SET vs OTL

The Audio Note AN-e LX HE is a fairly benign load and is no problem for an OTL of sufficient power- our customers use our M-60s on that speaker. The speaker definitely benefits from the greater power!

Jet,

I find that the upper bass on the AN-E, as well as other Audio Note models, can be a bit bloated, but, it is a very musically enjoyable speaker so, if that is a flaw, so what?  I am not as big a fan of the 300b as I am of other small triodes (2a3 and 45) because the upper bass and lower midrange is a bit overblown.  But, as you demonstrated, things can be tuned to ameliorate these sort of issues.

I have heard an OTL on the AN-E SEC and the sound was fantastic.  I think it would be worth your effort to find an OTL to try in your system.  The Atmasphere M-60 should be a good candidate.  It is on the slightly leaner side, so it would not exacerbate the tendency of the AN-E to sound a bit bloated.  All three M-60s I've heard had a slight bit of buzz or hum, but, given that the AN-E is not extremely efficient, I doubt that this noise will be much of an issue.  

Would be great to hear on OTL in my listening room someday.

Larryi, I should have mentioned that I agree with you that even with the flaws of the AN-e's they are just so musical and emotionally involving that I cant imagine selling them, ever. I've had them for four years and even when I hear systems or speakers that sound better than what I have, I am almost never tempted to upgrade. The 300b is a warm tube but its got some power and in my room and system some slam and good extension in the low and high frequencies.

I would say that a well designed SET 2A3/300B  has the warm sound than also well designed an OTL having the same output wattage.