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Re: why is that no one seems to be running OTL amps?

Posted by elektron (A) on September 28, 2004 at 09:27:36

In Reply to: why is that no one seems to be running OTL amps? posted by soundquest on September 28, 2004 at 08:32:58:

Without trying to insult or irritate OTL fans look at the basic concept. OTL likes looking into higher impedances rather than lower.
What dynamic loads do most speakers present? Not simple resistance.
Most speakers have very reactive loads. Then there are the OTL schemes. Circlotronic and Totem Pole. Both need banks of output tubes to develop power. Look at the loudspeakers favored to bring OTL amps into superlative performance - electrostatic. These have transformers to match amp to load. So, although your amp may be OTL, the speaker itself has a transformer. Maybe there really is something to having just one output device SE in class A. Sensitive speakers ( horns ) allow you to hear what the amp is doing in the less than 1 Watt range. Perhaps weaknesses in the overall OTL scheme are more easily heard with horns.

Anyway, some thoughts on the subject. I should clarify that the last OTL amps in my system were Futterman H3aa's, though I have heard lots of others: Transcendent, Fourier, Atma-Sphere. Bottom line: if they sound good in your system, enjoy them. Too me it always seemed a bit silly to use an OTL if it was recommended to use an "autoformer" or transformer between amp and speaker to give the amp an edge through impedance matching. Happy listening!

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