Replace my Berning ZH-270?

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. Oneprof and Nkj - I do like my Berning, but have been toying with the idea of a change; you know how it is always looking for something 'better'!

If I could build upon the Berning signature sound with a little more 'richness' without it becoming warm, then I think I would have my ideal amp.

Monoblocking a 270 sounds like a great idea, but you rarely see 270's for sale.

I will search for the thread by SBank and have look to see what he found from Atmasphere amps.

Cheers,

Monty

Just a couple things to check, if your attenuator clicks when you turn it, make sure your attenuator is set to about 4pm when using a pre-amp, the manual says 12 or 1 but that's for the unit that does not click when you turn it.

Also, carefully look at your input tubes, be careful of too many Telefunkens or Siemens, they can be on the lean side, look at cableing as well, silver is not where you want to be with this set up, nor unshielded IC's

The ZH-270 is DC coupled, so bass cannot be matched by any transformer coupled amp.

But if change is what you want, drop me a note privately, I'll be more than happy to buy your amp :)

Just a brief correction to the previous post regarding silver wire.

Not all silver is hard or etchy just as not all copper is soft and rounded.

The actual determinants of cable "tone" are far more a factor of conductor purity, conductor geometry, and dielectric configuration/composition.

It is an old wives' tale that silver is grainy, hard, lean, or etchy.

Personally, I think you'd be making a big mistake in getting rid of the Berning for the reasons noted above. Perhaps you should consider changing to a speaker that is not so lean sounding and one that doesn't tend to get shrill in the top-end on various material. In addition, the BAM can wreak havoc with the signal and cause compatibility problems when paired with other components. Just my opinion, having formerly owned Merlins, paired with various amplification.
p.s. - I'm a Berning owner.

Audiofeil is absolutely correct, I use silver myself but the big BP does not recommend silver with his speakers. It takes careful selection of cables for these speakers, BP likes Cardas.

A note here on this, it's not silver or copper but how the cable is designed, shielding and how it's handled is an important part of a high bandwidth system