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OTL Tube Amps-- are they superior to everything?

A recent conversation I had with an Audiogon member got me interested in OTLs. His opinion is that nothing compares to them for clarity, naturalness and superiority in just about every area. The Atmaspheres are the amps he has, and they are purportedly very stable, unlike most other OTL designs, which many can tell you were a living nightmare.

This is ironic, because some mfrs., like McIntosh, actually put output transformers on their better solid state pieces, claiming they provide superior sonics.

What is the truth here?
saxo

Showing 2 responses by sean

sean
6,231 posts
 
While i haven't heard a ton of different OTL's, i do know that the Atma's sound very nice. As Gs mentions above, any design is a compromise of sorts and OTL's are no different.

Having said that, i know that Brian, who is the President of the Chicago Audio Society, recently switched from Atma-Sphere's to the new Parasound JC-1's. He's using these to drive his Sound Lab's. From the brief communications that i've had with him about this, he said that the JC-1 delivers all of the air, liquidity and finesse of the Atma's with the bass impact and slam that one expects from a "kick ass" SS amp. I know that both he and Bob Crump were pleasantly surprised with the results of this side by side comparison. Sean
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sean
6,231 posts
 
Marakanetz: High impedance loads is where OTL's will really shine, especially if they are basically resistive in nature.

Meisterkleef: Only reporting what i've been told, so i don't know. As mentioned before though, i've also been told of another party that had $40K mono-blocks that dumped them and switched to the JC-1's. Obviously, they must be capable of some type of magic. Like anything else though, i would imagine that it was system specific and up to personal preference. Sean
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