Atma-Sphere M60 or David Berning ZH270?

Since this thread has been revived, I will offer that I've recently received back from Atma-Sphere my updated MA-2s bringing them to the most current factory spec. The improvements Ralph has rendered since the MkII.2 series was introduced are simply astonishing!

Since many of the changes in the circuits apply to all of the amps in the Atma-Sphere line, what I'm hearing in my system leads me to believe that any comparisons of earlier production runs of any of the Atma-Sphere amps (i.e., prior to the end of 2004) simply don't reflect the full capability of a current production Atma-Sphere amp. From what I've gleaned in talking with Ralph, more improvements were slipstreamed into production at the end of 2004. So, even if the amp has the current MkII.3 model designation or was updated to MkII.3 status, if the update was done prior to the end of 2004, there were still some significant improvements slipstreamed into production towards the end of 2004.

Those of you who have Atma-Sphere amps and have not yet made the most recent updates, you're in for a real treat if you do it. And for those of you who've listened to Atma-Sphere amps in the past, if you liked some of what you've heard, there's much more to like today. I'll post some further observations in another thread when I have the time to pull my thoughts together on this.

(Note to those who don't like manufacturers continually upgrading their designs: please consider that we are talking about "boutique" designers/crafts people at this level of the high end of the audio art. Ralph and others like him are highly creative individual artisans constantly seeking to improve what they are delivering to the public. For me, I'm pleased and grateful that they engage in this continual creative process.)

I'm with you Rushton in terms of artisans and upgrades in your closing note and thanks for the word on updates. I am certainly not interested in looking for something other than what I own but, was interested in hearing Laoyuap's observations considering he has the same speaker line as I. These amps leave me a very, very happy camper. Turns out my Atma's are in line for an update after the holidays as they were built just before serial #646. Because they are Silver Editions they already posses the Caddock resistors and Teflon coupling caps. Fortunately they do not have the class A/B switch (that I would never take advantage of) or the auto-bias (which I find to be just a luxury item). I look forward to the upgrade and plan on keeping the true OTL magic going on in my living room. Happy listening. Cheers!

R_f_sayles, I agree with you about the class A/B switch which I didn't have added for the same reason: would never use it, didn't see any point in adding the complexity (on which Ralph agrees, I believe). I suspect for a Silver Edition the big difference will come from the new regulator circuit for the driver power supply and the re-building of the output section (how the output tubes are wired) which lowers distortion levels even further plus enhances tube life.

Regards,

Hi, fellas:

I apologize for answering this thread late due to busy and laziness. Here are my impressions of the amplifier and Coincident SE:

I think they are very good synergy at least in my environment. I don’t have much experience with varieties of amplifiers to try, but so far I have been very impressed with the sound of this combination.

The Berning ZH-270 seems to possess strength from both world of solid state and tube amplifier without their weakness. To me, it seems to remove a veil between the sources and your ears. It’s clean and clear as those good solid state amps do yet retains the harmonic richness of a tube amp. It makes musical instruments more life-like and less artificial. The high frequencies are clean and smooth and the lows are ample without exaggeration. Listen to the opening movement of the symphony no 7 by Mahler (Tennsted/LPO/Angel LP). The sound of the tenor horn has body and weight yet rich and smooth and the sound clearly comes from right and rear corner of the orchestra. The mid are rich and smooth too as demonstrated on violin/fortepiano by Luca/Bilson playing the Mozart’s violin sonatas (Nonsuch LP). You can clearly hear the musicians breathing of beginning of a phrase as in Mozart B-flat string quartet (Amadeus/DGG LP) or breathing between movements/CD tracks of a piano sonata (Brendel’s Beethoven sonatas Philip CD). I can listen to ZH270 and Coincident SE for a long time without listening fatigue.

Again, I'm very impressed with these two combination.

Thank you for your observations Laoyuap, I'm glad you are happy with the synergy and the sound. I find my Atma-Sphere and Coincident combo to be very much as you described your setup with the Berning in terms of the musicality. Cheers!