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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
che13
springbok10
711 posts
 
For what it's worth, Ralph saved me over $5,000 by pointing out that the MP-1 and MA-2 are so well matched that he defied me to tell the difference between $100 Mogami Neglex i/cs and my very expensive Purist Dominus i/cs. I tried them and he was right. There was zero, zilch difference, so I sold the Dominus and am equally happy with the balanced Mogamis. You may want to try them. Obviously that does not apply to speaker cables. Just an FYI.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I use the same ICs, a bit cheaper than the Cardas I use with my other amps:) One really should take that into account with thinking about the price of the Atma-sphere gear. Rushton, I agree with you, I've not hear a better amp with my Merlins (very tube friendly).
jtimothya
612 posts
 
I did the Mogami Neglex w/ Neutriks experiment too, using a 20ft run between my MP-1 and MA-1s. The Mogami yielded better than expected results though it wasn't long before a 5m pair of Shunyata Antares went back in place. The Mogami's bass was potent with more weight, though less tonal articulation. Around 1kHz on up, notes were softer and the overall presentation more diffuse than I cared for. But those are my ears. In the midrange and on the value scale, Mogami made a strong case for itself.
 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 
Jtimothya, you might want to try that experiment again while using a 600-ohm termination at the input of the amplifier. The MA-2 is equipped with a switch that allows you to set that termination if the preamp supports it (the MP-1 does).

If there is no termination you may still hear differences in the cables. They go away with the termination- that is what it is for. This is how the recording studios have done it in past decades and is why you run into so many recording engineers that tell you that 'cables don't make a difference'. Its not because they don't have the resolution to hear it, its because they use low impedance terminations with their equipment.
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