Interesting move for Atma-Sphere. If the world ever opens again it would be fun to listen to them.
Atma-Sphere Class D getting some love
Read all of it here
Moving on to electronics, in the Unique Home Audio room I found myself searching in vain for the big monoblocks that I assumed were responsible for the effortless sound emanating from the gorgeous Italian Gold Note speakers. (Other electronics were also Gold Note.) Failing to locate the amps, I asked where they were and was directed to a pair of tiny boxes squatting on the floor. These, I learned, were the new $5400/pr. Atma-Sphere Class D amplifiers. That’s right: a brand known for tube amplifiers has built a Class D unit. I must say, true to the manufacturer’s word, the amps had tube-like warmth and sweetness. But their 100-watt GaNFET output stage and 800:1 damping factor also produced thunderous bass and high-jumping dynamics. Highs were clean, extended, and never exaggerated.
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I’m pretty happy with my current system, but if, or I should say when, the upgrade bug attacks again, these are going to be at the top of my list. I wonder if the amps pair well with tube preamps, and if so which ones are good candidates. Perhaps, @ralph@atma-sphere.com can chime in |
Congratulations on the attention Ralph @atmasphere !! Pretty sweet looking monoblocks!! |
@atmasphere Are you showing these at Axpona? I hope so. |
Interesting to see how class d amplifier manufacturers are going with GaNFET output devices. Maybe there’s something to that.
Not all of them are NAD is purfi and Bel Canto is Nucore. I love my Bel Canto gear and was not crazy about the NAD gear I had. I think a lot of it is what is done up stream from the core? Ralph would no better but GaNFET seems to be the flavor of the month. |
Ralph, thank you for taking the plunge (several years ago) and putting so much hard work into this new tech. It's fascinating watching the gyrations of consumers and manufacturers trying to make sense of what's happening. I'm very curious what preamp typology pairs best with your Class-D mono's? Would a simple passive SS preamp be better than say a tube preamp? Will a tube preamp impart it's color/warmth to the signal (at the cost of ultimate transparency) or are there other factors to consider when adding a preamp? Thanks. |
@69zoso69 If you have a balanced line preamp I would use it. You can use a passive if the gain side of things work out but that's a bit dicey depending on your sources and what loudspeakers you're using. The amps accept either single-ended or balanced and have a very easy to drive input so any tube or solid state preamp will work. |
@atmasphere - Mr. Karsten. I have a Decware 25th Anniversary Zen amp on order. It's been 12 months since I put the order in and I'm looking at another 6-8 months until it finally ships. This has given me a lot of time to reconsider the advantages/disadvantages of SS vs Tubes. My Willsenton R8 (45watt class AB) red-plated after only 10 months of use (with the upgraded psvane tube set), which was a real eye opener and set me back a pretty penny for a new quad set of matching EL34's. While I love the warmth of tubes I'm beginning to see the allure of SS. My Perfect SET 2-10 Tecktons aren't my forever speakers, however they've given me a lot of joy and aren't going anywhere soon. They were designed to pair well with low powered SET tubes, which had me going down the Decware path. I'm curious how you think these 8 Ohm nominal, 95db, 30hz-30khz speakers would fair with something like your D-Mono's? My dream speakers are the Devore O/96's (10 Ohm). I assume sensitivity is less important than Ohm matching (the higher the better) for your D-Mono's, is this true? |
To your last question, not any more than any other amp. To the former, the class D will drive the Tektons fine. |
