David Berning Co 845/211 ZOTL monos 60 wpc, triode, class A

Hi Fi One --  rbhifi1com -- +1(612) 817-1599

These amplifiers come with the optional, $1,600 Stillpoints Ultra 6 feet as pictured and the 845 tubes set. However, it must be noted, both 845 and 211 tube sets play interchangeably in the amplifiers without modification or bias adjustment. The two pair of 211 tubes used in the review can be added for an additional $900 for a total of $69,900.

The key technology utilized is converting the music signal to radio frequency so the OTL signal can drive the speaker directly, but with low output impedance utilizing two linear triodes, the 211 and 845.

Contrast this with all other OTL's in existence that requires a large number of hot running nonlinear tubes run so hard they have relatively short service lives.

Simply stated, the Berning is the only OTL that can use the 211 or 845 tube. 
The advanced switch mode power supply and full power factor correction allow worldwide operation. No adjustment. All automatic. No biasing. No adjustment for 211 or 845 tube operation. Simply plug-n-play. 
Full computerized tube monitoring. The amplifiers are super quiet and work extremely well on horns as well as conventional loudspeakers. 

These amplifiers have no direct competition. 

Do not think of these amplifiers as "traditional" OTL. They have almost nothing in common. In fact, they have almost nothing in common with any other tube amplifier other than they use tubes. Such is the advanced nature of the patented ZOTL circuit designed and built by David Berning in Potomac, Maryland.

They weigh 38 pounds per mono chassis, run relatively cool with just two output tubes per channel. Again, compare this fact vs all conventional OTL's which must use massively paralleled, hot running, nonlinear (vs 211 and 845) output tubes to get the output impedance low enough to drive the speaker load directly.  Moreover, conventional OTL's can never get the output impedance low enough to compete with the bass performance of these amplifiers.

Here are a few excerpts from the Robert Harley 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. On 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..."

This is the only pair available at a discount because they are the review sample used by The Absolute Sound. Please read the full review AGAIN if you have questions. It stands as the definitive illumination of the amplifiers. Or contact me, Rick Brown. +1 612 817 1599.

Only Berning Quadrature Z 220 wpc mono amplifiers will be accepted as trade-ins. A Carlsbad, CA demonstration is absolutely encouraged. Paypal will not be accepted. Bank wire transfer, Zelle or certified check after clearance is the only accepted forms of payment.