Thought on OTL tube amps

11-25-15: Psag
... That is why Berning refers to his amp as an OTL. Those who say otherwise are obviously invested in saying otherwise.

Certainly not true in my case, apart perhaps from whatever negligibly small interest I might have in not having my original statement that it is not an OTL contradicted.

Also, Ralph makes a good point that the term "OTL" is normally used just in the context of tube amplifiers, since the vast majority of solid state amps don't have output transformers or autoformers anyway. And since the Berning's output stage utilizes solid state switching devices, it arguably does not even fall within that context.

Regards,
-- Al

Perhaps I should put my $0.02 here from an end-user perspective.

I have owned at least seven (7) different OTL tube amps, some are big brands, some are DIYs from experienced (10+ yrs) tube amp hobbyists with extensive engineering experience.

IMHO, OTL tube amps are reliable if you understand their operation limitation first. I found that:

1) OTL tube amps do not work well under 4 ohm or less speakers. Even some transient passages at 2 or 3 ohms may blown the tubes. This is not specific to the tube type.

2) OTL tube amps are much less tolerant to wide impedance swing. The more stable the speaker's impedance, the better.

The best sound I got from OTL amps is when I use them to drive impedance-friendly monitors, with the aide of quality subwoofers covering 180Hz-250Hz and below.

Hope this helps.

Using the Zero nullify an OTL status.You already get rid of transformer then put new Transformer?Whats happening? going in circle?

I'm convinced…I'm immediately removing the output transformer from my amp…those wire cutters are around here somewhere...

bsimpson

Perhaps I should put my $0.02 here from an end-user perspective.

I have owned at least seven (7) different OTL tube amps, some are big brands, some are DIYs from experienced (10+ yrs) tube amp hobbyists with extensive engineering experience.

IMHO, OTL tube amps are reliable if you understand their operation limitation first. I found that:

1) OTL tube amps do not work well under 4 ohm or less speakers. Even some transient passages at 2 or 3 ohms may blown the tubes. This is not specific to the tube type.

2) OTL tube amps are much less tolerant to wide impedance swing. The more stable the speaker's impedance, the better.

The best sound I got from OTL amps is when I use them to drive impedance-friendly monitors, with the aide of quality subwoofers covering 180Hz-250Hz and below.

Hope this helps.

This is a good summary bsimpson. And that's quite the experience with so many different OTL's, although you don't list the brands amps/speakers. Thanks for sharing. I particularly take note of your last comment - aide of quality subwoofers 180hz - 250hz. Very difficult to do going this high in the frequency range, even in a dedicated space.