SET vs OTL

Atmasphere,
Paul's last question is one I share - does the phase splitter itself ever create
distortion issues (i.e. something like 'hysteresis') when the signal is re-
merged?

Second, I have always had questions about 'parallel' SET circuits, and
wondered whether or not one could, with the right tube, do a single-ended
OTL circuit which was 'accordion amplifier' circuit style (and if done right, use
more than two tubes). I expect this will be revealed to be a stupid question as
I am surely overlooking something obvious, but... I'll ask anyway... :^)

Has anyone ever used/made/heard a singled-ended 'accordion amplifier'
circuit? I read about this a while ago (TubeCAD Journal) but have never seen
anyone talk about one, though my gut is that this exists under another name
and I do not know about it.

 
When driven from a balanced source, I thought the dual differential Atma-Sphere circuit required no phase splitter?
 

Atmasphere,

regarding your point on fakeness and removing harmonic distortion... I understand that in an OTL / push pull amp, some of the harmonics will cancel-out showing lowered (measured) harmonic distortion. But if it is the even order harmonics that are being cancelled then the odd-ordered ones are left to dominate, the sound will be much worse/less natural even when measured harmonic distortion. Is this not an issue with OTLs?

As for SETs, the problem is (correct me pls) that even order dynamics can be accentuated by the tube's interaction with the transformer, making the sound more lush/"pleasing" but less natural/neutral.

Regarding my speakers they are Asa monitor pros (http://www.asa.fr/productsPages/gd_monitor_pro.php),
The monitors have a very flat impedence curve and are 8 ohms/ 89db.
They come with a pair of active subs that sort of make up on frequencies below 40hz (cut off point) for where my small OTL amp was lacking.
My listening room is not big and I usually listen to jazz.

Limited budgets mean that one usually buys used equipment from overseas, so it is often not possible to audition... (very hard to find used GM20 Graafs, but did see a Navison Audio OTL on Agon recently). Hence my question on whether a good SET (eg the Cary 300SE) would sound more natural than an OTL amp of similar price/quality.

Sorry, the sentence in first paragraph above should read:

"But if it is the even order harmonics that are being cancelled then the odd-ordered ones will be left to dominate, and the sound will be much worse/less natural even when measured harmonic distortion is lower"..

Aarif,

It is true that there are studies indicating that a 'natural spectrum' of harmonics - which includes even-ordered components - sounds better/more natural to our sound processing systems (brains) than the same signal with only the odd-ordered components - despite the fact that THD is obviously higher in the former case.

Re: "As for SETs, the problem is (correct me pls) that even order dynamics can be accentuated by the tube's interaction with the transformer, making the sound more lush/"pleasing" but less natural/neutral." I've never heard that.

I would say that good SETs on the appropriate speakers do *not* sound 'lush' - ever. They sound crystal-clear, just right, completely natural, etc. That's how a 45 sounds, for example. Or a good 211. Other tubes probably do have some intrinsic 'character'.

Of course, good push-pull OTL tube amps sound a lot like that too. They sound even leaner, or 'whitish', as I would describe it.

What's closer to reality might be impossible to say.