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Kr Audio Kronzilla vs Atma-sphere MA1?

Has anyone ever compared any of the Kronzilla amps (stereo or mono blocks) against the Atma-spheres?

They both look like all out designs.

Just a few of my thoughts on each:

Pro's of the Kronzilla: Build quality of the tubes. It seems like this could contribute very heavily to excellent sonics.

Cons: solid state input section. Maybe it helps sonics, maybe it makes it sound more similar to a SS amp?

Atma-sphere: Pros: OTL - which if compatible with your speakers

can remove several layers of veiling (and Zero box can be used if necessary)

Atma is a very known and respected company in the US , good resale value, updates available etc.

Weight: The Atma's dont weigh alot since they have no transformer. MAybe not an issue for some, but to me it is.

Balanced in as well as single ended-

Cons: Heat - the Atma's use alot of tubes - and I would imagine generate more heat than the 2 tube Kronzilla's????

(though you can remove tubes from the Atma's for warm weather use and get less heat and power - a big plus as well)

Comments from anyone who has compared these 2 excellent amps?
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outlier's avatar
outlier
381 posts
 
I echo Trelja's thoughs and warnings, having owned a pair of KR 6000 monoblocks. I went through several of their VHD842 tubes which I bough new and they turned out to be faulty after about 100 to 200 hours of play. If you do go the KR route, and if you get new tubes, make sure you send in the warranty card immediately, or they will never want to know you if you run into trouble later. Also, I recommend biasing the amp(s) lower than recommended - they will last much longer. don't kid yuorself into believing the tubes will last 10k hours - I think it's nonesense and a loose rumour/promise. If the stars align, the KR amps sound great (I miss them in many ways), but I cannot recommend them, alas.
phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
326 posts
 
Atma-Sphere For sure.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,500 posts
 
I have been working with Eunice at KR and speak with her several times a week for a couple months now.  I was introduced to them via Renaissance Audio in Ann Arbor who I am using as my approved service center and is an outstanding company.  

KR Makes excellent amps and the reputation they have for the quality of tubes and amplifiers is outstanding.  Anybody can have good and bad experiences with a distributor, and yes, they are sticklers for the warranty card being returned.   The quality is excellent.  Return the warranty card and they will honor the warranties without question via a US Service center (Renaissance) that is outstanding.

No one is perfect but KR has been around a long time.  I sell their tubes and will include them as upgrades with Art Audio amps.  I also offer KR Amps to my customers when Art Audio's products don't meet their needs.  For instance, Art Audio offers nothing that can deliver 140w of power like the MA-1.  

How much power do you actually need?  Why these two amps?  What Kronzilla model are you looking at?  Please know there are trustworthy KR Dealers out there and we will stick by you!
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