Congrats on the amp. I was a long time Joule/Merlin owner. Loved the sound and occasionally find myself daydreaming about buying another Joule amp to rotate into my system.
I used four different preamps with my Joule amp over the years. First was a Supratek Cortese. Fantastic, live sound with a very nice phono stage, but the power supply produced too much heat, which made the heat in my room even worse when used with the Joule amp. I then had an ARC LS-25MKII, which sucked the life out of the sound. I then tried a Cary SLP-98P which was nice but left me wanting more.
Finally went ahead and bought a new Joule LA-150MKII. It worked really well with the amp and I never had a problem with it. The bass and midrange can be beguiling. Not quite as lit up from within as the Supratek that I had, but easy to listen to for hours on end, with a very good sense of immediacy when paired with my Joule amp. Given the used prices of the LA-150MKII, it is definitely worth a try.
Another intriguing possibility for your amp, at least for me, would be The Truth from the Horneshoppe. I recently bought one and can easily imagine it producing life-like, natural sounding music with your VZN-100's. Inexpensive as far as high end audio goes, and comes with a lifetime warranty and money back guarantee if you don't like it.
