set vs otl, which is the most musical


Set and otl amps are almost opposites in terms of many aspects of circuit design. Which of the two designs is the most musical (define musical in your own terms as there is likely not to be a universal definition acceptable to all). Which do you prefer and why?
rontaylor

Showing 1 response by paulfolbrecht

Another very important point is that any SET is only producing 10% 2nd-order HD at its max output or very close to it. For this reason, I do think it's a good idea to plan a system with the SETs not required to go about 50% or so output. At that level, you're normally talking about a few percent THD, 90% 2nd harmonic, proven in testing to be entirely inaudible.

One study showed 7th order HD to be around 20x more objectionable than 2nd order.