Linear Tube Audio (LTA), the only manufacturer of amplifiers based on David Berning’s patented ZOTL circuit design, today announced a series of upgrades to their award-winning flagship MicroZOTL Preamplifier. The upgrades bring sonic improvements and increased functionality, including a highly anticipated adjustable gain control.
“We are always looking to improve our products, to make them sound as good as possible. Likewise, we want our products to be as functional as possible and work well with the widest range of other components,” said Mark Schneider, founder of Linear Tube Audio.
“The challenge is making a preamp that many consider to be an ‘end game’ component even better. Based on what we heard from our beta testers and early customers, we believe we’ve achieved a level of improvement that makes these upgrades a worthy addition,” added Schneider.
In addition to a series of optional upgrades, dubbed “Level 2,”, Linear Tube Audio has added improvements to the base MicroZOTL Preamp that will be standard going forward. Even with these production upgrades, the price of the base MicroZOTL Preamplifier remains the same.
“The best part is that we were able to bring some improvements to the stock MicroZOTL Preamp while not raising the price. When was the last time you heard that in high-end audio?” added Nicholas Tolson, Linear Tube Audio’s Director of Sales & Marketing.
All upgrades are available now for new customers and existing MicroZOTL Preamplifier owners via an upgrade program.
Production Upgrades
Linear Tube Audio recently made changes to all new production units that make incremental, but important, sonic improvements. The price of the base MicroZOTL Preamplifier remains the same. All new units ship with the following upgrades:
- Power transformer upgrade: The power transformer is upgraded to a custom transformer with multiple windings to improve isolation, which results in lower noise.
- Coupling capacitor upgrade: The six coupling caps on the audio board between the tube stages are upgraded to premium Japanese film caps with gold plated OCC leads.
Level 2 Upgrades
“Level 2” are optional upgrades that bring the MicroZOTL Preamplifier to “another level”.
- Preamp output capacitor upgrade: The headphone and the preamp outputs have been separated, and different types of output caps, optimized for each output, are installed. The preamp cap is upgraded to a premium Clarity CMR.
- Power supply capacitor upgrade: The power supply caps and power storage caps on the audio board are changed to Mundorf Mlytic AG capacitors. The total amount of storage is increased by 22,000uF.
Linear Tube Audio’s internal and beta test customers were unanimous in their praise of the improvements brought by the Level 2 Upgrade:
- “a more robust overall sound and smoother finish – better bass response and glossier highs”
- “more well-defined details”
New Adjustable Gain Control
To allow more flexibility and compatibility with a wide range of components, the company added the ability to adjust the attenuation scale of the MicroZOTL Preamplifier via the menu system. The settings are 0db (default) and -10db and can be set individually for each input.
The result is essentially an additional step on the stepped attenuator in order to shift the logarithmic curve about 10dB lower. This adjusts the volume control to allow for finer low-level attenuation when using sensitive speakers or headphones.
The new Adjustable Gain Control is installed by default on all new MicroZOTL Preamplifiers.
Upgrade Pricing and Availability
All upgrades are available now for new customers and existing MicroZOTL Preamplifier owners via an upgrade program.
All Production Upgrades and the new Adjustable Gain Control are included in the base price of the MicroZOTL Preamplifier, which remains $4,450.
Level 2 Upgrades can be purchased with a new unit as a $1,000 option.
Existing MicroZOTL Preamplifier owners can upgrade their units with all upgrades – Production Upgrades, Adjustable Gain Control, and Level 2 Upgrades – for $1,300.
For more information on the MicroZOTL Preamplifier and all upgrades, please visit: https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/microzotl-preamplifier
Existing MicroZOTL Preamplifier owners can upgrade their existing units here: https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/microzotl-preamplifier-level-2-upgrade
