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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
kuribo
524 posts
 

@nonoise 

What's it like going through life quarreling with those who don't see things your way? It must be all consuming for someone like you.

 

I couldn't say, why don't you enlighten us?

kuribo
524 posts
 

@holmz 

Ralph seems to have an amp that measures well and sounds great.
It seems like a lucky outcome to achieve both at once

Since he hasn't to my knowledge published the measurements I couldn't say it measures well or not. It seems to sound great to some, but every amp on the market sounds great in the minds of some people.

I don't think it is luck to have an amp that measures well and sounds good. I think it is the goal of many skilled engineers/designers. There are plenty of amps that measure very well and are very successful in the marketplace. There are also many that measure poorly in comparison, and yet they too find their supporters. If one didn't know better one might be tempted to believe that people's tastes vary quite significantly and that "good" and "not good" perceptions are relative to the individual, not the gear.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

Thanks for your review. The Frankie’s are a great amp. And as you said excel in certain areas. I figured your review would be as such. As the AS Class D aren’t as good as my MA-1’s in the same areas. But your findings are basically mirror mine when comparing my MA-1’s.

No surprises, and experienced listeners know that no amplifier/audio component is flawless. You listen and choose what suits you best and provides the higher degree of joy and pleasure, accepting inevitable compromises.

If the desire is for more emotion ,soul, humanity, breathe of life type of sound, a high quality SET or OTL is very difficult to match. It just always depends on what you want. Other topologies will excel in other specific sonic parameters/areas.

Charles

 

 

 

j-wall's avatar
j-wall
368 posts
 

@tinear123 you mentioned these Atma-sphere's class D being in the realm of PS Audio m700. I've been considering the M1200's with a tube input. Have you heard these? Would you care to explain how the same or different the Atma-sphere may be vs the PS Audio monoblocks? 

williamdc
50 posts
 

@tinear123,

When you listed your system, it looked to me that the Atma-Sphere amps would be the best fit to replace your Crown-XLi-1500 bass amp. The Reference Compact cabinets in my experience respond well to the best amplification possible.

(I have a pair of BD-Design Reference Compact bass cabinets I built years ago -- they are in storage).

Although perhaps your configuration is such that it would be hard to replace the Crown for some reason? If not, you may want to try a swap.

Cheers.

 

 

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