David Berning 845 ZOTL Hi Fi One Edition

David Berning/Hi Fi One 845 ZOTL Reference mono-blocks. Available in black (as shown) or silver anodized aluminum. The amplifiers can be demonstrated in Carlsbad, CA 92009 or money back home trial. Call for details.

The next generation of the Berning 845 OTL. It is significantly improved beyond the 2015 Absolute Sound amplifier of the year review pair. 60 WPC, Triode, Class A, Zero feedback, OTL

SMc Audio (Steve McCormack) has developed a twenty-pound brass multi-layer damping and mechanical ground system expressly for Berning/Hi-Fi One amplifiers. It forms the base of the amplifier, adding stiffness, rigidity, and a termination path for vibrational energy utilizing Stillpoints Ultra bases. Thus providing the proprietary circuitry an idealized environment to reproduce sound with the least degradation. In combination with the other electrical and mechanical upgrades made the amplifier is transformed.

The all-new tube sockets (pictured) are now made of milled Teflon and beryllium copper with next-generation circuit board material, wiring, NOS small tube set, Elrog German 845's, capacitors, dual silver WBT binding posts, iGO IEC's, WBT RCA’s and silver internal contact Switchcraft XLR connectors.

Both 211 and 845 tubes auto-bias and the monoaural amplifiers are plug-n-play worldwide based on their high-speed switch mode, full power factor connected power supplies.

Carlsbad California based demonstration can be arranged by appointment. See my website for rbhifi1.com for reviews of the original amp and the demonstration system.

These OTL amplifiers run real-world loudspeakers. They are not as speaker-dependent as conventional OTL's. The patented ZOTL impedance matching circuit and advanced switch-mode power supply provides sufficient power transfer to run all Magicos, Wilsons, Sonus Faber, Karma (et.al.), electrostatic, horns, ribbons (except Apogee), and some planar magnetic speakers. The super-low noise floor was specifically developed with horns.

In short, this is not a conventional OTL amplifier in design nor does it have the typical OTL load sensitivity, and a large number of tubes run in parallel (and highly biased greatly shortening tube life) to get the impedance down enough to drive the loudspeaker directly. This typically limits conventional OTL designs to 6C33 and 6AS7 tubes. A conventional OTL will require eight 6AS7 output tubes to get 60 WPC. In the Berning design, four 211 or 845 tubes generate 60wpc class-A, triode. More importantly, neither conventional OTL tube provides the triode sonics of the 211 and 845.

Excerpted with permission from Robert Harley's Absolute Sound review: "...I won’t mince words: The Berning 211/845 is the most beautiful sounding amplifier I’ve ever heard. One could easily invoke the stereotype of a triode amplifier that has no feedback and lacks an output transformer and immediately jump to the conclusion that the word “beautiful” means that the amplifier imposes itself on the music in a flatteringly euphonic way, like a soft-focus filter on a lens. But that’s not the case. The Berning sounds beautiful because the music sounds beautiful; this amplifier simply introduces less artifice and coloration that would diminish that beauty.

The 211/845 is unique in the way it strips away a kind of electronic tincture, leaving in its place a totally natural and believable musical presentation. With most superb systems, certain recordings can, at certain times, create a “fool-you” realism that sounds so lifelike you experience a sudden frisson. The 211/845 delivers such delights regularly, and with apparent ease. Moreover, the experience doesn’t last for a brief moment before the illusion collapses but is sustained for entire pieces of music. It’s quite a magic trick, conjuring a startling palpability by stripping away the last vestige of an electronic signature. It’s as though instruments and voices have been laid bare, with a natural and organic quality.
 
Reproduction of the human voice is a particularly stark example of this amplifier’s utter transparency. I could cite any number of instances, but two come immediately to mind as particularly vivid: Ella Fitzgerald on the 45rpm Analogue Productions LP of Ella and Louis and Jennifer Warnes on The Hunter[Impex LP]. On the track “Moonlight in Vermont” Ella’s entrance is genuinely startling, so convincing is the illusion of a living, breathing human being standing between the loudspeakers. The more modern recording of Warnes was rendered by the Berning with such immediacy that I felt that I heard her voice’s beautiful and unique timbre fully for the first time. In both examples, the Berning conveyed nuances of timbre, dynamics, inflection, phrasing, and expression in previously unparalleled abundance. Thanks to these qualities, the Berning is a crystal-clear window back through time to the original musical event. 

The 211/845 experience is like that of the best direct-to-disc LPs or first-generation analog tapes; you can immediately hear that a layer has been removed between you and the music. In its ability to reproduce instruments and voices with this level of believability, the Berning has no equal in my experience..."

There are no user-replaceable fuses, the amplifier's protection circuitry is that effective. No more chasing expensive audiophile fuses. Or listening through one.

The amplifier ships in custom made military specification wooden crates with polymer deformable feet matched to the total weight to absorb vertical impacts. The inner amplifier cardboard box utilizes fitted dense foam cushioning. 

Wire transfer or direct in-branch Wells Fargo business account deposit is preferred. Other payment options are available.

No trades.