RGA
02-13-2005, 06:57 PM
Says goodbye to a great component in the process. My dream system as many of you know is not attainable on my finances, but I am moving to get to something in the ballpark and yesterday I have moved a little closer.
I picked up the Audio Note OTO Phono SE from Soundhounds and traded of my trusty Sugden A48b integrated amp. The Sugden is a very good smooth transistor amplifier of about 70 watts class A/B design and nicely forgiving of lesser front end components. The Sugden had a slightly veiled presentation and what has been described as a valve like presentation (which means a little rich and syrupy --- not all tubes sound like tube amps in this manner!!)
The OTO has been in my upgrade path really for over a year and it’s the Audio Note amp I have logged the most time on so I knew it fairly well. I wanted one last audition though because I made the mistake of looking at a few reviews (why I don’t follow my own advice more) which claims the amp has difficulty with the frequency extremes which I have not heard in the past, but I wanted to be sure. Needless to say I bought the amp so that is obviously not an issue I heard. Though, the comments made may be true with less efficient and less sensitive designs.
The OTO is a Single Ended Tube amplifier which runs in pure class A - 10 watts per channel in 8 ohms or 10 watts per channel in 4 ohms with the 4 ohm tap. The heat it generates is certainly a testament to it's class A rating and it requires 20cm above the unit for ventilation --- I had to re-do my equipment racks so that the unit could be placed on the top shelf. The amplifier has a much more robust construction than the already good Sugden. The OTO weighs in at a manageable 38lbs incorporates 10 tubes -- 4 el84, 3ecc83, 2 ECC82, and 1 ECC88. Luckily all of these tubes are relatively inexpensive and Audio Note states tube life to be around 8000hours. My Antique Sound Labs Headphone amp uses the same EL 84s which is nice $20.00Cdn for a matched pair. It' a beast at (140mm high) X (440mm wide) X (410mm deep).
The amp is not the most ergonomically brilliant unit I've seen. It is a plain black box with a nice piano black kind of front panel with 5 solid bronze knobs --- labeling is in gold print and BELOW the knobs which makes it rather difficult to see the setting if the amp is on a lower shelf. There is no remote control. The manual consists of 6 photocopied pages 1 is safety instruction 1 is a title page with a staple in the right corner. The amp comes double boxed. Audio Note recommends 200 hours for "bedding" in and 30-45 minutes after each turn on for the amp to be optimally sounding its best.
The amp self biases for new tubes so no volt-meters are required nor is bias adjustment needed when new tubes are purchased.
The amp has an on off knob, a selector control (Phono, CD, Aux, Tape in/out and Tuner), a balance control, record knob, and of course volume knob which can produce deafeningly loud content. 10 Watts is actually a lot for Single Ended tube amplifiers.
My listening sessions have always impressed with me over the years but I did want to throw some Big Classical works at like the Saint-Saens, Ravel's Bolero etc but I also wanted to double check the amp’s ability on well recorded bass heavy pop such as Madonna's Justify My Love, Vogue, Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing and new After glow albums as starters. Needless it had no problem with any of this music nor did it hint at a problem. The music of course always caught my attention so deliberately forcing myself to try and listen to the components I have had difficulty doing with Audio Note --- which is why I'm such a fan of their gear. The last thing I want to be doing is listening for an amplifier.
The Sugden will not very much be missed as the OTO has a faster quicker tighter presentation throughout the midrange and lightning quick leading edges where the Sugden soft peddled it a bit --- the Sugden I have always said is a good fixer of lesser systems because it makes them listenable --- but it will have the adverse affect of holding back greater set-ups. The sense of space 3 dimensionally is already far better on the OTO and soundstage width is bigger more open and the electrostatic quality is taking shape in the midrange that has been at the dealer but not so much in my home. The OTO so far does not care much for my 300 disc changer which has little weight and sounds on the thin bright side… the Cambridge Audio has managed to make the transition reasonably well.
The leading edges of guitar on Allison Kraus & Union stations 2 disc live recording really have that twang and sparkle thing going on. The Dynamics are explosive which is interesting because with less watts I figured the headroom might suffer --- it doesn't and interestingly the Meishu a much more expensive AN SET is even better than the OTO and is 8 watts. That is interesting indeed. I suspect it's because AN uses better transformers I their upscale models.
There are no hums or hisses of any kind here which the Sugden and Marantz 4300 can't claim.
Most people here will probably not be too interested in a low watt amplifier such as this but I have seen it mated with Totem and people have used difficult to drive speakers with aplomb. Still AN is about a system approach and I think if one has the intention to build a whole Audio Note system the OTO SE would be a good entry point. They make an 18 watt Push Pull version for considerably less money which will drive most loudspeakers quite well which sounds very good as well.
I will write a review eventually --- I need to listen to the NAD turntable as well as evaluate the Skylan Turntable base --- with a better phono stage now I will be more able to competently address the Turntable platform – so far very good results especially with bottom end control versus the regular shelf.
Product Information
Audio Note OTO Phono SE ($4,000.00Cdn - $3100.00US) Line SE version is $2600US. (pricing guide of all AN products http://www.triodeandco.com/04us_prices.html ) 1 year warranty 90 days on tubes.
RGA
I'd also like to Thank Paul at Soundhounds for driving me to the Bus depot as I don't own a vehicle) , lugging that amp around would have been impossible. Also thanks to Terry for making the world's best Cappuccino -- okay well the best one I have had.
I picked up the Audio Note OTO Phono SE from Soundhounds and traded of my trusty Sugden A48b integrated amp. The Sugden is a very good smooth transistor amplifier of about 70 watts class A/B design and nicely forgiving of lesser front end components. The Sugden had a slightly veiled presentation and what has been described as a valve like presentation (which means a little rich and syrupy --- not all tubes sound like tube amps in this manner!!)
The OTO has been in my upgrade path really for over a year and it’s the Audio Note amp I have logged the most time on so I knew it fairly well. I wanted one last audition though because I made the mistake of looking at a few reviews (why I don’t follow my own advice more) which claims the amp has difficulty with the frequency extremes which I have not heard in the past, but I wanted to be sure. Needless to say I bought the amp so that is obviously not an issue I heard. Though, the comments made may be true with less efficient and less sensitive designs.
The OTO is a Single Ended Tube amplifier which runs in pure class A - 10 watts per channel in 8 ohms or 10 watts per channel in 4 ohms with the 4 ohm tap. The heat it generates is certainly a testament to it's class A rating and it requires 20cm above the unit for ventilation --- I had to re-do my equipment racks so that the unit could be placed on the top shelf. The amplifier has a much more robust construction than the already good Sugden. The OTO weighs in at a manageable 38lbs incorporates 10 tubes -- 4 el84, 3ecc83, 2 ECC82, and 1 ECC88. Luckily all of these tubes are relatively inexpensive and Audio Note states tube life to be around 8000hours. My Antique Sound Labs Headphone amp uses the same EL 84s which is nice $20.00Cdn for a matched pair. It' a beast at (140mm high) X (440mm wide) X (410mm deep).
The amp is not the most ergonomically brilliant unit I've seen. It is a plain black box with a nice piano black kind of front panel with 5 solid bronze knobs --- labeling is in gold print and BELOW the knobs which makes it rather difficult to see the setting if the amp is on a lower shelf. There is no remote control. The manual consists of 6 photocopied pages 1 is safety instruction 1 is a title page with a staple in the right corner. The amp comes double boxed. Audio Note recommends 200 hours for "bedding" in and 30-45 minutes after each turn on for the amp to be optimally sounding its best.
The amp self biases for new tubes so no volt-meters are required nor is bias adjustment needed when new tubes are purchased.
The amp has an on off knob, a selector control (Phono, CD, Aux, Tape in/out and Tuner), a balance control, record knob, and of course volume knob which can produce deafeningly loud content. 10 Watts is actually a lot for Single Ended tube amplifiers.
My listening sessions have always impressed with me over the years but I did want to throw some Big Classical works at like the Saint-Saens, Ravel's Bolero etc but I also wanted to double check the amp’s ability on well recorded bass heavy pop such as Madonna's Justify My Love, Vogue, Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing and new After glow albums as starters. Needless it had no problem with any of this music nor did it hint at a problem. The music of course always caught my attention so deliberately forcing myself to try and listen to the components I have had difficulty doing with Audio Note --- which is why I'm such a fan of their gear. The last thing I want to be doing is listening for an amplifier.
The Sugden will not very much be missed as the OTO has a faster quicker tighter presentation throughout the midrange and lightning quick leading edges where the Sugden soft peddled it a bit --- the Sugden I have always said is a good fixer of lesser systems because it makes them listenable --- but it will have the adverse affect of holding back greater set-ups. The sense of space 3 dimensionally is already far better on the OTO and soundstage width is bigger more open and the electrostatic quality is taking shape in the midrange that has been at the dealer but not so much in my home. The OTO so far does not care much for my 300 disc changer which has little weight and sounds on the thin bright side… the Cambridge Audio has managed to make the transition reasonably well.
The leading edges of guitar on Allison Kraus & Union stations 2 disc live recording really have that twang and sparkle thing going on. The Dynamics are explosive which is interesting because with less watts I figured the headroom might suffer --- it doesn't and interestingly the Meishu a much more expensive AN SET is even better than the OTO and is 8 watts. That is interesting indeed. I suspect it's because AN uses better transformers I their upscale models.
There are no hums or hisses of any kind here which the Sugden and Marantz 4300 can't claim.
Most people here will probably not be too interested in a low watt amplifier such as this but I have seen it mated with Totem and people have used difficult to drive speakers with aplomb. Still AN is about a system approach and I think if one has the intention to build a whole Audio Note system the OTO SE would be a good entry point. They make an 18 watt Push Pull version for considerably less money which will drive most loudspeakers quite well which sounds very good as well.
I will write a review eventually --- I need to listen to the NAD turntable as well as evaluate the Skylan Turntable base --- with a better phono stage now I will be more able to competently address the Turntable platform – so far very good results especially with bottom end control versus the regular shelf.
Product Information
Audio Note OTO Phono SE ($4,000.00Cdn - $3100.00US) Line SE version is $2600US. (pricing guide of all AN products http://www.triodeandco.com/04us_prices.html ) 1 year warranty 90 days on tubes.
RGA
I'd also like to Thank Paul at Soundhounds for driving me to the Bus depot as I don't own a vehicle) , lugging that amp around would have been impossible. Also thanks to Terry for making the world's best Cappuccino -- okay well the best one I have had.