Ryszard Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) SOLD Item: LINEAR TUBE AUDIO MICROZOTL MZ2 PREAMP/HEADPHONE AMP Location: Melbourne Price: $2200 Item Condition: Faultless Reason for selling: Upgrade (see below) Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, EFT, Paypal (+3%) Extra Info: A word about where this little marvel seats performance-wise (certainly not price-wise) in the scheme of personal experience of owning, as well as auditioning in my systems a number of preamps over the years (some retailing in excess of $15K). Some SN members may have noted my past posts where I shared my enthusiasm for the astonishing value/performance I derived from owning a Consonance Linear 1 preamp, which few years earlier (to my surprise at the time) dethroned at my place a $14K Audio Research Reference unit. My lesson in 'divorcing price from performance' has recently been further bolstered by having experienced few LTA products from this relatively new US based manufacturer, as the performance of this 'unassuming' preamp goes even further! Greater transparency, richer timbres, deeper soundstage, more space between instruments - totally 'unaccompanied' by any audible noise floor. The unit is equally well known as a highly acclaimed headphone amp. It is also a surprisingly impressive 1 Watt amplifier in its own right (often used and reviewed as such) when matched with appropriately efficient speakers. I've been its first owner for the past 12 month. The reason for selling is that I just took delivery of its freshly released bigger brother, the full size MicroZotl Preamplifier (over $7K AUD landed) . Lots of enthusiastic press out there. The example below is the excerpt from Terry London's recent article. Although this particular review is that of the bigger full size unit (the model I just purchased), he begins with quite unambiguous reference to the smaller unit I am listing here: "Almost three years ago, I was stunned by the performance of the Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL 2.0 preamplifier/headphone amplifier, used as a line stage, when it significantly out-performed my reference Concert Fidelity preamplifier on all sonic parameters. The Concert Fidelity, a hand-built piece from Japan that cost $24,000, had never been surpassed by any line stage I had auditioned for over five years in my system until the MicroZOTL 2.0 with an upgraded linear external power supply retailing for less than $2,000. Needless to say, the MicroZOTL 2.0 was selected as one of Home Theater Review's 2016 products of the year." The unit I am selling, whilst also supplied with the optional upgraded linear external power supply, is the current, upgraded version - in that it now hosts 3 inputs (not 2); is optioned with remote and is fitted with NOS tubes. Happy to answer all relevant questions via PM. Richard Pictures: (apologies for my camera skills...) Edited February 17, 2019 by Ryszard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demondes Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Can I ask a silly question, if it’s a preamp only why does it have the speaker outlets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal beat Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Demondes said: Can I ask a silly question, if it’s a preamp only why does it have the speaker outlets? third paragraph in the ad answers your question Quote It is also a surprisingly impressive 1 Watt amplifier in its own right (often used and reviewed as such) when matched with appropriately efficient speakers. Edited February 17, 2019 by metal beat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryszard Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Not a silly question at all. I personally do not possess a good understanding of electronic circuits, but obviously as it turns out and as you will find in numerous publications - 'one does not have to exclude the other'. As mentioned in my listing there are delighted users out there matching this unit with sufficiently efficient speakers as an integrated amp. I tried it too and was surprised, given its modest power rating, although there was indeed an unavoidable lack of grunt as all the speakers I experimented were at best of 92 db efficiency (not enough). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) I may list mine soon too. Upgraded to the new MZ3 Have never tried my MZ2 with speakers despite having speakers maybe efficient enough. My Oatlon W2-1000f speakers are 97db and 4 ohms, though I also have Dayton PS220-8 based full range speakers which should be much easier to drive being 96.5db and 8ohms with no crossovers. I may try with that in place of my Oldchen K3 amp. These things do however make spectacular preamps and are the very best I've used. Highly recommended Edited February 19, 2019 by MattyW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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