I have a Zestos Andros Deluxe 2. To my ears it is fantastic, being richer in texture, more extended in treble and all around just better sounding than the Pass XP15 that preceded it (The Pass was no slouch). Despite the tubes, the Zestos is very quiet, seeming to add no noise of its own beyond my other tube equipment. Those who think tubed phono stages are noisy really hear the Zestos! For gain, I'm running a Benz LPS at 68dB (which seems high, but it sounds better this way). The "low" gain option is 62dB. I've done a fair amount of tube rolling and settled on Tesla E88CC for the 12AX7, and GE 12DW7 for the 12DW7 position (apparently the 12DW7 drives the output transformers), which the designer George Counnas himself recommends. To be honest, I don't hear much difference in the 12DW7 swapping, but quite a bit with the 12ax7. Long story short, I love this phono amp. I would prefer 47K loading as an option for MC carts, but the Zestos is limited to 1K max, which I have the Benz LPS running at. Still, it all sounds great. I'm liking Zestos tube work so much I'm thinking about my next power amp. That Zesto Audio Bia 120 is looking mighty fine. : )
