Tubes Asylum: REVIEW: Transcendent Sound Stereo OTL Amplifier (Tube) by M. Vidal

Well, I bit the bullet and instead of building the stereo kit bought it, factory built. Right out of the box the unit sounds very musical but a little coarse. After continuosly playing music for 24 hours the sound mellowed and got more dimensional. First of all, if you expect traditional tube sound, look elsewhere; it does not sound like a typical tube amplifier. This amplifier has guts and dynamics but at the same time finesse. Bass is not "mushy" like in a typical tube amp, it is very powerful, controlled and fast. You won't believe you are listening to a 25 w/c amplifier. My speakers, BTW, are Soliloquy's 5.3 which are fairly efficient (90db).

Voices are very natural and are projected with dimensionality but are not euphonic in any way. The soundstage is very big and focused, all the instruments are layered very naturally. Overall the sound is very transparent and detailed, but not like in an SS amp because you will
notice the amplifier is doing all this work very easily, without any strain.

I am convinced that buying the factory built version (vs the kit)was the right decision for me. Once you use it and listen to it, you will be convinced that the asking price is very, very reasonable.

REVIEW: Transcendent Sound Stereo OTL Amplifier (Tube) Review by M. Vidal at Audio Asylum