Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

@holmz


I would have thought by now my point had been made.

Yes to both your questions.

No harm in using forums to learn of new gear. One needs to read critically and take the subjective opinions with a grain of salt. When it is all subjective opinion there isn’t much sense that can be made of it if you are a rational actor. Too many don't understand the difference between their subjective opinions and objective fact.

While these rules of thumb are helpful perhaps to people such as yourself designing amplifiers aimed at as broad a segment of the market as possible, they are not "laws" or universally applicable "truths" like the law of conservation of energy or the laws of thermodynamics. As a result, they can not be relied upon on to be an accurate predictor on an individual basis. Thus, the guy shelling out $5K for an amp would be best advised to trust his own perceptions and tastes and to listen to the amp in his system, in his room, to form his opinions rather than rely on the perceptions, tastes, and opinions of others.

Fletcher Munson is a bit more variable, but the masking principle isn't. Its what made MP3s possible. Also, how humans sense sound pressure does not change from individual to individual; generally, the higher ordered harmonics are used. This is really easy to demonstrate using simple test equipment.  Imagine a world where every individual used entirely different hearing perceptual rules! It would be a good basis for a scifi novel 😉

The patent involves the use of a Circlotron to reduce deadtime. If you are using GaNFETs, the inductive kick of the output filter coil is what really turns the device off (assuming the gate is already off); to allow that to happen a certain amount of deadtime has to exist. As it is there is still less deadtime in a GaNFET design as opposed to a MOSFET design.

Too many don't understand the difference between their subjective opinions and objective fact.

Being objective is a worthy struggle despite it being impossible.

FWIW we've done lots of comparisons and we have a lot of feedback from the field at this point- from a variety of customers that know our prior work. The feedback is surprisingly consistent, in the face of not knowing about any other feedback we've received.

I disagree with Ralph about tube guitar amps...they're not going away anytime soon, if ever. Note that serious pro guitar players generally start with a great tube amp in pretty much every case (exceptions for those who run "into the board" with effects...rare and generally sounding sort of processed), and add their personal pedal choices to the tube amp. Duke Levine (local Boston area guitar genius) describes his current rig in Vintage Guitar...he's touring with Bonnie Raitt...VOX AC30...I've known Duke for 20 years and every time I've either worked a show with him or simply seen him play he shows up with some of the coolest tube guitar amps on earth. Same thing with the brilliant Julian Lage...tiny 50's Fender tweeds like a Tweed Champ or some other little tube amp like a Magic. Brilliant sound...and no overdrive pedals for Julian.

I considered Ralph's D monos when I bought my Pass XA-25 but the Ralph amps (that's what they're called, right?) weren't available yet so I had no idea what they were going to cost...now I'm so disturbingly enamored with the Pass amp I'm hard to nudge away from it...I'd still like to hear the Ralphs sometime...maybe a lower powered stereo amp? Loaned to me? heh heh...

@wolf_garcia The smaller guitar amps will hang around for a while because they are low enough power that its practical to overdrive them. But the bigger stuff like 100 Watt Marshals are likely threatened, if someone can put a class D amp out there that's worth listening to. The weight is a big variable here. 

The OP has not been very clear as to whether Ralph suggested that he post his impressions. Ralph has a new product and he needs to get some attention over it. Even if not, it is pretty abundantly clear that the OP is already a fan of Atma-Sphere and is far from neutral. It is exceedingly rare for someone to go nuts over the sound of an amp. Amps have a subtle affect on overall sound, and there has never been an amp and likely will never be an amp that "bowls one over" immediately with sound from the heavens. I believe that amps are critically important to overall SQ but it takes months of living with an amp to assess it's character and attributes. So despite the silliness in this thread over non-related matters the circumspection is not surprising. 

And then we come to digital amps as a category. They are insanely cheap to manufacture as has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread. To my mind, a digital amp is a switching power supply built to drive loudspeakers. If there is a simpler way to harness power from the wall directly to the pre-recorded sound signal it has not yet been invented. Ralph has acknowledged that the box-a plain vanilla box at that-is the major parts cost of this product. When the best switching power supplies sound better than the best linear power supplies I will likewise believe that the best digital amps sound better than the best conventional Class A/Class A/B ss and tubed amps. 

Ironically enough, the discussion is still about distortion-that this digital amp has less of it. Here we go again-the old fallacy that the lack of distortion means more faithful sound reproduction. Loudspeakers are the number one producer of distortion. Distortion needs to be embraced, not made the focus of elimination. Even the power in the wall contains distortion. Harnessing raw power from the wall is not the answer. I wish Charles Hansen and Tim De Paravicini were alive to lend their voices to this discussion. I wish Nelson Pass would join. 

In summary, I have no doubt this amp sounds fine. Very fine. Just the same, it is bound to have sonic virtues and faults like any other amp. It won't make your grass greener, your hair thicker, or give you greater stamina in the bedroom.