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Thought on OTL tube amps

Just curious....how do these sound/perform compared to tube amps with transformers? Why do you prefer one or the other? Any particular brands of OTL amps you would recommend listening to? You can see my system on my tag here...listen mostly to rock and roll with a smattering of jazz and a bit of classical once in a while. The next stop on my amplifier adventure is an OTL model, and I have no intention of trading it for either SET I currently have, as I'm very happy with both. One of the ways I enjoy experimenting with different "sound" is by switching up the amps. Just trying to solicit some opinions, of which I know there are many strong ones here at A-Gon. Thanks in advance!
afc
trcnetmsncom
431 posts
 
Hello Grannyring,

As Pubul57 pointed out my opinion is in the extreme minority and yours is in the greater majority. The Soundlab/Atma combo has virtually all their owners "dancing in the streets" so please enjoy as I'm sure it must sound fantastic.

In my personal experience with an OTL amp and my speaker of choice I concluded that 'for me and me alone' the combo didn't click and I was not willing to live with the trade off in sound quality that I heard.

In the end it is the individual user alone who must decide what works best for them and their systems.

best,
Tom
simontju
257 posts
 
"I must admit I am a little confused here. Two posters have said OTL amps are thin sounding? "

You should not be confused. When (OTL) amp and speaker is matched poorly then sound is bad (thin, fat what have you).

When properly build (OTL) amp is match well i.g. Athmasphere/Soundlab then sound is glorious !!!
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,533 posts
 
I thought this would be so. Anyway, I run from thin sounding gear as my ears find that to be the #1 sonic dislike.
jwm
918 posts
 
Soundlabs and Silverlines are on the warm side to begin with so the match with your OTL is an obvious one. I heard dozens of other speakers sound thin with your amps and they were not hard to drive in other words above 6 ohm loads.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,533 posts
 
Your missing the fact that I have owned many top end amps along with the Atma-sphere on these same speakers. So I could compare these other amps to the OTL and note any changes to my music. Trust me when I say I have heard many a great amp and the OTL was always the leader in body, weight, texture and realism. Again on direct comparison to other amps on the same speakers.

Surely if the OTL was thin compared to other great tube and SS amps I would have noticed it relative to the other amps.

Just my experience.
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