Atma-Sphere with Gilmore on HE 2004

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.

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.

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.

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".

I would encourage you to give OTL amplifiers another chance.

At the 2001 and 2002 HE shows, I found the Atma Sphere amplifiers sounded horrific with the Classic Audio Reproductions horns. Two months later, I heard the same amplifiers with a different pair of speakers and wound up buying them on the spot.