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Cable help for my AtmaSphere S-30 OTL Amp - Please

Hello fellow audiophiles,

I am in desperate search of good advice from fellow Audiophiles and I thought someone might be able to help me with cable suggestions.
I was using a 845 SE amp and recently switched to an AtmaSphere S30 OTL amp.
This amp has tons of detail but it sounds fatiquing compared to the warm lush sound of the 845 tube amp.
I tried a Shunyata power cord and it made the highs even worse and I went back to the stock .69 cent cord. When I try some of my other interconnects, they add more high-end detail and speed but no more sound-stage depth or width.
I called a couple of dealers and here is a big surprise.....they are suggesting power cords, interconnects and speaker cables that are each thousands of dollars!
I am now thinking a made a huge mistake.
This amp ws $3800 and it sounds like harsh transistor sound compared to my 845.

My other equipment: Quad ESL63 Speakers, Eastern Minimax II Tube DAC, Space-Tech Labs Balanced Tube Preamp (Definitely NOT bright sounding), Aural Symphonics Speaker Cables, Silnote Audio Poseidon silver usb cable, Silnote Audio Morpheus Ref II cardas rca 24k gold/silver (DAC to Preamp), Black mountain cable Pinnacle Cables 1m gold xlr (Preamp to Amp).
I even changed the 12AU7 tube in the DAC to a Mullard and the dynamics and tone are better but still not correct.
What interconnect will bring out the mid-range and not emphasize the highs?
I still want holographic sound-staging but I want the amp to sound musical and not analytic!

Can you help?
Thanks very much,
Mike
rodagon
jtimothya
612 posts
 
Rest assured that transistors are the last thing an Atma-Sphere amp will sound like. That said, they tend to be transparent to sources and reveal rather than mask the character of what is upstream. I don't intend any criticism, its just that assuming nominal operation from the S-30, that may be where to look.

One consideration: your amp's stock Chinese 6SN7s are generally rugged and quiet however to some ears they can sound a wee bit edgy compared to alternatives. They're not bad, but there are, imo, better choices. On each amp there are one or two 6SN7 per channel that have the most sonic impact - the location varies w/ each A-S amp. Find out those locations for your S-30 - just shoot Ralph an e-mail. Decent NOS can make a real difference; welcome to the world of 6SN7s. Here is a good place to start. Ken-Rads, Sylvanias, and RCAs tend to yield happiness with A-S amps.

You may also want to explore the OTL forum on the Asylum. It is a nice resource for Atma owners. Looking there you'll probably find that Atma-Sphere amps and ESLs tend to be synergistic. Don't despair, you'll get this resolved.
 
jtimothya
612 posts
 
I suppose I could have addressed the cable question - d'ya think? (f/x: head smacking). Assuming a true balanced preamp with balanced outputs, an inexpensive option is Mogami 2534 cabling with XLR connectors between pre and S-30. There are lot's of places on the Web that will make these for you in short order, might even find them premade on Amazon. Price for a pair should be less than $75.
clio09
3,353 posts
 
With the Atma-Sphere S-30 the front row of 6SN7 tubes will have the most influence on the sound. I use Raytheon VT-231 tubes in this position. You could also experiment with the back row of tubes as well, but to me it is a less significant influence on the sound. That said I use Sylvania 6SN7 GTB tubes in this position. Depending on my mood I leave the Chinese tubes in the middle row or I use shorting plugs that Ralph made for me in place of the tubes. The shorting plugs drop the gain of the amp 12 dB. To me this makes the biggest difference in the performance of the amp in my system.

The amp is very transparent and should match up well with your Quads. As for your preamp, Ralph has indicated many times that the most difficult role for the preamp to fulfill is to control the interconnect. Does your preamp support the 600 ohm standard for balanced operation? If so, then you should not be able to hear any difference swapping interconnects between the preamp and amp.

As others have mentioned speak to Ralph. He is extremely helpful in matters such as this. Personally I don't think cables are the solution.
monk
120 posts
 
I would look into 2 brands of power cords - Magnan, and Tg Audio - both were recommended by Duke @ Audio Keneisis? (sorry bout the spelling :) for use with Atmasphere stuff (with Soundlabs too I think)... You could try the Asylum cable as a inexpensive way to get your stage back, yet also tone it down a hair, as that cable can be a little more reserved than some others. The Asylum cable doesn't do anything wrong (which compared to most power cords, is saying something)- it just doesn't inject life into anything either. I find it a good baseline (that and the aforementioned Volex cords often used in the Asylum recipe).
rodagon OP
10 posts
 
Thanks for all your responses. The preamp manufacturer has not verified whether he supports the 600 ohm standard.
When I swapped the balanced out interconnect with another silver over copper interconnect, the sound is more detailed and harsh in the upper mid-range and treble.
I think I am going to try the TG Audio power cord.
What is Asylum cable? Sorry, I am not familiar with this one.
I will also try the Tungsol NOS 6SN7 tubes in the front row of the S-30.
Many thanks,
Mike
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