LTA Z10e - REVIEW
Headphone Amplification at the Next Musical Level!
There are signal moments, epiphanies, in all of our lives. They may come as a result of love or hurt, of philosophical or religious insight or, perhaps, of art or music, and they may change one's perception for a moment or for an entire lifetime. Such a moment, of the musical sort, came for me, after having spent a good deal of time and money in the high-end audio game. And it came in a San Francisco apartment building, in the Outer Mission District, in the late 1980’s.
I had come to a ‘possible' girlfriend’s home that was styled mid ’70’s funky—bohemian, plants, lava lamps, blacklight posters (and blacklights), diaphanous curtains throughout, candles, and yellow, beanbag chairs. We sat close to the floor in our respective yellow beanbags and laughed and talked, until the subject of music came up. She rose quickly from her beanbag and to a side table, where she blissfully rescued an album—a long playing record. She turned with purpose, intent, and a giddy smile.
I looked to where the album was headed and on a short table behind us, closer to the floor than even our beanbags, was a dusty, unkempt, might-be-working, record player. I surmised, that just maybe it was a few steps removed from a Kenner Close ’N Play, just maybe. I chuckled, quietly.
Unnoticed and or unfazed she plunked down the record, swung the tonearm over, and dropped the needle. And when the music came flowing from that unkempt, might-be-working, record player, in waves tactile, sensual, rich, and when the warmth of a woman’s voice wrapped its arms around me, I was stunned-humbled to stone. This was music! Exactly what I had thought my audiophile CD players, DAC/Transports (back then) had been making, but had not. Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child filled the room with a warm, nostalgic glow, that remains crystal clear, for me, to this day. I closed my eyes, slowly moved my head back and forth and said quietly to self, “I have been deceived.”
She smiled. She had, no doubt, seen this before—a stunned, audiophile-know-it-all not apparently knowing it all. This record player, however, had not been deceiving her, it had always played music for her. This was a signal moment, an epiphany, for me, that I will never forget. I smiled and we sat comfortably back, near the floor, in our beanbags chairs, and enjoyed the music and conversation and laughter. And I slowly drifted back to earth from audiophile-fantasia land. It was not long after that, that I would embrace tubes and a turntable of my own, in an attempt to parallel that experience and to, once again, hear the music!
This story and that epiphany bring us to the subject of this review—the Linear Tube Audio (LTA) Z10e Headphone/Integrated Amplifier, where the “e” stands for “electrostatic.” The Z10e has issued in yet another epiphany for me, in a venue—headphone/headgear listening—that I, at one time, took for granted, if not wholly ignored. And to set the record straight, high-end audio and digital audio, in particular, are quantum levels above where they were just a few short years ago, let alone the late 1980’s.
LTA was founded by Mark Schneider in Washington, DC in 2015, several years after a forced medical retirement ended his engineering career and after a “remarkable medical recovery” gave Mark back his life and a new calling. Interestingly or karmically, LTA’s mission is to bring music back to life for those of us who love music. Mark’s company accomplishes this through a unique blending of the patented technologies of David Berning’s Zero-Hysteresis Output Transformerless (ZOTL—see below) and LTA’s own unique “Control System Implementation (see Functionality).”
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Terminator, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
The LTA Z10e is one of the most transparent and musical tube headphone amplifiers/integrateds that I’ve ever experienced. The Z10e renders incredible clarity and detail across the fullness of the frequency spectrum and yet brings a natural musicality, a sunlit transparency, a richness, and a three-dimensionality that is truly captivating.
The LTA Z10e partnered with a broad array of headphones and played beautifully with them all. No kidding. I listened late into the night, then early the next morning and this became routine with the LTA Z10e. At times, it was difficult to review the Z10e, as it was so incredibly musical. The Z10e’s constructs venue after venue—an intimate cafe, a medium chamber, a concert hall, a stadium—with astounding spaciousness, three-dimensionality, and texture.
Regardless of the headphone/driver type—electrostatic, planar magnetic, dynamic— the LTA Z10e always brought a wondrous resolution, though especially with electrostatic earspeakers/headphones, that rendered the simplest things extraordinary. Brushes over ride-cymbals carried a sustained, burnished rise and leisurely fall. The Z10e rendered a single, plucked cello string with dimension and weight, and nuance that brought grins, smiles, and head shaking. And massed, voices were profound and magnificent. Anthony Walker and the Cantillation’s Agnus Dei, Opus 11 (Prayers for Peace - Sacred Choral Music In The Modern Age, Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC)) comes to mind.
The LTA Z10e’s main squeeze—electrostatic headphones—of course. I had never heard an electrostatic headphone prior to the STAX SR-L700MkII, a very recent review. And then I heard its ‘elder’ siblings—STAX SR-007A, STAX SR-009S and also the Dan Clarke VOCE (review coming). They all stayed for a while and they played and I listened to a lot of great music with them. They were great guests. And the LTA Z10e and the electrostatic headphones brought true magic—transparency without peer, blistering transient speed, and glorious musicality (relative to its technological cousins). The Z10e’s soundstage with these ‘stats’ found players solidly defined on a broad, deep, layered, ambient space. “Hello?” Was my first response. “How is this possible?” Was my second. Please read the STAX SR-L700MkII and the SR-007A reviews, it’ll make more sense, for those unaccustomed to electrostatic earspeakers/headphones. Or you can track down the Z10e, place one of the electrostatic earspeakers/headphones that LTA carries over your ears and just listen. It won’t take long. However, if the DAC happens to be the Mola Mola Tambaqui, then Eureka!
The LTA Z10e’s volumetric cube—its soundstage—is vast and this too you will understand immediately. In short, you will realize across your collections of albums, CDs, downloads, streaming libraries, that you have been missing incredible amounts of music and other attendant information as well as ambient space and air. In this respect, the STAX SR-009S (review up next!) will be merciless in lining up sublime revelation after sublime revelation. Yeah, there’s that you-are-there, Star Trek, holodeck three-dimensionality going on, which just might freak some folks out. Or, at least, have them shaking their heads in disbelief (Psssst… it really only happens with electrostatic earspeaker/headphones, though it came close with the planars—Meze Empyrean, Rosson Audio RAD-0)!
The LTA Z10e was paired to the electrostatic headphones—STAX SR-009S ($4690), STAX SR-007A ($2205), STAX SR-L700MkII ($1795), Dan Clark VOCE ($3,299, review coming)—the planar headphones—MEZE Empyrean ($2999), and Rosson Audio RAD-0 ($2600)—and the dynamic headphones—Obravo HAMT-Signature ($6,000) and the MEZE 99 Classic ($309). The DACs were the Border Parol SE-i ($1980, review coming), the Mola Mola Tambaqui, and the AudioNet DNP (review coming), aligned to a ROON Nucleus+, cables were Cardas Clear, and power was courtesy TORUS.
Bass
The Z10e and the STAX SR-009S are now paired as Ray Brown’s Swinging to the Girls Come Home (Two Bass Hits, Plaza Mayor Company) plays. There is that electrostatic transparency, that clarity, and those blistering transients, which zealously excavate detail, wherever it can be found. Bass is tight, agile, detailed, and the Z10e wraps it all in a natural tonal/timbral musicality that is beguiling. Difficult it is to pull away from this album or any of my bass-go-to-albums— Marcus Miller’s Power (M2, Concord Records), Massive Attack’s Angel (MEZZANINE, Virgin), Eiji Oue Stravinsky (Stravinsky, Reference Recording)—so engaging is the music via the Z10e and the SR-009S or the SR-007A. These combos bring a coherency that is of a single, beautiful fabric, not a patchwork quilt of distinct, frequency parts. The Dan Clark VOCE and the Z10e bring the selfsame transparency, transient speed, sublime musicality, and sweetness, though its bass was not their equal. And while the pairing of the LTA Z10e with the planar headphones could not match the transparency, nor the speed of the electrostatics, the Empyrean’s and RAD-0’s bass rumbled fiercely, was taunt and detailed, and reached, when needed, to sub-bass depths.
Midrange
Let me start by saying that the LTA Z10e’s midrange is glorious and transparent and natural. The electrostatics in the mix, Joan Shelly’s Wild Indifference (Joan Shelly, No Quarter) is more transparent, textured and more musical than it has ever been. The Z10e and the STAX SR-009S render the tambourine on this track (at 00:1:45) farther into the room than I have ever heard it before and it is better resolved, natural, and real. The next track from the playlist, specifically for midrange assessment, rolls through. It is Andy Bey’s Angel Eyes (American Song, Savoy) a guitar is strummed with a clarity and tonal beauty, that requires an immediate repeat. Andy's voice enters and there is not the slightest inkling of bloat or boom, that can sometimes accompany his resonant, baritone voice. The see-through transparency has unburied the brush of a cymbal, never before heard, in innumerable hearings. Transparency and transient speed resolve, easily, the texture and tone of Mino Cinelu’s bongo, that has always been an after-thought, well lodged in the mix, in prior hearings. The stage, in terms of air and ambiance is organic, natural, and reverberant. Boz Scaggs’ But Beautiful (But Beautiful, Concord) plays and the drum kit comes alive as Hi-hat cymbal and drumstick, via lightening fast transients, richness of tone, and transparency, are rendered eerily three-dimensional. Boz’s voice bears the textured rasp of a decades long career. Billie Holiday’s I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (Songs for Distingué Lovers, Verve) brings me back to that late 1980’s San Francisco epiphany, at a former girlfriend’s apartment, though this time I am not deceived, as the music is over-the-moon! The LTA Z10e’s midrange, suffice to say, is glorious with all manner of headphones and an epiphany with the various electrostatic earspeakers/headphones, which should definitely be experienced.
Treble+
Addictive in the extreme is how I would characterize the LTA Z10e’s treble response. And, again, the partnering of electrostatic headphones—STAX SR-007A and SR-009S—and the Mola Mola Tambaqui brought a five star rendering with captivating, unhindered, extension, that laid bare treble-rich performances, time and time again and without the slightest hint of unnaturalness. Wynton Marsalis’ April in Paris (Standards and Ballads, Columbia Legacy) is sublime, made so by incredible, next-level transparency and breathtaking treble extension, across the entirety of the album. There are long periods of time when I can only listen. Yeah, I know, I’m repeating myself, but you would too. I’m certain that Mark and Nicholas of LTA grow a wee bit impatient, though they've been exceptional to work with. The Patricia Barber sibilance, torture track album—Modern Cool—was putty in the hands of the LTA Z10e and the STAX SR-009S and SR-007A. The album was rendered as I have never, in over twenty years, heard it before. Exalted above all Magical Synergies? Yes, this trio (with Mola Mola Tambaqui) rises above all prior Magical Synergies!
The Wrappings and Accessories
The LTA Z10E comes in a medium, thick, brown, cardboard box. Opening the box one finds substantial foam slabs that protect the LTA Z10E and keep it secure within. Large scale componentry boxing is different from small scale componentry boxing, in that it exchanges compelling graphic design, generally speaking, for secure and transport worthy packaging. The complete contents of the box:
LTA Z10E
Power cable
Linear Power Supply
Umbilical Connecting Cord
Instruction Manual
Design—Look and Feel
The LTA Z10E, designed by Fern & Robby, an in-house brand of the Tektonics Design Group, is an example of a clean, minimalist yet elegant design. Form follows function, as heat dissipation vents become a design element. All nicely wrapped in a chocolate-black, matte patina.
The LTA Z10E is W: 12.75” x D: 14.5” x H: 6.5” (W: 32.39cm x D: 36.83cm x H: 16.51cm) and weigh 18 lbs. (8.16 kgs). The Z10E is desk-sized, generates very little heat, and is, relatively, unobtrusive.
The Z10E comes with a separate, small (7.5" × 4.75" ×4.25), linear power-supply that utilizes a Belleson regulator, and is wrapped in the same metal skin and the same black chocolate patina. It front face bares an on/off switch and its back panel a port for connecting the umbilical cord to the Z10E and an IEC outlet for the power cord.
The LTA Z10E’s front panel, from left to right:
Power Button: At the center-left side is a circular button with an illuminated circumference that when lit indicates operational.
Input Toggle: For selecting between inputs 1 (single-ended), 2 (single-ended), or 3 (balanced).
Remote Sensing Eye: A small oblong eye located at a height equidistant from the LTA Z10E’s top and bottom edges.
Analogue Volume Control: A large rotary switch with one hundred (100) steps, that utilizes Vishay Dale precision resistors with an output impedance of 1.2 Ω.
Headphone/Speaker Toggle: Allows the choice of selecting between headphones (up) or speakers (down).
Electrostatic Headphone Output: A 5-pin STAX interface, 580V bias headphone output.
Dynamic/Planar Headphone Output (HI): A 6.3mm headphone output with 3 watts of current delivery per channel @ 32 Ω.
Dynamic/Planar Headphone Output (LOW): A 6.3mm headphone output with .240mW of current delivery per channel @ 32 Ω.
The LTA Z10E’s back panel, from left to right:
Single-Ended RCA inputs (2 sets)
Balanced XLR input (1 set)
Speaker Binding Posts (4 posts/2 sets)
IEC Socket (for power plug) (1)
Functionality
The LTA Z10e is an integrated/headphone amplifier capable of providing twelve (12) watts of power into an eight (8) Ohm speaker load and thirteen (13) watts of power into a four (4) Ohm speaker load. The LTA Z10E is also one of the most versatile headphone amplifiers currently in production, as it can power dynamic, planar magnetic, and electrostatic headphones from its various front panel connections.
There was always sufficient power to drive the various headphones and most were driven well at the LTA Z10e’s LO headphone output of 240mW (32Ω). Though the LTA Z10e will also drive the monstrously inefficient via its 3-watts of “HI” power delivery. The Z10e will also drive a pair of efficient (90dB+), floors-standing speakers.
The LTA Z10e marries David Berning’s ZOTL (Zero-Hysteresis Output Transformerless) patented design to Linear Tube Audio’s control system, which features:
“3 inputs (including one true balanced input), LED dimmable display with configurable time out, LED input indicators, remote controlled stepped attenuation using premium Vishay Dale resistors, and a linear power supply configured with a Belleson regulator for extremely low noise.”
But what are the benefits of a ZOTL designed amplifier?
“Berning amplifiers convey the musical transparency of tubes without the limitations imposed at the frequency extremes by audio output transformers. This limitation at the frequency extremes is a major contributing factor to what some negatively call "tube sound". ZOTL extends the desirable musical transparency of tubes to the frequency extremes and provides the quickness of the high and low frequencies that are cherished by those who prefer solid-state amplifiers.”
The LTA Z10e is part David Berning preamplifier circuit utilizing 12AU7, “ceramic circuit board material,” with “true balanced and single-ended inputs,” and part EL84 fitted ZOTL10 amplifier section. The Z10E has three headphone inputs—a 5 pin Stax interface (580V bias) for electrostatic headphones and two 6.3” single-ended inputs—one HIGH input (3W) and a LOW input (240mW), which is rightmost. A flick of the leftmost toggle, selects input—1 (single-ended), 2 (single-ended) and 3 (balanced). And a flick of the rightmost toggle takes one from headphones (top) to speakers (bottom).
All front panel function and menus can be accessed via an aluminum AppleTV remote, which also controls the LTA Z10e 100 stepped-attenuator, volume control that utilized Vishay Dale 1% precision resistors
The Specifications
Inputs: 2 single-ended RCA stereo inputs, 1 input using two 3-pin combo XLR/TRS jacks
Speaker Output: 4 speaker binding posts, banana or spade
Conventional Headphone Outputs: Low: 240mW per channel @ 32 ohms, High: 3W per channel @ 32 ohms
Electrostatic Headphone Output: 5 pin Stax interface, 580V bias
Front Panel Controls: Power switch, Input switch, volume control, and headphone /speaker switch
Remote Control: All front panel functions and configuration menu accessed using an aluminum Apple TV Remote Volume Control: 100 stepped attenuator (smallest step 1/1000th of total value) using Vishay Dale 1% precision resistors
Output impedance: 1.2 Ω
Power Supply: Linear supply using a Belleson regulator and low ESR poly-organic capacitors
Input impedance: 47k
Hum and noise: 94dB below full output (measured at 20Hz-20kHz)
Power output with 4-ohm load: 13W, 0.5% THD
Power output with 8-ohm load: 12W, 0.5% THD
Frequency response (8-ohm load): 6Hz to 60kHz, +0, -.5dB
Amplifier class: Push-pull Class AB
Voltage gain (8-ohm load): 18dB
Amplifier Weight: 18 lbs
Power Supply Weight: 5 lbs
Amplifier Dimensions: W: 12.75” x D: 14.5” x H: 6.5
Power Supply Dimensions: W: 4.75” x D: 7.5” x H: 4.25”
Finish: Aluminum case
Tube complement: premium NOS two 12AT7s, four 12AU7s, and four EL84s or equivalent
Display: 16 Levels of brightness and programmable 7-second time out
Home Theater Function can select any input for fixed volume
115VAC or 220-240VAC configured at factory - 50/60Hz - IEC receptacle
Conclusion
The LTA Z10e is, perhaps, one of the most versatile integrated/headphone amplifiers on the market today. It is certainly the most versatile headphone amplifier that I have ever come across. And it will align beautifully with all headphones types and technologies—Dynamic, Planar, Electrostatic, and even IEMs! And, I understand, it even drives efficient speakers (90dB+) too.
I have spent quite some time with the LTA Z10e and have heard it with every headphone in house and those that have come and gone. In this respect, the Z10e is a reviewer’s dream for its wide-ranging compatibility with headphones, ALL headphones! And the Z10e will bring to them a profound naturalness and musicality, an air-filled-spaciousness, and a transparency that is, in my experience, astonishing!
If electrostatic earspeakers/headphones represent the world in which you live and roam, then that world via the introduction of the LTA Z10e may well provide ever more bliss and a haunting musicality, with few peers. If you’ve not heard an electrostatic headphone amp/integrated with electrostatic headphones, you may want to bucket-list this experience and to short list the LTA Z10e (and a good pair of electrostatic earspeakers/headphones).
We, AudioKey Reviews, highly recommend the LTA Z10e and award it our GOLDEN KEYNOTE AWARD. As I mentioned in the STAX SR-L700MkII and the STAX SR-007A reviews, we did not know it at the time, but it appears that our motto is embodied and beautifully defined by this electrostatic integrated/headphone amplifier as allied to, of course, electrostatic earspeakers/headphones! Bravo LTA!
Pros: Transparency, dynamic contrasts, musicality, transient speed, imaging, etc.
Cons: Zero ( reviewed as a headphone amplifier only).
The Systems
1.
Roon Nucleus+
Mola Mola Tambaqui
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTI-CABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
2.
Roon Nucleus+
Audionet DNP
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTI-CABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
3.
Roon Nucleus+
Border Patrol SE-i DAC
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTI-CABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
THE MUSIC
The Company
LINEAR TUBE AUDIO
LTA Z10e $6950
LINEAR TUBE AUDIO
7316 Carroll Ave.
Takoma Park, MD, 20912
301-448-1534