SET vs OTL

Marty, I understand what you are saying. I want the amp to play what is good in a recording, and with the poor recordings, not get upset by artifacts in the recordings. In other words, forgiving? -but without giving up anything to resolution. Its a fine line to tread.

Bobby P. has been making certain over the years that Merlins are tube and particularly OTL friendly. OTLs and Merlins are a very common and successful combination!

Atma,

Couldn't have said it any better. I guess I found those early iterations of both the S-30 and the VSM SE slightly less "forgiving" than I'd prefer. Not "ruthless", or even "unkind", but maybe a touch "strict"?

Marty

PS I think my S-30 was one of the very first you guys manufactured. I was wondering which current Atmasphere model you typically pair with current VSMs? After this thread, I'm (uh-oh) starting to get that urge to expand the amp collection (again!). Let's see, we got 45s, 50s, 2a3s, OTLs,....

Hi Marty, most people with VSMs usually go with the M-60. They have enough power to really make the speaker sing.

I have owned CAT JL2, Quicksilver V4, Pass XA30.5, Ars Sonum integrated and Music Reference RM9 Special Edition amps with my VSM-MXes, and the M-60s are my clear favorites with the these speakers. Which means they are pretty good.

Never said they dont have a slightly dif sound old Bill but I do disagree that 45 50 SET are the best all have there use and most can be used in hi-performance amp design. Maybe you need to relax a bit. Take some time off enjoy the weather and not fuss so much over others who disagree with you for someone always will.