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Atma-sphere amplifiers and preamplifiers have together now garnered five Golden Ear Awards from The Absolute Sound, the most prestigious hifi journal in the world. A bit of background… Founded in 1977 by Ralph Karsten, Atma-Sphere was created around his radical new approach to OTL technology and the [now attainable] principle of striving only for the State of the Art in audio amplification. Atma-Sphere developed and introduced the world's first reliable and practical OTL amplifier. This was accomplished by using a fully symmetrical output circuit (known as the Circlotron), which resulted in low distortion. The low distortion meant that little or no feedback was required, resulting in a very stable amplifier. Atma-Sphere is also the first to offer an OTL amplifier in a fully balanced (differential) configuration, allowing for balanced and single-ended inputs. A further innovation was the first use of a fully symmetrical drive circuit for the output section. The design has been rather successful; Atma-Sphere is now the largest and oldest manufacturer of OTLs worldwide. There have been only three patents issued to OTL manufacturers since the 1950s; two of them belong to Atma-Sphere. Atma-sphere’s new OTL designs can drive a wider range of speakers then had been previously possible. Eight-ohm speakers can be easily used (and in the case of the larger amplifiers, 4 ohm speakers too), with far greater performance then other technologies. OTLs are now a very practical choice for discerning audiophiles. What is OTL? The acronym 'OTL' refers to a tube amplifier that is Output TransformerLess. Regular tube amplifiers have very high voltages in them, by contrast most loudspeakers are low voltage. In order to convert from the high voltage of tubes to the low voltage of a speaker an electronic device known as a transformer is used. Transformers are large arrangements of metal with large amounts of wire in them. The wire is arranged in two sets of WINDINGS on the metal of the transformer (called the CORE), so there is an input and an output. The input winding is called the PRIMARY winding and the output is called the SECONDARY winding. OTL amplifiers do not use a transformer, and sidestep many of the barriers to high fidelity reproduction that transformers cause. Why is OTL better? Removal of the transformer from the signal path reduces degradation of the signal. With transformers there is distributed capacitance in the windings (loading the tubes), series inductance (which can contribute to distortion), hysterisis loss (meaning that anywhere up to 20-25% of the amplifier power is used to create heat) and resistive loss in the windings as well. These issues cause the transformer to inhibit bass, dynamics, and bandwidth. Detail is lost and tonal colours are obscured. In larger output transformers it is almost impossible to get both the bass and the treble right at the same time due to these issues. OTL technology allows this to be corrected. The lack of a transformer means that the amplifier can deliver the signal with the same speed as a transistor amplifier, but with the sonic benefit typical of tube amplifiers. Single-ended vs. Push-Pull There is a debate about the relative merits of Single-Ended amplifiers vs. Push-Pull. Single-Ended amplifiers owe their 'magical' properties to the way their output transformers are used and to the use of zero feedback (we won't cover the zero feedback issue here). There is only a single power tube in a Single-Ended amp, which is connected to the output transformer. As it draws DC power through the transformer, it sets up a magnetic field in the transformer. This current (and field) is at one half of the total current possible when the amp is at rest. Thus it is relatively easy to make small changes in the current through the transformer. This accounts for the fine inner detail that Single Ended amplifiers are known for. Push-pull amps, by contrast, have more bandwidth and power, as the dual power tubes produce opposing magnetic fields in the transformer (while the amp is idling), resulting in no magnetic field. This increases the amount of power and bandwidth the transformer is capable of, but at a price: low level detail. The major issues for small signals occur at the zero crossings: where the signal goes from negative to positive and back again. It takes energy to reverse the field (however small) in the transformer, and this energy requirement results in increased distortion. Thus, push pull amplifiers lack the low level detail that Single-Ended amps have in spades. Eliminating the transformer eliminates this issue, and with it any arguments for single ended operation. The Futterman legacy OTLs have suffered their own issues over the years, primarily due to the earlier efforts of Julius Futterman and the later failings of New York Audio Labs (Harvey Rosenburg). The Futterman circuit was for many years the most publicly visible OTL, and it was prone to reliability problems, in particular: extreme oscillation. When in oscillation, (which could be caused by overload, component failure or even layout problems), the amp had a tendency to destroy itself. For many years the public has associated the weaknesses of the Futterman circuit with OTLs in general. Fortunately modern OTLs have solved the earlier problems of the Futterman by (for the most part) using entirely different circuitry. In fact, every manufacturer who has attempted to produce a Futterman amplifier has met with demise or has been forced to stop production. The fact is that the circuit was so unrefined that it really should never have seen the light of day. |
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