Do LTA tube amps generate a lot of heat?

Linear Tube Audio amplifiers produce far less heat than traditional tube amplifiers.

The ZOTL technology allows us to run ⅓ the electrical current through the tubes than normal, which results in much cooler tube operation. You could leave your amp on for days and still comfortably place your hand on the top of an LTA amp (not the tubes themselves).

Heat kills, so this also extends the life of tubes, to somewhere in the 10,000 - 20,000 hour range. Ask any other amplifier manufacturer about tube life, and the answer will be 1,000-2,000 hours, tops.

The reduced heat also makes our amps more child- and pet-friendly.

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Why do you burn in your amps for so long?

All Linear Tube Audio amplifiers are built to order and made by hand. Our “simplest” product takes a technician two full days to build. After an amp is built, it is tested extensively and burned in.

We burn tubes and caps in separately before they go into an amp for at least 168 hours. Once the amp is completed, it is further burned in, with music continually playing, for a minimum of 72 hours.

Could we ship our amps out sooner without burning them in?

Sure, but then our customers would have to do this part of the process, and that just doesn’t seem right. We don’t make our customers do any other part of the build and testing process. Why make them burn the amps in?

Plus, we want our amps to arrive sounding their absolute best from day one, and we know from experience that our customers want this as well.

Getting a new product, especially a new amp for your sound system, is a momentous and exciting occasion. We don’t want to diminish that experience by shipping an amp that isn’t 100% ready for optimal enjoyment from the day it arrives.

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How long should I expect my tubes to last?

ZOTL technology allows us to use ⅓ the electrical current than normal, which results in much cooler tube operation. This, in turn, extends the life of tubes, since it’s heat that kills tubes.

So, with LTA amps, you can expect tube life in the 10,000 - 20,000 hour range.

Depending on your listening habits, this could effectively mean you never have to buy another set of tubes again. (Although we know most of you won’t be able to resist trying out different tubes.)

Ask any other amplifier manufacturer about tube life, and the answer will be 1,000-2,000 hours.

The reduced heat also makes our amps more child- and pet-friendly.

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Do you have any speaker wire or interconnect cable suggestions?

Cable selection is one of the more personal, and sometimes controversial, aspects of building a high quality sound system.

We’re not here to add to the debate, so we’ll try to keep to just the facts.

We use cables and components from both Cardas Cables and Kimber Kable inside of our amps. Both companies make high-quality consumer cables as well.

In our listening room, we use a variety of cables from AntiCables and Morrow Audio.

Finally, we manufacture and sell RCA interconnects in conjunction with Audioism.

We hope this provides you with a variety of resources to help you choose the right cable for your preferences, budget, etc.

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Will better tubes improve the sound of my amplifier?

ZOTL amplifiers are platforms for tube quality. The better the tube, the better the amp sounds.

Linear Tube Audio sources the best tubes we can find for use in our production units, tested and curated to provide the best experience for our customers. When you buy an LTA amplifier, know that it will come supplied with the highest quality, premium tubes we can find.

While we often come across exquisite rare tubes, we are not a tube store. We are focused on tubes that we can use in consistently in amp production over multiple units.

Tubes can be a Pandora’s Box or a rabbit hole, depending on your outlook. For many, the opportunity to alter and improve the sound of their amp by tube rolling, is one of the joys of owning a tube amp.

If this describes you, we encourage you to explore different tubes, and feel free to contact us with any questions you may have along the way.

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I have more questions. How can I get in touch with you?

We love to hear from our customers or soon-to-be customers. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions about our products or anything audio-related.

If you’re near the Washington, DC area, we invite you to pay us a visit at our workshop. We schedule visits via appointment on the weekend.

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What’s the difference between the ZOTL40 Reference and ZOTL Ultralinear amplifiers?

The ZOTL Ultralinear+ and ZOTL40 Reference+ are our flagship amplifiers, and generate 20 watts and 45+ watts per channel, respectively.

Like all of our amps, the ZOTL40 Reference+ and the Ultralinear+ both have the clarity, realism, precise imaging, and 3D soundstage inherent in our patented ZOTL technology.

Both amps are fast, fluid and do an excellent job of reproducing the pace and punch of the music. Likewise, both amps have the black background, high clarity, accuracy, realism, and dynamics that fool your brain into thinking the performers are in the room with you.

The ZOTL40 has a solid midrange and projects a large and deep soundstage. While offering more detail and clarity than most traditional tube amps, it is slightly less so than the Ultralinear.

The Ultralinear is a little more relaxed, more refined, and is our most tonally accurate amp. Despite having “only” 20 wpc, it has very strong bass. The Ultralinear+ has a little more detail and accuracy than the ZOTL40.

Both amps can be used in stereo mode or monoblocked pairs at the flip of a switch, should you require more power.

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Will the MZ2 and MZ3 work with my "hard to drive" / "hard to pair" headphones? (Sennheiser HD650, HiFiMAN HE1000, HE-6, HD800)

In some cases, such as the HiFiMAN HE-6, which has notably low sensitivity and thus requires several watts to power adequately, the MZ2 and MZ3 probably will not give you a satisfyingly loud and full listening experience. Since the unique circuit of LTA amps reacts very little to different impedances, it is mostly a matter of sensitivity when it comes to which headphones the MZ2 and MZ3 works well with.

Whether it can "drive my headphones" often just means "will I prefer how my headphones sound with this amp?" We've read many accounts of people thinking their HE1000 or HD650 has never sounded better than on a MZ2 or MZ3. I've also read one or two accounts of people saying the opposite.

We don't know what you like, but we do know that we've read far more mentions of the MZ2 and MZ3 sounding good with all kinds of headphones than not.

While we’re at it, we should also note that the headphone outputs on the Z10 Integrated and Z10e electrostatic headphone amp are more powerful and may work better for you if you have less sensitive headphones.

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Will the MZ2 and MZ3 work with my low-impedance headphones? (Grados, Fostex TH-X00s, IEMs etc.)

Yes, the output impedance of the MZ2 and MZ3 (and all of our ZOTL amplifiers) is 2 ohms, which means that it should generally work well with any headphone or IEM above 16 ohms impedance, which is the majority of them.

LTA amps will also work silently, with no hum, with these headphones.

With especially sensitive IEMs, a slight hiss is apparent with no source input and the volume turned up, though if music were playing at that volume the drivers would probably be damaged and your ears definitely would be.

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Please explain the relationship between the MicroZOTL2.0, MZ2, and MZ2-S

Our first product was a re-introduction of David Berning's MicroZOTL amplifier, which we named the MicroZOTL2.0.

Since then we've made many small and several larger changes to the case and components we use, but we have always used and continue to use Berning's original circuit. When we added an improved power supply, that product eventually took on the name "MicroZOTL2.0 Deluxe".

When we decided to use NOS 12SN7 tubes and manually alter the circuit to allow this, we created the "MZ2-S" around this, with a further upgraded power supply and some other improvements.

Eventually we replaced the manually altered circuit boards with jumpered boards, which negated the need for completely separate products, and we decided to discontinue certain aspects of the MicroZOTL2.0, like the locking headphone jack and the color scheme, while making other features that the MZ2-S had introduced available as options for any order. The "S" went from denoting these upgrades to essentially meaning the same thing that "Deluxe" had before it; an amp with an upgraded power supply.

The "MZ2" therefore took the place of the "MicroZOTL2.0", as our amps were now markedly changed from what the MicroZOTL2.0 had until then been.

To make all of this more confusing, many people still refer to any model as a MicroZOTL. The most important thing is that we'll make sure you get the features you want regardless of what it's called in the process. 

Today, we simply refer to the all of the above as the MZ2. The newer model upgrade is called the MZ3.

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Can the Z10 Integrated amplifier drive my speakers?

The Z10 Integrated amplifier generates 13 watts per channel into 4ohms and 12 watts per channel into 8ohms. This may not sound like a lot, but the Z10 Integrated can drive 90db and above speakers in critical listening environments to thundering levels.

With less sensitive speakers, the Z10 Integrated would be best suited to smaller rooms or non-critical listening environments (say, a living room) at lower volumes. Being an integrated amp, we see this usage a lot, and thus have no doubts about recommending it for such environments with almost any speaker.

If you have less sensitive speakers (<88db) and you have a large room and/or like to listen to music extremely loud, you may be happier with one of our other more powerful amps.

Note that the above are recommendations, not rules. LTA amplifier owners have found great enjoyment using their amps with a variety of speakers, including Quad 57s, Maggie Minis, Tekton Design, Fern & Roby, Voxativ, Janszen, Decware, Klipsch, Silverline, Spatial, DeVore, Daedalus, Zu, Ryan, Living Voice, Omega, and many others.

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Are LTA amps hybrid tube + solid state amps?

No. Linear Tube Audio amps offer 100% tube-based amplification.

The confusion lies in some of the language often used to describe our amps.

Phrases like, “tube tone + solid state detail” and “all the magic of tubes and all the benefits of solid state.” Or, our favorite, as one of our customers once said: “the gap between the best of what solid state amplification has to offer and the best of what tube amplification has to offer just got blown up.”

While all these phrases are true, due to the unique nature of our ZOTL technology, we can see how people could get confused.

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Do LTA amps have subwoofer outputs?

The following Linear Tube Audio amplifiers have dedicated stereo subwoofer outputs, which allow you to use a subwoofer with “low-level” or RCA inputs.

If your amp doesn’t have a subwoofer output, you can still use the speaker outputs on any of our amps to connect to your subwoofer, and this is a common and often recommended solution.

You will need a subwoofer with a "high-level" input, often called a "speaker-level" input, which again is pretty common. (If your amp doesn’t have this sort of input, the preamp outputs from the MZ2 and MZ3 will work for line-level subwoofer connections.)

This method of connecting a subwoofer is recommended over a dedicated subwoofer/preamp output because it ensures that your subwoofer and speakers are using the exact same signal.

Don’t take our word for it. REL, maker of some of the finest subwoofers in the world, recommends using this method for connecting their subwoofers to amps of all kinds:

Using the High Level input is always the best option. Using the High Level Input, instead of the Low Level Input, and connecting to the speaker output terminals of your amplifier is one of the unique secrets of REL’s success. When using the High Level input, your REL is fed the same signal that your main speakers are receiving. When connecting to the High Level input on the REL from the amplifier, you capture the sonic signature of your main system, including the tonal balance and timing cues of the entire electronics chain.

What’s the difference between the MZ2 and the MZ3?

The MZ2 is the amp that put us on the map. It is much-loved by customers and reviewers alike, garnering many rewards at audio shows worldwide. The MZ2 remains a fantastic choice for its price point. That’s why we continue to manufacture and sell the MZ2.

That said, the MZ3 is significantly better than the MZ2, as you would expect given its higher price. The MZ3 is an end-game headphone amp, reference-level preamplifier, and an integrated amp that will drive sensitive speakers to thundering levels in critical listening environments.

The MZ3 comes wrapped in a new low-resonance milled aluminum chassis, designed and made by award-winning industrial design firm, Fern & Roby.

Inside its new case, the MZ3 contains new circuit board material, new volume control technology, upgrades in wire, capacitors, and a set of curated, premium tubes. It also ships with our top of the line linear power supply, the LPS+.

Sonically, the MZ3 is the clearest, cleanest sounding microZOTL yet. It has a lower noise floor, which will be hard for some to believe given the pitch-black backgrounds of the MZ2, and it’s and more musical. A lot more.

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