I owned a ZH270 for about 3 years. I thought it to be a tremendous amp for the money - second hand. It probably is the most flexible amp I've come across; having a switchable 2 input with volume pot allows you to use it as an integrated amp. This is how I used it initially.
The first think I discovered is that the light weight chasis has serious issues with vibrations. You really need some kind of vibration control to allow this amp to perform. This reduced the noise floor considerable. I was using the Symposium line of vibration control: Ultra platform with Rollerblocks.
Tube dampers on the smaller tubes (not the large output tubes) tightened up the focus of the sound. Herbies tube dampers were the way I went. Very effective for the cost.
The power cord was the next tweak, and this was not trivial. My journey ended with the Harmonix Studiomaster X-DC Wattgates. Do not skimp here.
Then I put an Emotive Poeta in front of the Berning and discovered the beauty of a preamp. Although I cannot recommend the Emotive Audio Poeta at all. The bass was terrible. I switched to the Lamm L1 preamp, and this changed everything for the better. You really need to put a preamp in front of the ZH.
Berning definately has a cult following. I think the ZH is a very special piece in Audio. It is a very tweakable component with miles to go if you haven't started tweaking yet. I would say out of the box, it only delivers half of what it's capable of if you begin to tweak.
The first think I discovered is that the light weight chasis has serious issues with vibrations. You really need some kind of vibration control to allow this amp to perform. This reduced the noise floor considerable. I was using the Symposium line of vibration control: Ultra platform with Rollerblocks.
Tube dampers on the smaller tubes (not the large output tubes) tightened up the focus of the sound. Herbies tube dampers were the way I went. Very effective for the cost.
The power cord was the next tweak, and this was not trivial. My journey ended with the Harmonix Studiomaster X-DC Wattgates. Do not skimp here.
Then I put an Emotive Poeta in front of the Berning and discovered the beauty of a preamp. Although I cannot recommend the Emotive Audio Poeta at all. The bass was terrible. I switched to the Lamm L1 preamp, and this changed everything for the better. You really need to put a preamp in front of the ZH.
Berning definately has a cult following. I think the ZH is a very special piece in Audio. It is a very tweakable component with miles to go if you haven't started tweaking yet. I would say out of the box, it only delivers half of what it's capable of if you begin to tweak.