"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , Patrick Turner
wrote:

[snip]

A known tube amp hater pointed you in the terrible direction of one of
the the worst designs ever to be seen at

http://members.aol.com/aria3/output.htm

This type of audio amp uses tubes to be directly connected to the load,
and it is called an OTL, or output transformerless amplifier. They are
notoriously unreliable. But some sound excellent while working.

I assume you are referring to Trevor above. I don't have direct experience
of the valve amps he quoted, but my (perhaps unreliable) recollection is
that they have had good reviews in magazines from reviewers that
like/prefer valve amps.

Tube amps with output transformers are able to achieve a better match
between the load and the tubes so the matching of tubes is relatively
unimportant, and the reliablity is far better, so that 5,000 hrs can be
expected from an output tube such as a 6550.

Agreed
OTL is not recommended for any but the stoutest of hearts, and
definitely not for a newbee.

Iain