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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Devid Berning amplifiers: the anti-trnsformers frenzy?
Post Subject: All my Berning ampsPosted by drdna on: 9/25/2007

 Merlin wrote:
Are your observations regarding the ZH270 relating to comparisons with other push pull designs or SET's?
Well, both push-pull and SET and also some transistor designs as well, as I used to be quite a fan of Nelson Pass and have an old Threshold and Aleph amp lying about.

 Merlin wrote:
I wasn't aware you had owned two Bernings - just the one. Which models did you own? The ZH270?
Well, the one was the ZH270, whose name I couldn't remember (all those numbers and letters!).  Also, there was the EA-2101, a wholly different design but made by Berning.  Also there was the BaM-235, Berning's car amplifier.  So actually three if you count that one, but I think the ZH270 is the most salient one for this discussion as it shares the toplogy.

 Merlin wrote:
Secondly could you explain which characteristics of the recording are destroyed, and what mechanism David Berning uses to acheive this?
Musical loss is never intentional.  We try to expunge the bad (distortion, noise) and preserve the good (music).  But, as with any real-world process, this happens imperfectly.  When we polish silverware, the hallmark is rubbed away a bit; when we scour a dirty pan, the surface is scratched, when we shave, we may get a cut.

I simply mean that Berning's topological design, while innovative, is a solution with some clear benefits (e.g., reduction in hysteresis) but there will be some losses as well.  To my ear, while I clearly heard the benefits, there was a loss of musical involvement which I value highly.  How does it happen, specifically in the ZH270?  I don't know; if I did I would fix it.  I expound on this conept in more detail in the thread:

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?postID=4116#4116

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