Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

@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.

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

@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? 

@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.

@j-wall

Unfortunately, no I have not tried the PS M-1200 it would be severe overkill for my horn application as was the M-700. That being said I did hear it back to back with the PS-BHK300 on Wilson Sasha DAW and my preference was the M-1200. If you need the power might be a solution especially with the tube rollable input stage.

@williamdc

Funny you mentioned this as it was on my mind for this morning... I will say the cheapo Crown did spank the PS M-700 previously leaving me shocked. I was so sure the PS would crush the Crown that I dug out the Crown box from the attic before installing the M-700s... then 3 days later took the Crown box back to the attic and sold the M-700s.