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Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

Today I picked up my Atma-Sphere Class D Amps. These aren’t broken in yet. And they are simply amazing. I’ve listen to a lot of High End Class D. Some that cost many times what Atma-Sphere Class D costs. I wasn’t a fan of any of them. But these amps are amazing. I really expected to hate them. So my expectations were low. The Details are of what I’ve never heard from any other amps. They are extremely neutral. To say the realism is is extremely good is a gross understatement. They are so transparent it’s scary. These amps just grab you and suck you into the music. After I live with them some and get them broken in. And do some comparisons to some other high end Amps Solid State, Tubes and Class D’s, also in other systems I’ll do a more comprehensive review. But for now, these are simply amazing amps.. Congrats to Ralph and his team. You guys nailed on these.

 

 

128x128pstores
pstores's avatar
pstores OP
190 posts
 

dDAFoe,  thanks for the comparisons. Specifically to the 30.8. I’ll be comparing them to the 30.8, 60.8 and a couple from the .5 series. So it will be interesting. I do love Pass Amps. And without doing a side by side I’d say your spot on. But can’t wait to do a side by side for the true comparison. Thanks again

jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

Ralph has been making amazing amplifiers for a very long time. My next amplifier will be his class D monos. An acquaintance in Kansas has them and they sound great, will be visiting this client next week and look forward to another listening session at he home.

@pstores what preamp are you using?

pstores's avatar
pstores OP
190 posts
 

Jerryg123, I am running an Atma-Sphere MP-3 with Vcaps and Caddocks. Tubes are Amperex Bugle Boys. 

 

marco1's avatar
marco1
539 posts
 

@pstores you've evaluated these amps exactly the same way they were just described to me by an AS dealer.  "They sound just like the S-60's above the bass"  I'm currently using the MP-3 + S-30 in one of my systems and Pass in another, so you've pretty much nailed it for me now.  Thanks for the review.  Looking forward to cooling things off 😎

kuribo
524 posts
 

I am still waiting to see the measurements of this amp. Have they been published yet?

Whether or not it "outperforms" other class d amps can only be judged by the specs. Comments otherwise are purely subjective opinion which have no factual basis.

Personally, I commend the designer for producing his own design. So many just take oem modules and stuff them in a box.

I will say though that I will be greatly surprised if they perform anywhere near the products designed for Hypex and Purifi by Bruno Putzeys who has been designing state of the art class d amps for over 25 years and holds numerous patents.

When one can buy a complete 2 channel Purifi amp for $1000, one also needs to wonder about the cost of these amps in comparison to those made by Hypex and Purifi. I doubt they perform 5 times better and even if they did, the distortion of the Purifi is already below the audible threshold for most people. Why pay 5x the money for something you can’t hear?　Of course they may have a distortion profile that some find enjoyable, but that is a matter of taste, not pure performance.

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