Audio Note UK Oto Line SE arrives ...

They aren't like horns, where the midrange can drill a hole thru your head. I'd be more concerned with the room, ie size and speaker placement for decent low bass.

jeff

 

Tweeters are where the fatigue comes in. Kevlar mids can sound kinda odd too. The Harbeths use cloth SEAS tweeters as far as I know. Sometimes efficiency comes from a simpler crossover—less circuit between the signal and driver. This may give a little more lumpy frequency response. A cabinet can help control the driver like a complex crossover, giving a steeper acoustical crossover slope than the simple crossover could provide by itself. The reviews focus on flat response though, and people look at this stuff when they get ready to buy.

 

You have confidence in your ears (and know your frequencies by ear). You don’t need a chart. But then, who listens to a driver from a meter away on axis?

 

The M30.1s use silk dome tweeters AKAIK, as does the M40.1, I believe the rest of the lineup has "soft dome" tweeters, so unsure of composition...

 

Fabric, not metal, at any rate. IDK all the particulars, but it seems they do use the SEAS excel tweeters in many models. Nice history of the Radial drivers. I suppose that is one of the Harbeth design ideas, use an easy on the ears fabric tweeter and don’t worry about the high-end extension. Match that with a very light and detailed cone material.

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/index.php?section=products&page=designersnotebookdetail&id=4

 

What a gorgeous amp!

How does one bias the output tubes on the Oto?

 

Thanks! Work of art in looks and sound.
As Steve said per the tubes.

 

This amp (and the Lexus cables too, I imagine) is really starting to open up with about 25 hours on it... everything sounds faster (leading edges of notes, plucks, attack, transients)... and percussion, cymbals, horns are really popping. Big jump in spatial cues and the sound stage is widening/deepening appreciatively.