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Atma-Sphere S-30 MK3


To Atma owners and gurus;

I've just recently jumped on the Atma wagon and I must say that so far this has been the single most eye & ear opening amplifier experience in my entire audio life of almost 28 years.

The S-30mk3 has been residing in my rig for close to 4 months now and is still breaking in, but should be almost done anytime soon.

I do however complain of an un-natural tonality in general that comes and goes during the break-in period and which was also very clear from the beginning. This is also accompanied by a certain 'hardness'..much like looking directly into sunlight as opposed to looking through a pair of poloroids..This issue is really bugging me and was wondering if it's part of the break-in process of Atmasphere amps in general, as I have never experienced it with other amps, tube or SS..

This aside, the amp seems to be taking forever to break-in..!!! But, it certainly looks to be my holy grail in amplification.

Along the way, I replaced the stock Chinese 6SN7's with EH's and now settled on Tung-Sol's. The latter being the best sounding of the lot. I do wanna stick to current production tubes as much as possible. Don't wanna go on the NOS merry-go-round..:-)

The S-30 is driving a pair of Tannoy Edinburgh's, from the Tannoy Prestige Series, to wonderful effect and the sound is heavenly! Preamp is a BAT VK-3iX Special Edition and is also a very good sonic match with the S-30..

Appreciate any input and of course any advice from the Atmasphere gurus and lovers here..!

TIA

AudioGrails
128x128audiograils
emailists
923 posts
 
This year I took possession of new MA1 MKIII's (having lived with the original MA-1's for 17 years)

I did not notice much of a break in. The difference from the (very) old to the new was evident immediately.

I also didn't notice hot and cold listening sessions, if I'm understanding you correctly.

The one thought that comes to mind is that perhaps the S-30 is slightly underpowered for your setup, which could account for the "hardness" you mentioned.

I see the Tannoy is 94db so they are pretty efficient (and 8 ohms, which is good for OTL's), however Tannoy rates 50-300 watts as the range? I'm just guessing here - maybe you are not driving the amps hard at all?

Also I suggest getting premium fuses (I use Hi FI Tuning).
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
Over the past 4 years I've had new S-30, M-60, and MA-1 amps here and experienced very little, if any, changes from the first time they were fired up to months later.

I suggest your ears were acclimating to the sonics and different presentation of an OTL amplifier.

Dealer disclaimer
trcnetmsncom
431 posts
 
Hello Audiograils,

Whew! I was beginning to think I was the only one out there who heard the same thing as you concerning the Atma-Sphere amps. My experience was in particular with the latest generation A-S MA2 amps.

Yes, I also found the treble attack as having a unnatural glare or bite. I also felt that texture of tone overall was lacking density and body, I heard it as being on the thin side of what I perceive as natural or neutral. In the thread I also used similar words " like looking directly into the sun" to describe this unnatural hardness in the treble.

If you haven't already, may I suggest that you read the thread because I was alone in my opinion. The thread is entitled "Atma-Sphere MA-1 amps".
the link: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1217516876

I hope it turns out to be just a burn-in issue for you as I know in my experience I find certain aspects of performance of the A-S amps to be .... truly one of a kind.

Best,
Tom
jb0194
476 posts
 
My Atma "resume": I'd used M-60s for a few years and upgraded to MA-1s almost a year ago.

Does the "hardness" occur at at both modest and loud volumes? Has it "been there" and "not" on the same recordings, but during different listening sessions?

Bill's comment about an OTL amps's "different presentation" likely gets to the heart of the matter, especially as this hardness manifests inconsistently. Atma-Sphere amps don't run with the herd. Transparency/accurate tonality and clarity are their strong suit, yet no amp is perfect in all qualities.

I've no experience with the M30, but compatible loudspeaker matching likely is more challenging given the lower power, as Emailists suggests. The overall "flatness" of your loudspeakers' impedance curve can also influence sonics when using OTLs. The power factor may manifest at higher volumes or with uncompressed and very dynamic recordings. The effect of unfavorable loudspeaker impedance peaks may be more evident on some recordings than others, as it would be frequency-related. But this is just my very speculative 2 cents...
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