OTL amps with Wilson Watt/Puppy 6s

hey tubegroover...
is the bering any competition for the t-8s w/ the merlins?

inquiring minds want to know

Hi Ryan

I haven't heard a pair of mono T-8's in my system so I can't compare directly. What the Berning does do over the Transcendent is probably a result of the extra power but a direct comparison would have to be done to be sure. On large orchestral music I noted that more of the musical information is preserved during busy passages. High frequency extension is better as is space/ambient information. My wife noted this immediately. She loved it. The T-8 stereo gets a bit polite or should I say stays polite at such times, not nearly the dynamic performance of the Berning, not enough power. You have to remember Rhyno that the T8's are very large. A pair would take up a lot of space. Plus you have 16 output tubes and 10 driver tubes total. The Berning has 4 output tubes and 6 driver tubes total. Power rating would then be equal. The Berning could be used with a wider variety of speakers, the Transcendent would have to be matched more closely. 4 ohms is the max impedance dip for a pair of monos.

I love the Transcendent but have realized almost since I first acquired it that it wasn't enough power for some music in MY room which has a large volume. Always figured I would upgrade to monos or look at other options. I need to listen to Joules before I commit to anything else but I'll tell you the Berning is in the running. An incredible amp it is.

Allan, I can't even imagine 2 ZH270's strapped, it must be an awesome experience.

Tubegroover.....Awesome in Mono's
Bernings ZH270's is everything you want and nothing you don't..... well it could be bigger and prettier but then again, it could cost $10K.

I bet you if the ZH270 had a line of tubes going out the door and was the size of your microwave and consume the same amount of power as it, people would really be impressed :), even if it does not sound as good as it does now.

I once sold one to a guy that thought I sent him a little scaled model of the amp :)
For those that remember Berning amps back in the 70's, they were big, really big but still cutting edge back then, some had high speed switching power supplies.
Allan

We used 2 Berning 270's on Soundlab Pristine ll's several weeks ago and it was spectacular! More drive, more dynamics, more energy, just an amazing event. One ZH270 is very, very good with the Soundlabs, two is out of this world, they absolutely soar with vibrance, energy and encompass the room with sound. I've had amplifiers that weighed over 6 times as much as a single ZH270 not sound as large and in charge, I never knew anything like this was possible from such physically small amplifer. It is my opinion that the technology found in this piece is matched by no other OTL tube amplifer at this time. Anybody who's curious about some of the other unique features, just ask Tubegroover (Will), he has a manual and I'm sure he has read it by now :) However, he may have a hard time typing and reading with all the bass coming from his listening room :)

Chris

Rlennan,
I have 5.1's and wondered why my ARC VT-100mk2 didn't get the job done. I then tried a 335 and my jaw hit the floor. Instruments were much more full bodied and the tonal balance smoothed out making marginal recording much easier to listen to. The ARC had a slight advantage in reproducing the sense of space/air, but the Levinson is not far behind. The improvement in the bass control alone convinced me that, at least with the 5.1's, short of a massive tube amp transistor is better. Thanks to you I know why.