Oh how I wish Class D amps ...

" Mike do you think Ralph's MA2 or MA3 could drive those speakers?"

Hello Rlff: I think this question is best to be addressed to Ralph...

Michael_moskowich, Tim Aucremann of The Audio Beat http://www.theaudiobeat.com uses a set of MA-1s (with a set of ZEROs) with Sashas. I myself heard the Sashas on MA-1s at Paul Bolin's home. It didn't seem like the speaker was hard to drive at all! So yes, obviously our bigger amps can drive the speaker too. In fact it seems to me that with a set of M-60s and a set of ZEROs you would have plenty of power with Sashas in most rooms.

Here's an article Tim wrote about the MA-1s, scroll down and you will see the Sashas: http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/atma_sphere_ma1_mk31_upgrade.htm

Class D, as you can imagine, has made big inroads in the pro-audio and music world. For example Orange now has a class D bass amp that makes 500 watts. Its small and light! It can't keep up with an all-tube Peavey 400-watt bass head though. The Peavey has more punch and bottom end. Mind you we are comparing apples to oranges in a fashion, because its likely that music amps are not built to the same standards as high end stuff. But I find it interesting (and perhaps no coincidence) that the relationship I have observed between class D and tubes in general seems similar to what I have seen in the music field as well.

Atmasphere,

Carvin makes 2050W class D bass heads. Ampeg makes 2500W one.

Atmasphere, least of all I want to argue with you. However, I did not expressed any doubt that your "bigger" amplifiers (or similar OTL amps) can drive Sasha too. Surely, they will show magical midrange there as well.

I love to audition operas e.g. Saturday's "live" transmissions from Metropoliten Opera in NY, big symphonic music and I do stand behind my statement that any OTL I know of: "cannot drive my Sasha by Wilson and provide the same dynamic range as Spectron does ". PERIOD !!! I believe Spectron has 7kW peak power and it shows!

Mike

Mike, If you have a large room that may be true. But if your room is average size (17' x 25' or thereabouts) then I would not be so certain. FWIW, the live transmissions over FM have to be compressed to fit the dynamic range of the medium.

I share your interest in dynamic range- its one of my pet peeves that I feel plague many systems I have heard.

If you really want to hear dynamic range you can actually do better with an LP. Here's a recommendation, a bit hard to find but one of the bigger dynamic ranges on LP, Verdi's Requiem, on the old RCA Soria set. Try track 2, Dies Irae and then see if you can play it at actual lifelike levels. I have seen that LP bring many 'state of the art' systems to their knees. It was recorded about 1959 or so and most systems still have trouble with it...