David Berning preamp..looking for suggestions


I am on a look out for a good tube preamp with preferably a reference grade phono stage inbuilt. I am moving from a tube amplification to solid state amplification primarily to feed my Tannoy Prestige with all the power it needs. In the process I dont want to end up in an all SS system which will be too much of a deviation. So I would love to have at least a tube preamp and if possible a tube phono too. I know it may ultimately involve using a SUT but I can take that much of a compromise (if at all). 

I am considering the Berning ZOTL-One preamp with in-built phono stage. There are many reviews of his power amp but not much about his preamp. Has anyone heard his preamp, any impressions (even second hand) would be very helpful.
pani

Showing 1 response by audioman58

One statement got my attention . A Vacuum tube preamp is not limited
On it's gain vs A  solid state unit. My custom built DHT- Direct Heated Triode
In my opinion and many others is better thrn any mini tubes or solid state units
It is  solely transformer based my preamp currently has Hammond transformers 
With dual chokes in thd power section. The only capacItors  are a. 47 uf     Obliggato gold , 2 Big 68uf oil capacitors, and 2 Audyn True Copper .1 bypass caps. On the Audio side 2 Lundahl transformers .the gain us Fully controlled by the transformers chosen. The Vacuum tubes chosen are classics.
The rectifier tube is the 274b, and on thd preamp section 1 per channel of the 
26 Vacuum tube, and the 101d tubes ,just flip a switch and Taylor your music to
Which tube you like  for that type of music.why  do you think a Single ended amplifier 
Is so pure. In a preamplifier there is No limitation. My preamplifier is under $4k
But will not be beat by Any conventional preamp even at $10k+. Everyone that 
Hears it in action wants one , instruments just sound more real and dimentional.
Also if the Engineer or builder know their circuits well these tubes run very low voltage and last . The rectifier by  nature is the only tube that puts out 
Any noticeable heat. One more thing as someone who used to  modify gear  .this unit comes with only the best parts quality.transformers is a personal thing .I could have gone Lundahl on the power side also but could not hear the difference. 
Lamm audio  use Hammond on certain sections that says a lot.
All signal wire Neotech Silver Gold Alloy ultra high purity, all hook up wire Neotech 
Single crystal Copper all Teflon jackets ,even connectors Copper Gold.quality counts on every level of the build . Compare parts with sny preamp at any price levrl.Please remember Any commercially bought 
Equipment a minimum of 4x the markup just on parts, plus a 45-50% markup for dealers. 
With my build 75% goes directly into the much higher grade parts ,and you can easily hear the difference .I have been an Audiophile for over 35 years.
What I am telling you is the truth .it is up to you if you choose to  listen.
Enjoy your music !!