Upgrade from Revival Atalante 5s
I'm currently in a situation where I can purchase new speakers to replace the Atalante 5s or I can just keep them where they are and spend money upgrading the components. Overall I've been impressed by them and haven't come across another speaker that I would really want over them. I think they do a really good job with soundstage and vocals. I hope to hear more speakers next year but I'm curious if others have compared the 5s with other speakers and which speaker could replace it.
Current chain - Holo Red -> Directstream MK2 -> Galion TS A20 -> Atalante 5
Thanks!
The sound from your Galion TS A20 amplifier may be as good as the company's web page exults. Still, it is a 20 watt amplifier. Despite my experience that a low-power class A amplifier drives speakers well beyond the limits you'd think from the specs, the Atalante 5 more or less signifies the limit. That is, other candidate speakers are "horizontal" replacements for them, like some of the Spendor Classic models.
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@driftingbunnies , I agree with charles7... I own the Atalante 5s. I've run into something similar. When paired with a Class A Luxman L-590axii, they sound very good but not amazing. This has been vexing as they sounded better with a Marantz PM KI Ruby integrated. My sense is the Ruby has far more power to get underneath those drivers. My Lux is 30w Class A. Not too dissimilar from your Galion Class A. |
@driftingbunnies , I ended up moving some stuff around--substituting in a Lumin T3 streamer/DAC, and a modwright 150 reference phono stage. It appears the Luxman likes to show weaknesses in other gear! It sounds much better now. Still, I could use some extra wattage. |
A recent review mentions that the A5s are indeed amplifier sensitive. He tried 3 different amplifiers and was kappy with the sound of only one. This mirrors my experience hearing them at AXPONA using a very good push pull tube amp. They demoed some dynamic rock and it was obvious that the bass was losing steam at higher show level volume and the sound was choked. However when playing some horn based jazz the midrange was full and super dynamic. I would recommend a heavy class AB amp with big power supply transformers and cap banks with power that doubles at 4ohm loads. A McIntosh or Pass for example. |
