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Original Message

RE: I have an idea...

Posted by cpotl on May 17, 2017 at 02:43:43:
"The operating instructions for a Zero suggest placing them at the speaker, not at the amplifier end of the speaker wires. So think of them as a modification to the speaker, not a conversion from OTL to OTC operation. Semantics can make anything feel better.

Otherwise, I think this is beating a dead horse..."

I agree that the talking points in this discussion are more or less played out. Reasonable people can agree to differ about fine nuances of interpretation!

However, my analytical side cannot let your first paragraph go by without a final comment. If one should think of the Zero as modifying the speaker, rather than the amplifier, since it is placed at the speaker end of the speaker cable, then what about an ordinary vacuum tube amplifier with a standard output transformer? Suppose now we remove the output transformer from the amplifier chassis and place it at the other end of the speaker cable, right up by the speaker. (So the speaker cable will now be connecting the B+ and output tube anode to the OPT primary.) Should we also now view the OPT instead as a "modification to the speaker," so that we would say the amplifier has become an OTL? I don't think that would satisfy anyone's reasonable criterion for calling the setup an OTL system. So I think the physical location of the matching transformer is not relevant to how one should describe the operation of the system.

Anyway, it sounds like you must have a great sound system!

Chris