Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing


Today I picked up my Atma-Sphere Class D Amps. These aren’t broken in yet. And they are simply amazing. I’ve listen to a lot of High End Class D. Some that cost many times what Atma-Sphere Class D costs. I wasn’t a fan of any of them. But these amps are amazing. I really expected to hate them. So my expectations were low. The Details are of what I’ve never heard from any other amps. They are extremely neutral. To say the realism is is extremely good is a gross understatement. They are so transparent it’s scary. These amps just grab you and suck you into the music. After I live with them some and get them broken in. And do some comparisons to some other high end Amps Solid State, Tubes and Class D’s, also in other systems I’ll do a more comprehensive review. But for now, these are simply amazing amps.. Congrats to Ralph and his team. You guys nailed on these.

 

 

128x128pstores

You have no idea what you are talking about since you have never listened to wires, fuses, etc

No, it is you making assumptions about what I have and haven't listened to- you are the one with no idea.

Wires, etc., do not have a "sound"- there are inanimate objects that pass electric current. The sound is all in your head.

 

I understand that measurements can affect sound.....However, it is just one tool and a very flawed one. You cannot measure resistors, inductors, wire, solder, op amps, connecotrs, damping, shielding, directionality of fuses, fuses, circuit board material, resonances, etc. in any meaningful way......You have to listen.

if you are using a big inductive resistor and then went to a small non inductive resistor....you might measure something. However, all nichrome surface mount one sixteenth watt reistor brands ALL sound different from each other. They are all made from practically the same material....are the same size, etc.....Why wuold this be? Who cares?!.....I A/Bed four different brands and one brand was clearly more transparent then the others......still using this resistor today.....but I parallel them for better sound and use a larger version as that sounds better too........so many things affect the sound that cannot be measured......this is HOW it is.

My goal is to inform people so they can improve their stereo or their lives....that is what I do. The mods I suggested are completely universal. If you did this to a $400 Topping or a $120,000 Gryphon amp the results would be the same....except you would hear more difference with the more transparent piece of gear.

OK, quick logic check here; If "everything has a sound" (nonsense IMO, but...) then the "mods" you suggest will *alter* (key word here, not Improve)  the sound of any of these amps. Again, doubtful IMO, but let's say you're correct. I know nothing about Atma-Sphere or his products, but from reading what he's written here, he clearly designs his amplifiers to *sound* right/good/pick an adjective to him, and hopefully, by extension to his customers. Nelson Pass is famous for designing amps with specific, and different, sound characteristics, i.e. not "flat" or "straight wire with gain". Again, he designs his amplifiers to *sound* as he intends them to, as does Atma-Sphere. So your "mods", to the extent they make any difference, only improve the sound *relative to your opinion* - nothing remotely universal about it - because every mod you do moves the sound away from the intent of the designer. You are setting yourself up as the universal arbiter of differences in *preference*, while also impugning the competence of every product designer out there. Good luck getting anyone to buy into that.

And for anyone dropping $120K on an amplifier that they don't think sounds right, or has a sonic signature that needs "fixed", well, I'd say meds are more in order than tweaks.

The trick here is understanding that the measurements, if the correct ones are actually made, affect what you hear in a very direct way.

Measurements are what they are-data-they don’t affect what anyone "hears" as they are read, not listened to, unless you are referring to biases induced from the reading of measurements. Testing has indicated correlations between certain distortion spectra and "averaged" or group perceptions but there has been no perfect correlation established between measurements and human response on an individual basis because at the end of the day, you just can’t account for taste.

So your "mods", to the extent they make any difference, only improve the sound *relative to your opinion* - nothing remotely universal about it - because every mod you do moves the sound away from the intent of the designer. You are setting yourself up as the universal arbiter of differences in *preference*, while also impugning the competence of every product designer out there. Good luck getting anyone to buy into that.

Bravo!