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Amp shootout.....Tenor 75wi verses Berning ZH270

in a recent thread there was much discusion of the above 2 amps, whether the Berning was indeed an OTL, and which one might be better.

i have no opinion as to whether the Berning is an OTL. but today a Berning ZH270 owner brought his amp over to compare to my pair of Tenor 75wi's. my system is OTL friendly, with easy to drive speakers, so the Berning's acknowledged advantage in driving difficult loads was neutralized.

these amps have very similar power, the Tenor is 75 watts into 8 ohms, the Berning is 70 watts into 8 ohms. otherwise it is not really a fair comparison....the Tenors are $19900 a pair, the Berning $4500, the Tenors weigh 70 pounds each, the Berning weighs about 10 pounds.....it seems like Goliath verses David. the result is somewhat closer than that.

we played three different discs and each of 3 people listened to their disc in the sweetspot. the Berning owner felt that the Tenor had a more dimentional sound, deeper soundstage but felt the Berning was equal in bass extension and detail retreival. the independent listener felt the Berning was excellent for the money but not in the league of the Tenor in any paramter. my perception was similar to the independent listner; that the Berning, at $4500, is amazing in it's top to bottom excellence, dynamics and musicality.....but....does not do things like the Tenor. the sense of space, detail in the soundstage, texture and microdynamics of the Tenor are at a whole different level.....and they better be for $15000 more.

like the Berning owners, i am a shameless Tenor lover and consider the Tenors better than any other amp i have heard at any price, assuming a reasonably easy load to drive.

the Berning is more like a $8k to $10k amplifier.....and Berning owners should be justifiably proud of their amps.

i did think the Berning had slightly more bass slam than the Tenor, but with much less bass articulation and extension than the Tenor.

we spent the rest of the enjoyable afternoon listening to some great vinyl......an enjoyable time had by all.
mikelavigne
jtinn
1,123 posts
 
Allanbhaganinfo: You are talking about apples and oranges. While the Berning amps are quite a value at the 2500-4000 that people are paying for them, they are not comparable with the other amplifiers mentioned. The Tenor amplifiers currently stand alone on top of the market, given the proper speaker. The Lamm's and Atma-sphere are next if more power or a transformer is needed. The Berning's are just a great $4500 amplifier.

We Tenor owners are not confused or questioning our purchase and have nothing to justify to anyone. It is the Berning owners that appear to constantly desire the comparison to justify their purchase.

Just enjoy your amps, they are terrific for the money.
tubegroover
2,279 posts
 
"The Tenor amplifiers currently stand alone on top of the market, given the proper speaker. The Lamm's and Atma-sphere are next if more power or a transformer is needed".

Jtinn - You better clarify that statement or we'll end up with the ss guys over here and it may really get ugly :)
allanbhaganinfo
121 posts
 
jtinn, maybe you're right, I certainly can't dispute that but I am certainly open to showing everyone what a Berning is capable of, against any amp.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Jtinn, the Atma-sphere amps are all OTL's. Your statement seems to indicate that they are not ("The Lamm's and Atma-sphere are next if more power or a transformer is needed.") I'm sure that this was just a syntax error in your post, since you are very well versed; I just wanted to set the record straight.
thorty40
149 posts
 
A friendly comparison with a non 5 year old Berning (which has caps that may have problems from sitting around too long) with properly set feedback and the Tenors or Atmasphere amplifers would be an interesting bout. Price here is not an issue, as I feel all are in the same league. Simply place one amp (or amps) directly next to the other, performance vs. performance with no reservations in regards to price or reputation, status ect......
Maybe we should try this at a CES next year, I think it would be alot of fun and interesting at the same time. All flavors will be desireable I feel, all appealing to different people in different ways.
Back and forth with this ones better, that ones better, nobody will ever rest on the matter. Some have stated the Berning is not in the League with the Tenors or the Atmaspheres and that is what I simply do not believe based solely on the sonic integrity of the Berning. I wonder what reactions people would have if the Berning cost $12,000.00 and was spread across some audiophile publications? Would it then magically be in the same league because of price status and exposure alone or would people think, it has to sound great, it costs so much and so and so loves it.
Actually, a couple of ZH270's ran as mono blocks sound great but would that comparison (approx. $10k) be fair with the 70W Tenors? Price wise yes, sure but the output power would not be equal and in effect result in an unbalanced comparison.
I know the Tenors and Atmaspheres are great sounding amps, they have to be in order to have such a faithful following. Well you guys, think of how strongly Berning owners feel and I think you will find we are not on opposite sides but more like on different ends of the same bench :)

Chris
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