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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
sorlowski OP
236 posts
 
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1085260344

somewhere you can read:
"And, finally, the last bad sounding room I encountered was the Atma Sphere/Gilmore room. Ralph Karsten was a gem of a person, but the synergy between his amps and those speakers was poor. The achilles heel sonically of the Atma Spheres is wrestling a woofer's voice coil to the ground and gaining the submission. Four 12" woofers look to be more than the great OTL amps are capable of.
"

they really sounded week, undymamic, I do not know what they are capable of, but they did not go well on HE 2004 seems not only to me, just not in the league of Manley's or VAC's, not even close.
miler
9 posts
 
Why don't you try a good solid state amp with the same speakers compared to Atmasphere and let us know your results afterwards.
BTW, I'm not a big fan of tube gear either.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
I was at the show as well and was less than impressed with the synergy. I have to agree that the amps are not able to wrestle with that many woofer motors, especially in that room. I echoe Trelja's comment that the combination was unable to resolve even the treble, it was indeed harsh. I have heard these amps do wonderfully well with different speakers but if your looking for a rich lush tone you may not want these. They are super clean, pure and very fast. The room was too big and they are better suited to moderate volumes.
slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
I was with Trelja and Mechans in the room and we all agreed that the pairing did not work to our ears. I also have to add though that It WAS NOT the MA-2's at fault. I have heard them in Rushton's room driving his Eidolons, and they produce the most beguiling, involving music I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. Ralph builds a tremendous product and I myself would love to try a pair of the MA-2's in my room to drive my Magnepan 3.6. I just don't think the Gilmore/Atma-sphere coupling is a good one.

I am not saying the Gilmore is a bad product. I have not had enough experience with it being powered by more suitable amplification. But unless the three of us were suffering from a group hallucination, we all felt the synergy was non-existent and the sound was harsh and uninvolving.
sorlowski OP
236 posts
 
Miler,
>I'm not a big fan of tube gear either.
You misunderstood me, I'm just not fan of transformless tube gear since the show. Sound quality, liveness of good tube gear I had heard from (Lamm, Hovland, Vac, Manley) is just beyond reach of any even outrageously expensive SS gear, at least to my ears. Not all tube gear is equal, like not all SS gear is equally bad :)
For example $144.000 SS rig from MBL sounded really good (only one SS I really liked on HE 2004), but I would prefer ~$40.000 Manley+Joseph Audio+"do not remember source".
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