OTL Amps

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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I'm thinking about picking up another OTL amp to try for fun on my Avantgarde's (I had the Music Reference OTL-1).

The David Berning amps are incredible sounding. The Atma-Sphere's are good too. I heard the Novacron's, but I literally melted out of the room. Not sure if it was the amps or just the temperature the room was at the time.

I've read some things about Q-Tron as well.

Are there any other OTL brands/models you guys can recommend or is Atma-Sphere the way to go?
 
Mike said:
I'm thinking about picking up another OTL amp to try for fun on my Avantgarde's (I had the Music Reference OTL-1).

The David Berning amps are incredible sounding. The Atma-Sphere's are good too. I heard the Novacron's, but I literally melted out of the room. Not sure if it was the amps or just the temperature the room was at the time.

I've read some things about Q-Tron as well.

Are there any other OTL brands/models you guys can recommend or is Atma-Sphere the way to go?
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I think Ralph is the longest standing Mfr of OTLs, a blue chip co. and stand up kinda guy. I owned a Graaf from Italy which used 6C33C tubes like Joule Electra (another good sounding OTL). however Graafs dist has been spotty which can only mean headaches for dealers, I loved mine while I had it.
 
Mike,

For OTLs you should go with the Atmasphere's. They sound great, are very reliable and Ralph upgrade policy is by far the best I have ever seen in in the high-end. Also the tubes for his creations are easily available and cheap.
 
Thanks Francisco. Do you have any thoughts on which Atma-Sphere model?


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microstrip said:
Mike,

For OTLs you should go with the Atmasphere's. They sound great, are very reliable and Ralph upgrade policy is by far the best I have ever seen in in the high-end. Also the tubes for his creations are easily available and cheap.
Click to expand...

I agree, another great Minnesota audio company. Mike you should give Ralph a call.
 
Mike - While I agree that Atmasphere makes fine sounding OTL amps, you have to be sure that you can deal with the heat that they create. Of course it varies with the model and their higher powered models with more tubes put out heat like radiators. A friend of mine used to run a pair and when I'd show up at his place for a listening session he'd usually answer the door in his underwear with a good sweat going, I'm not kidding! If you can deal with their heat they do sound good and would likely be a good match with your Avantgardes.
 
Bill - I remember walking into the rooms where Atma-Sphere and other OTL amps were playing and they were like sauna's! Thanks for the word of caution.


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Mike said:
Thanks Francisco. Do you have any thoughts on which Atma-Sphere model?


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Your Avantgarde's have very high efficiency and 18 ohm impedance, electrically any of them will be powerful enough. But I would go to mono-blocks, perhaps the M60 mk3.3 with the MP1 preamplifier.
 
microstrip said:
Your Avantgarde's have very high efficiency and 18 ohm impedance, electrically any of them will be powerful enough. But I would go to mono-blocks, perhaps the M60 mk3.3 with the MP1 preamplifier.
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Thanks Francisco. The M60's are up to version 3.3 now? Wow. I like the ideas of monos!


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Jack - those look cool. Love the price too. I'll definitely investigate, thanks!


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Einstein The Silver Bullet

http://www.einstein-audio.de/en/audio-components/monoamplifier

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That Einstein looks awesome, and here's a great review which covers its strengths and suitable speaker loads. Unfortunately it shows a retail of €40,000, not sure of current US pricing. It was $42,000 in 2013 from a TAS CES update.
 
That Einstein is a stunner! Wow. I see a lot of OTL's using that 6C33 tube.


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Mike said:
That Einstein is a stunner! Wow. I see a lot of OTL's using that 6C33 tube.


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The 6C33 is an wonderful tube for OTL designers - lots of current (for a tube ...) and low plate resistance. However I have found that most 6C33's have a tendency to drift and need frequent bias adjustment, specially if operated at fixed bias. It is why several modern amplifiers using them have auto-bias circuits. Also tube burn-in is mandatory - they drift a lot during the first 200 hours.

If you get an OTL amplifier with many tubes an IR termometer can be of great use!

6c33005.jpg
 
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