up late
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
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On the topic of OTL, I'm not a fan of the TH900 paired with my OTL WA2. Compared to any of my SS amps, the sound is overly smooth and lacking in energy, regardless of what I'm listening to. The tubes in use may make a difference, but I would be careful about pairing the TH900 with an OTL without hearing it first. IMHO, YMMV, take everything with a mountain of salt, etc.
MP1968: For what it's worth, I really enjoy my TH900 with my Conductor which has a Soloist as the amp section. If you like the sound of the TH900, I don't think you will be disappointed with that setup.
This topic pops up in Sound Science once in a while. Essentially, it boils down to the idea that a properly designed amp that is operating within spec and has a sufficiently low output impedance will be transparent (only providing gain) and not impart any sort of audible coloration. Of course, this doesn't apply to amps that intentionally add color (tube distortion, BASS BOOST, etc.). I don't want to delve too deep into this, but there is a lot of science and testing out there to reinforce it.
With that said, I'd be happy to do some comparisons between my amps later today though none of mine reach far past $1200. I don't have the means to do a proper blind test, but I can provide some subjective comments.
good post