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

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!

Tomorrow morning I am going have some fun. Am going to bring these amps and put them into some high end systems at a local Audio Shop in a Minneapolis suburb. Like to hear them drive some really hard loads. And see how they do against some amps 5 times plus the cost. And I want to hear them on big Magnepan and Wilson’s. Just curious…  Should be pretty interesting. Afternoon will have a shootout against Pass Labs XA60.8 amps which I really love. They are 2nd to my MA-1’s in my system. Should be fun to hear if the Atma-Sphere Class D can best them. 
  

Looking forward to reading your impressions. Hopefully, your thread can get back on track and avoid any further unnecessary diatribe.

Here is what is true with high end audio.....practically no one knows very much.....because it is infinite. Not so with hot rodding. All quarter mile top fuelers look the same and perform the same....because the game is so very simple.....it is horsepower, weight, drag, traction and gearing......and the driver.....that is all that there is........and you can measure it by the clock. In high end audio every single thing makes a sonic difference (my experience with over 45 years of listening tests) and there is soooooooooooooooo much to know that all manufacturers have just a tiny piece of the pie of info. It takes months to just figure out the best wire to use.....this is why every single product at every single price point sounds different. THERE IS NO REFERENCE in high end audio.......no clock to test us.....no race course.....it is every manufacturer on his own....every customer on his own......so there is no common knowledge.....However, as things get tested more and more and TALKED about more and more then some TRUTH will prevail. For those that have never listened to wires, and jacks and whatever then what I say sounds like a different language and how dare I second guess the designers (for they know everything!). Sorry to break you bubble.....but we are all so ingorant.....including me. The more you know....the more you know nothing. However, I have an expertise in tweaking....just like Nelson Pass has an expertise in circuit design.....we all are learning and growing. The more we talk about our experience (what we have listened to) then the more REAL KNOWLEDGE we will have. So, if you do not know anything about tweaking then you have no idea if what I say works or does not work.....and how universal it is. So, who is going to change the fuses out and remove the steel plates and bolts on the transformers and LISTEN and give us some REAL KNOWLEDGE?.......Are we going to just say what we "think" is true or do we really want to improve our stereo. You cannot improve your stereo by fighting tweakers....or fighting anyone......Please, try something new.....figure out what is really true for YOURSELF......do not believe me or Kuribo or Ralph.....find out what is true for YOU.......You can change....you can embrace something new. I encourage you to explore.....Exploration is fun.....being right is old stuff and not fun. Do you want to have fun? Do you want to make your stereo better? Just do it!

Blessings and Love.