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Atma-Sphere amps with Eggleston Andra II's

I own a pair of Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 OTL monoblocks that are probably the one part of my system that will staying put for a long, long time. Currently, speakers are Dynaudio Confidence C2's. Preamp is an Atma-Sphere MP1 MkIII.

I'm looking to change/upgrade my speakers. As good as the C2's are, i.e., extremely coherent, very natural and detailed, nonfatiguing, they certainly don't have much "slam" factor. Now, I mostly listen to classical, jazz, and female vocals at moderate levels, but once in awhile still throw on some Cream, ZZ Top, Seger, ELP or whatever that demands some volume and presence in the low frequencies. I have been reading that the Andra II's can provide most, if not all, of the C2's traits but also add the missing lower octave and slam.

My question to Andra II owners is this: will 220 watts of OTL power drive the Andra II's properly? The MA2's can handle 4 ohm loads without difficulty as long as there are no crazy phase shifts. I am mainly concerned about running my amps dry.

TIA.

Bill
billspecfoc
audiokinesis
2,749 posts
 
Hi Bill,

You might consider e-mailing Ralph Karsten with your question and include a link to John Atkinson's measurement page from the 2002 Stereophile review of the Andra II. Ralph's a very straight shooter. Here's the link showing Atkinson's impedance measurements:

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/719/index6.html

The Andra II's impedance dips to 3 ohms at 60 Hz. At high volume levels (probably around 108-110 dB peak at 1 meter) that would likely be where your amps would run out of steam first. But run it by Ralph to see what the man says.

Not that it's any of my buisness, but if you have MA-2's and are looking for world-class dynamics you might consider the 16-ohm Classic Audio Reproductions T-5. The combination would be capable of clean peaks over 120 dB, with virtually no thermal compression below 115 dB. I don't sell Classic Audio Reproductions speakers but do think highly of them. I do peddle Atma-Sphere, just so you know.

Best of luck to you,

Duke
jtinn
1,124 posts
 
Bill: Although the MA2 Mk2.3 has power, they are not ideal for your speakers. Your speakers are a nominal 6 ohm speaker but has some impedence drops that are not ideal for OTL's. I would either get other amps or look at other speakers.
french_fries
815 posts
 
i have andra-2's and m.levinson 33h amps which is a great match. plus i've upgraded my wires to transparent ref-mm. after recently hearing halcro-driven wilson alexandrias i STILL couldn't be happier with my system. the andras only need 100W, and your amps have twice that. plus the andra-2 is easier to drive than the andra-1's. i am going to upgrade my speakers soon due to my cavernous room, so if you're interested let me know.
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