Sutherland TZ Direct

Flagship Trans- Impedance Input Phono Pre-amplifier

If you are considering this phono pre-amplifier, you probably already know about the provenance of the designer Ron Sutherland. Suffice to say, when a talented designer spends his time designing ONLY phono pre-amplifiers, the products are a result of a specific expertise which is rare to find even in the world of high-end audio. When a designer offers the world detailed images of the internals of his creations, you know that there’s real engineering going on here and that he is wanting you to understand the workmanship and thought that has gone into his designs.

Then when you listen to the equipment, the joy and celebration of this lifetime of work is evident. The fact that this level of equipment is so reasonably priced compared to others is also a testament to the intention and honour of the designer. Ron Sutherland has been one of the pioneers of this new transimpedance circuit design which is now slowly finding its way into the mainstream. The TZ Direct is the result of a long journey of attempting to make ‘the perfect phono pre-amplifier’ and not only incorporates the latest circuit design & component quality, but it has been ‘voiced’ by Ron to perform at the highest level as a communicator of emotion.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

The TZ DIRECT advances our phono preamp range. It combines our most refined transimpedance input stage with a second gain stage derived from our legacy line stages. Each of those stages contributes to the musicality. Working together, the music effortlessly flows into your system.

INDUSTRY REVIEWS

10 Audio, 2022

This is truly a reference quality component exactly because it appreciates an equally high-quality turntable, tonearm and cartridge, and amplifier and speakers, to really demonstrate the outstanding level of performance hiding in the two enclosures. This level of musical enjoyment is easily provided during every listening session by the TZ Direct… The Sutherland TZ Direct ends the debate between tube vs. solid-state sound. The TZ Direct delivers a full measure of the best of each technology with exceptional extension into the lowest bass and extreme upper treble, combined with a rich and human-sounding midrange. But this is just the starting point for what makes this phono preamplifier so, so special. It delivers music in a way that is both accurate and immensely entertaining.