2. amps-preamps
  3. 159920-976

What is missing here?

In this months Absolute Sound magazine there is a nice review of an amp that many of us would probably consider based not only on the review but on the topology utilized with the amp. The amp in question is the new Air Tight ATM 300R. This amp utilizes the 300B tube and according to Dick Olsher " The Air tight ATM300-R wowed me with countless hours of listening pleasure. It consistently brought to life the full sonic promise of the 300B". Sounds amazing right??


Except, nowhere ( except in the specs section) does it mention that this amp is limited to 9Watts/Ch!! And at that it is putting out about 10% distortion! So not only is the amp severely limited to which speakers one can match it to, but those speakers had better be ULTRA high efficiency. While most experienced a’philes will expect the extremely severe limitations of this kind of max output, how many casual listeners who read this article will realize the extreme limitations that this amp comes with? Certainly none of that is mentioned in the review, which brings up the question...why not??? How many even somewhat seasoned a’philes have made the mistake of matching a flea powered amp with a less than favorable speaker load? Let’s hear about it....
128x128daveyf
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
9 wpc is a decent single ended tube amp output, would need to be run with very high efficiency speakers, usually horn loaded units of which there are many good ones

that sub-segment of the high end market has many proponents, most very experienced audiophiles and music lovers...music made by those systems can sound stunningly good

gordon rankin, audio note, audion, cary audio among others are very well known for making lovely amps with low outputs that have great purity

so what’s the big deal and why the belly aching?
soix
8,897 posts
 
If I really want to know what a component sounds like, I don’t read the TAS review.  They rarely bother to compare the item under review to another comparable product (too much work and accountability in that), and in many cases they don’t even list the comparable component used in the reviewer’s system if they even bother to list that system at all.  Joke. 
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,563 posts
 
Agreed. Reviews used to be shootouts between competing components. Now they are just glorified write ups of products already deemed praiseworthy by the publishers and serve no useful purpose other than light entertainment. 
aewarren
587 posts
 
Interestingly enough, I read that TAS review today. I ALWAYS read the component’s specs, although I knew it was a low powered SET amp. I also looked at the list of the reviewer’s associated equipment to see what speakers were used for the review - Basszilla Platinum Edition MKII DIY (WHO?) and Fleetwood DeVille. Admittedly, I am unfamiliar with either of these but knew that with an amp putting out the LISTED 9W pc, they would have to have high sensitivity. Sorry, but anyone spending $17,000 on an amp without knowing if it would work in his own application deserves any outcome he gets.
jnorris2005
185 posts
 
" @millercarbon  The specs section is not really where most readers are going to look that closely, at least IMO. The information on the output is not highlighted in any way in the spec section. Like I stated, the extremely low output is not mentioned anywhere in the body of the review."

I actually go there first because they state the price among the specs.  This way I know if I'm wasting my time reading the rest of the review.
More to discover