Hey Ralph, didn't mean to talk down the resale marketability of your OTL's. Hyperbole is a bitch, but then again it is a thread, right? On you MA-1's: I agree, nice amps, great amps, actually. And, yes, they always find a good home, in relatively good time, to the right guy. Hey, maybe it was too much pouring through audiomart newsletters (remember that, Crewe, VA?!), or maybe I've been permanently scared by my Jadis Defy 7 resale experience twenty years ago? Could be...
BTW, I had a friend with the MP-1 and I loved it too, almost bought it; one could swim all day in that luxurious phono. And I like that you are still around, like today, proud of your work.
But, like I said, lots of tubes. It's a psychological fact that, when advising on system evolution, that moving a guy from SS straight into a gazillion tubes may not be the most wise thing to do. I've done it with people asking for help and have seen the faces later. A few more interim steps is sometimes advised. Or maybe not. Like I said, I'd have to know O holter personally to make that decision; mine was a context dependent answer in the middle of a probability analysis...
Basically, I see your MA-1's as a product that is fairly sophisticated; not necessarily in operation, but who ends up there. Please take that as a compliment. With that said, I think that guys who think that they may want to move from 600W SS amps and go SET with a 83db load, might need an interim step. Its the context dependent thing again.
On the 2+2's, we will have to agree to disagree. Granted,I have no experience with the M-60's on the Acoustats, and its been a while since I've heard either on their own, but when I say, take a hold, I don't mean it in a quantitative sense, as in, will it drive the speaker. I was thinking more in the sense, does the speaker speak with its best voice. My comrade had his Acoustats with MA1's and then a Berning and I preferred the MA-1's by a mile(the luxurious part...), so I'm all for the MA-1's with just about anything, including a 83db load. Incidentally, he moved to the Berning because of all of the tubes. But, at the end of the day, I think he might still be tube-rolling the inputs on the Berning looking for that harmonic complexity thing. If you say back, no, the M-60's will drive 2+2's no problemo with dynamic authority and no loss of harmonic nuance throughout the spectrum, then I will defer to you there.
I met you once, Ralph. You won't remember; at a couple of CES's when I was reviewing, and then later at a Chi audiophile club meeting. A while ago now, but what I remember is that you stayed around after the meeting and talked to anyone who wanted to pick your brain. That was nice. More of that in audioland.
Mark Bucksath (Asa)
