground for third party advertising. I'd have stood behind the original request to start a separate Mojo Audio thread so that we could (un)subscribe to it. My points stand about the base topology and senselessness of upgrading with $12 resistors and so forth. "Using uber expensive" parts isn't a design method. It's a matter of silly (IMO) bragging rights when you want to talk about $70000 amps, or demonstrate the principal of diminishing returns.

But, yeah, your LPS is likely highly effective. The AMB s11 most certainly is.

 

That's what we've really been trying to figure out ourselves. Given the circuit we're working with, what is the best we can make it sound before the returns diminish too significantly with added cost. The mods being done by others will be very useful in knowing this, and I believe that we can make and offer without kits necessary a $2000 MicroZOTL that is worth $2000 to, and maybe even a bit more. Beyond that, we'll see.

I've talked to Ben at Mojo Audio, and he has said there won't be many more long posts. We're on good terms, he's just a very verbose guy with the enthusiasm of someone new to an active forum.The MicroZOTL2 thread should return to its usual tube roll/problem/not retailer-endorsed modification ways soon.

 

I was curious about the MicroZotl 2.0 after reading Steve Guttenberg and Neal Gader using them as preamps, and hearing them at T.H.E. Show only piqued my interest even more. These are my impressions using the LPS PSU.

I set them up with speakers primariy, with various devices leading to a Gungnir Multibit, and single ended to the Microzotl to amps and speakers. The speakers are well mated to the amps, and I've had them set up for a few months, before I tore the setup down to evaluate another set of devices. When the Microzotl first came in, I had set it up with the newly restored set B that I have at home, but they sounded pretty congested in the midrange. I reconfigured speaker positon, recabled, rechecked with the preamps I had at hand, until i got it sounding a little more neutral. That's kosher for the exercise, as I tend to skew sound to favor the pieces, as nothing is really 100% neutral. Another thing I notice is you will end up listening to music that favors the setup, unless you are an aural masochist hell bent for punishment.

I listened to it for a few hours, and then tuned the input to adjust for what I hear as defects from the combination.

The Microzotl 2.0 is a good musical, revealing preamp where different musical lines going on can be easily followed. Presentation is forward, as ultrabike note, so they are in your room with you vs you listening to an event. The bass is tuneful, but a bit loose, so in setups with uncontrolled bass sources, or amp/speakers combo with poor control, will be tiring quickly. Soundstaging left to right is good, as is center focus though sound images with depth is shallow, which might be a tradeoff for the detail you get. (I can't really distinguish layering with them). The upper mids/lower highs can get steely at times, depending on material, and the presence boost is noticeable.

This is no problem at all with well recorded material complementary to its character, such as Glenn Frey's "Caroline Now", or Metallica's "Enter Sandman" or Opeth's "Hessian Peel (the first part)", but listening to Enya's "Only Time", when the female voice comes in its jarringly little louder, and thinner than I remember it to be. Emilie Claire Barlow's "Like a Lover" has a horn part that wends it way through the song, and that goes through a ton of volume changes, whispering and cooing like a human voice. It is smooth, it should disappear and gradually reappear, working its way through the song. It sounds stark here, where it should be wafting in as with systems that sound natural (high resolution of volume) .

The decay seems a little foreshortened, and the overall sound is kept within the speakers confines. The shallower depth I heard might is also usually a sign of less microdynamic control (?). Macrodynamics are very good, though. I played the Frederick Fenell Iberia Suite- Feast day in Seville, and the buildup in the first suite followed by a quiet contemplative middle part opening up to a bombastic part (at 4:48) does come up but with a little less ease than I am used to. It doesn't have the air around the instruments and blackness that I've heard with other preamps, making the fine details less audible, but that only because I am used to my preamp (the Audible Illusions Modulus 3A) which does micro detail and soundstaging both really well.

This amp does boogie, and carries rhythm well. Its lack of small level contrasts (like differing sound levels of an instrument line) make it less life like (which is my bias), but it doesn't congest when the complexity amps up. It just doesn't go quiet as much or as quickly as more lifelike (wet, dimensional, bloom, pick your adjective) preamps do, and this dulls stuff up in music i most often listen to (navel gazing pop, acoustic jazz and piano, ECM stuff, some classical). but is not visible in EDM or funk.

It does show changes to the chain before it, and lets most of it through, until you hit its personality quirks. Is it a good value? I think you should try it in your system if you need both a preamp and headphone amp. It was pleasant enough that I could live with it, but I have heard better at a higher price with tubed preamps. I do know they can be set up and made to sound really good in complementary systems, like I heard them in the 2015 T.H.E. Show.

 

Nice write up, @Hands . It took me longer to come to most of the same conclusions. But, then, I had to go through the SMPS to LPS transition with this amp!

 

I've have this amp as part of the loaner tour. Been listening a bunch last night / this morning to get a handle on it. Couple quick thoughts.

First thought - I asked a bunch of opinions on discord and re-read this thread while listening and has same first thought as Hands, this isn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. I've heard lots of meh to yuck comments. Doesn't sound that bad to me.

Second thought - something is off with the bass - texture is odd. Bass is loud, but rounded and soft. Bass drum kicks thump instead of kick. Someone said wooly, and I would agree.

Last thought - This is much more fatiguing that Black Widow or Ragnarok. Listened with HD580 for 20 min or so and go that creeping feeling coming in. Tried again this morning and same thing happened. Switched to ZMF Blackwood and its a bit less, but there is a sharpness or something about the treble that my brain isn't used to.

But this amp can drive Senn dynamics / T50RP mods equally as well - no drop off.

 

Thank you very much Hands for your very interesting review....It is good advice for me....

 

I heard the MicroZOTL 2 at the Capital Audio Festival. Staging was was small like a mediocre solid state amplfier. The tone was forward making the 2003 black driver HD 650 I tried it with sound quite lively but not intolerable. Not a great amp but still infinitely better than the sandpaper GS-X mk2 I heard earlier in the day.

 

Wrapping up impressions for future lurkers to read in the future when they see these listed on HF used for little money.

I Started out thinking I was going to compare the MicroZOTL to two other contenders in the under $2k amp market: Black Widow and Ragnarok. After the first 24 hours with the amp I honestly kinda lost interest in this endevor as the ZOTL really isnt even close to the performance of the other two.



At first listen, I didn't think the amp was too bad. But the more I listened the worse it got. The bass texture is too far off to make this listenable for me. Its soft and thick at the same time. Bass drums that normally hit hard are now rapid fire baby farts. Pair this with a peaky top end and I found this amp fatiguing and unpleasant. Stage was small and forward, no holographic laid back tube amp sound here.

It does have ok to pretty good mids, and I am sure that some of the problems mentioned above can be helped with tube pairings, but its a lost cause for me. This amp isn't really a contender in the $1200 or $1500 (w/ linear power supply). It has too many warts. Not only did the amps mentioned above outclass the ZOTL in all aspects, I honestly think I would rather own a bottlehead crack. While it might not be quite as resolving, its weaknesses dont stick out like tramp stamps.

 

I am at lost to reconcile the interesting facts i read by reviewers here, with the many unanimously praise reviews i read all across the internet: for example;
http://www.remusic.it/EN/Linear-Tub...dphone-amp-preamp-and-integrated-amp-5da56500

the problems is that all this criticism is at 180 degree with the praise, not only with headfi thread but with all the many reviews i have read across the internet...This is the first time i read so opposite views of a product...it is like sbauf versus the world...

Please God help me to understand this second mystery after trinity itself...



P.s. one useful note is that after reading this thread here, i am waiting and very critically attentive to the hype...I have no means to listen before buying...i already have a marvellous amp/preamp( Sansui au 7700 ) and i dont have the money for this risky upgrade now and i can wait that the dust fell...