2. amps-preamps
  3. 1087331428

Atma-Sphere with Gilmore on HE 2004

Have anybody heard Atma Sphere Music Amplifier MA-2 Mk. II.3 with some Gilmore speakers on HE 2004 NY ?
I have heard, read a lot about those output transformless tube amps, I was expecting audio nirvana, my expectation was very high, but what I heard was week non-dynamic, non-involving sound. Yes there was a lot of details nice soundstage, but still sound was lifeless. Was it speakers, or this transformless amps sound this way ?

I was mighty impress with transformfull :) Manley or VTL or even more with VAC Phi. I even went back after few hours one more time to Atma+Gilmore room unfortunately the some bad impression. Was it bad combination?
Does Berning's sound the some way ?
sorlowski
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Whatever you heard is not the result of the MA-2 amplifiers. They are superb, says this owner of an Atma-Sphere MA-2 and Eidolon speakers combination.
.
nealhood
199 posts
 
I will agree with "Rushton" that the problem is not with the Atmasphere. These amps remain my favorite after listening to many others. They also work on many speakers - not just electrostatics (though they sound absolutely superb on these). On my Magnepan 3.6's they sound outstanding. And, Maggies are probably the last speaker that many dealers would recommend them for. Now to be honest, it did take the auto-transformer to provide the superb sound but, this was just a simple matter of impedance matching the Atmasphere to the Maggies.
mahandave
153 posts
 
I have to mention that it is not the amps also-absolutly not possable!!! But I don't want to bash those speakers just that it's not a good match. The speakers are very low sensitivity and probably have a hard impedance curve to boot. That fine if your amp is up to the task. The Atmaspheres are very dynamic ( as good as it gets for tubes) with the right speakers.
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
My experience with Atma-Sphere M-60 amps driving Köchel K300 loudspeakers has been outstanding.

My guess is that the Gilmore loudspeakers just weren't your cup of tea. There shouldn't have been any system matching issues as Mark Gilmore is an Atma-Sphere enthusiast.

Perhaps there was a problem with the setup in that particular room. I would contact Ralph at Atma-Sphere to see if there was anything problematic. Atma-Sphere amps do not lack dynamic ability.
hbrandt
272 posts
 
I was at HE 2004 and I would not base ANY buying decisions on show sound. The rooms are just not optimized for any reasonable evaluation. One of my favorite speakers (Vandersteen 5a's) sounded absolutely dreadful...for the first time ever. I'm running my electrostats with Innersound Monoblocks. One of the few amps that, in my view, sound great with stats is the Atma-Sphere. If you have a line on a decent pair...I wouldn't hesitate.

harry
More to discover