Good luck Che13, when the Atma can drive a speaker, they are pretty hard amps to beat. I most recently had the CAT JL2 and Pass XA30.5, both wonderful amps, but I kept the Atma-spheres -- of course, my speakers are a great match for the M60s.
Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 / Krell KSA 250 / Passlabs?
Good Evening Fellow Audio Heads!
I'm upgrading my amps (will be a big step up from my NAD S200) which I still love dearly.
The amps that I have the choice to purchase second hand are:
Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 - AUD $9000
Pass Labs X250.5 = AUD $6995
Krell KSA 250 = AUD $3000
Now the Krell and Atma-Sphere are class A. The Pass labs A/B. Front End will be a Atma-Sphere MP1 Mk3. Speakers are the unfriendly Dynaudio Confidence 5 (no intention of changing these lovely speakers)
Can you please advise your thoughts on what amp would sound best in this situation. Music Reggae / soul / female vocals. What amp listed is the best value? I would say either the Atma-Sphere or the Krell. I have only heard the Pass-Labs in person and that sounded nice and smooth. I like detail in my music.
Many thanks for all your help as it's impossible to do A/B comparisons.
Cheers
Che
I'm upgrading my amps (will be a big step up from my NAD S200) which I still love dearly.
The amps that I have the choice to purchase second hand are:
Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 - AUD $9000
Pass Labs X250.5 = AUD $6995
Krell KSA 250 = AUD $3000
Now the Krell and Atma-Sphere are class A. The Pass labs A/B. Front End will be a Atma-Sphere MP1 Mk3. Speakers are the unfriendly Dynaudio Confidence 5 (no intention of changing these lovely speakers)
Can you please advise your thoughts on what amp would sound best in this situation. Music Reggae / soul / female vocals. What amp listed is the best value? I would say either the Atma-Sphere or the Krell. I have only heard the Pass-Labs in person and that sounded nice and smooth. I like detail in my music.
Many thanks for all your help as it's impossible to do A/B comparisons.
Cheers
Che
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- 39 posts total
FWIW there is a general rule of thumb that you can follow regarding MA-2s and MA-1s. That is: if the speaker is known to work with tubes, it will be OK. IMO there is a myth that a speaker has to be 'OTL friendly' (for example in the case of the MA-2, Manaplanars are 'OTL friendly') before any OTL can drive that speaker. IME what is needed is more like a 'tube friendly' speaker. see http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html for more information. What you get from this is that a zero-feedback transformer-coupled tube amplifier, or a zero feedback **transistor** amplifier will have similar load requirements. |
- 39 posts total