Tenor 75Wp monos & Amati Homage

andrew...i had tenor 75 wi with my piega p-10 speakers that are 89bd and a 4ohm load.the tenors' were not able to drive the p-10s' to my satisfaction and i bought a goldmund 29m amp which is the best amp i have ever heard and effortlessly drives the p-10s' now.i do not believe you will find a better amp,imo.i have not heard the new hybrid tenors which are supposed to be great,however, i would not change for anything now.if you can audition a 29m you won't want anything else.

Tenor-->Amati combination is magical. Clarity, passion, soul. Very satisfying.

I owned both, and used them in the same system. It is very room dependent and type of music. I sold the Tenors since I was in a 1300 square foot loft, with 14 foot ceilings. That's 18,00 cubic feet.

This combo pressurized the entire space, but began falling apart at high (>95+db listening levels) with complex orchestral music. On any form of jazz, or soul, I've only heard better on Mike Lavigne's system.

Since I've moved into a house with a dedicated lsistening space, which is much smaller, I plan on repurchasing the Tenors, probably the 75 wp. I am aware of the 150 Hybrids, which are the choice for the Amati's if you have a really big space, or listen REALLY loud.

Either way, I think you owe it to yourself to listen to the Tenors with the Amati's -- sonically, and aesthetically, the combo cannot be beat (IMO).

Cheers,

Tom

Should read 18,000 cubic feet.

In addition, compared to the P-10s, the Amati's are much more efficient. Those last 3.5 db make a big difference to keep the amp/speaker combination in a more comfortable operating range.

Bwhite- The Berning is not a true OTL since is has a transformer inbetween the tubes and the speakers- hence making it NOT an output transformer less amp. There is a big difference, the magic of an OTL can not be rivaled in the right system.

I was looking at the sonus faber web site and they weren't too specefic, but if these speakers do in fact have 92dB and are a 4 ohm load it may be a stretch for the amps. If you listen to complicated music, or listen loud and want dynamic's it isn't going to happen if your room is remotely large. I think if you could wait the 150s would be ideal. Having heard the 300hp(which is essentially a bridged 150, just with twice the power) I don't think any one could go wrong with these amps, all of the magic of the 75 OTL's with effortless power available.

Tireguy - Very interesting. I do not own the Berning. What I gathered from the user and the website is that the Berning was an OTL.

Closer reading of the Berning website shows me this:

The ZH270 takes advantage of new technology in order to eliminate the audio-output transformer. The application of this technology is the subject of a pending patent. The ZH270 uses radio-frequency to change the voltage-current transfer characteristics of the output tubes from their normal impedance-plane to one suitable for driving a speaker. The radio frequency impedance conversion is implemented using special high-frequency power-conversion techniques. The high-voltage, low-current tube impedance-plane is changed to the high-current, low-voltage speaker impedance-plane through special transformers at a constant carrier frequency. Because the audio signal is riding on a carrier, it is not subject to the parasitic elements of the transformer that would otherwise distort the audio signal. There is no low-frequency limit for this impedance conversion, and the ZH270 is dc-coupled, with the exception of a small, high-quality, dc-blocking capacitor at the input of the amplifier.

So you may be right. Maybe there are transformers but certainly not used in the way most non-otl amps use output transformers.

Nothing can beat the magic of an OTL in the right system huh? I cannot comment - maybe Kondo would have something to say about that? :)

Hey.. if the Tenor is OTL (and I know it is) then what are those boxes on the back of the amps? Help me here, are those input transformers?