ZOTL10 integrated amplifier
Tube tone + solid state detail.
Traditional tube amps are known for their liquidity and linearity, but their “warmth” masks details and can sound thick. Solid state amplifiers give you that detail, but can be “clinical.” ZOTL amplifiers give you the best of both worlds: beautiful tube tone with the clarity of solid state (while being entirely tube-based).
LTA is excited to announce the first Berning-designed integrated amplifier. With all the magic, realism, and 3D soundstage of ZOTL technology, the Z10 Integrated amplifier delivers the experience of a live music performance right in your living room.
A single component solution, the Z10 Integrated amplifier incorporates the acclaimed ZOTL10 power amplifier, a Berning designed preamplifier, LTA’s digital control system, and an optional phono preamp – all beautifully packaged in a Fern & Roby designed case.
The Z10 Integrated amplifier offers all the benefits of the output transformer-less ZOTL technology: three times the tube life and one third the heat. With startling realism, plentiful bass, low noise, and gorgeous mids and highs – the Z10 Integrated amplifier is the perfect package.
The brass touch buttons, headphone outputs, easy-to-read, configurable display, and machined aluminum front and rear panels, exude the high quality manufacturing of handmade products in the USA.
The heart of the Integrated Z10 is the highly-acclaimed ZOTL10 power amplifier, using EL-84 power tubes at 12 watts per channel. With the addition of a preamplifier borrowed from Berning’s $30K product, the existing ZOTL circuitry cross-couples to a gain stage, and matches perfectly with the power amplifier.
The amplifier is wrapped in our new control system featuring: 5 inputs (including one true balanced input,) tape in and out, LED dimmable display with configurable time out, LED input indicators, home theater mode, remote controlled stepped attenuation using premium Vishay Dale resistors, and a linear power supply configured with a Belleson regulator for extremely low noise. Additionally, the Integrated Z10 comes equipped with two headphone output jacks: a high output for less sensitive headphones and a low output for very sensitive headphones.
Delivering much higher power than solid state amps with the same power rating, ZOTL tube amplifiers can drive your 90db and above sensitivity speakers to thundering levels with headroom to spare. Providing everything you need except speakers and a source, in a sleek new case, the Integrated Z10 is designed to last a lifetime.
* Price subject to change without notice.
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"After purchasing my first tube amp, a modest 10 Watt Jolida FX10, I came to the realization that one should never underestimate the power of a few good watts.
Well after auditioning the Linear Tube Audio ZOTL 10, this paradigm was raised to the next level. It is known that two amplifiers of the same power rating may not sound equally powerful. That is, one will sound more powerful than the other. The reason for this is that under dynamic conditions, the one is more powerful than the other. It can supply on demand whereas its opponent can not. The power rating of an amplifier tells you what it can produce with an ideal load when transient response is not a factor. It is misleading, but it will give you an idea of how to match your speakers.
That said, the ZOTL 10 is more powerful than any 100 watt solid state amp I’ve ever heard. Its dynamic range is off the chart. The way it renders a drum roll is simply explosive. I was blown away by its speed and attack – not for a 10 watt amp – I was blown away, period. I do not have the technical insight to state this as fact, but unless you’re attempting to drive seriously large power hungry speakers, I am confident that with a ZOTL 10 in your system, your problems of impedance matching will be something of the past. I don’t mean to say that there is no limit to what it can drive, but whatever that limit is, I haven’t found it yet. I was witness to this amp driving Ubiq Audio floorstanding speakers at comfortably high volumes, without a flinch.
And it’s not only powerful, it’s musical – a magical union of power and musicality, bringing together the best of both worlds. Its rendition of the human voice is organic and natural. The piano has depth and attack, its tone rich, with the subtle undertones of its hammer and string. It adds a dimension of realism to musicality, without rendering it cold or sterile. I rediscovered my music collection, and even rekindled lost interest in old music, as I felt like I was truly hearing it for the fist time. Auditioning this amp was a rare and wonderful privilege.
This may well be the last amp you’ll ever buy. Quite simply, this is the best amplifier I have ever heard."
- Inputs: 4 single-ended Cardas RCA stereo, 1 true balanced stereo input using two 3-pin XLRs
- Speaker Output: 4 WBT copper speaker binding posts, banana or spade
- Headphone Output: Low: Approx. 1 watt per channel, High: Approx. 2 watts per channel
- Tape Monitor: 1 stereo tape monitor out, 1 stereo tape monitor in - both Cardas RCA
- Front Panel Controls: 7 brass touch switches (power, input, tape monitor, up, down, menu/select, back), volume control, and headphone speaker switch
- Remote Control: All front panel functions using paired Apple TV Remote (power on programmable)
- Volume Control: 100 stepped attenuator (smallest step 1/1000th of total value) using Vishay Dale 1% precision resistors
- Output inpedance: 1.2 ohms
- Input impedance: 47k
- 115VAC or 220VAC configured at factory - 50/60Hz - IEC receptacle
- Hum and noise: 94dB below full output (measured at 20Hz-20kHz) • Carrier: -50dB (460kHz)
- Power output with 4-ohm load: 12W, 0.5% THD
- Power output with 8-ohm load: 10W, 0.5% THD
- Frequency response (8-ohm load): 6Hz to 60kHz, +0, -.5dB
- Amplifier class: Push-pull Class AB
- Voltage gain (8-ohm load): 18dB
- Finish: Aluminum case
- Tube complement: two 12AT7s, four 12AU7s, and four EL-84s
- Home Theater Function can select any input for fixed volume
- Display: 16 Levels of brightness and programmable 7-second time out
- Optional Phono Preamp: 54 dB gain for moving magnet cartridges. Moving coil cartridges supported with configurable daughter card.
- Size: 16 inches wide, 5 1/8 inches tall, 16 inches deep (including connectors)
- Net weight: Amplifier: 18 lbs./8.2 kg