Atma Sphere S30 amp

Weebeesdad, how that seems to work is that if the amp does not work with the speaker due to impedance, its a moot point as to the effect the ZERO has, and in practice it does quite well.

The gray area is in dealing with speakers that are right on the fence impedance-wise. Sometimes you are better off without.

Weebeesdad, in my opinion if the impedance stays above 7 ohms or so and is smooth (no big impedance peaks above the bass region), the S-30 is often still a strong contender. The S-30 will deliver increased power into an impedance peak, which is why you don't want such a peak in the midrange region. Now if a speaker does have a single impedance peak in the midrange but is otherwise a good candidate for the S-30 (no nasty impedance dips and decent efficiency), it some cases it is possible to design a circuit that equalizes that impedance peak. I did that for someone with upper-80's efficient monitors that stay above 6 ohms and he was pretty happy with the result. Contact me if you'd like a link to some online comments he posted.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

I replaced the 6sn7 tubes with Raytheons flat plates, Sylvania BB/Sylvania GTA. I tried the RCA Smoked glass GT but lost the soul and texture of the music. Maybe for you but not for me with the RCA GT.

Well these tube from Absolutetubes (Jim Sautter) have taken me for a great ride. Somehow I got lucky and picked the right combo of tubes to give me the sound I want.

This amp is much better now with these tubes in place than the AA PX25. The demo PX25 amp got me to think that the RWA amps were not the best amps for my system. Wow, am I a happy camper.

Thanks again to 57 for his time/wisdom in helping me buy this amp.

Here comes the Dude!!!!!!!

It's always great to read about someone trying out Atma-sphere gear for the first time. I went from user to NYC dealer.

My journey with Atma gear has been over twenty years. I like to think what they do best is not necessarily a frequency thing or a staging thing, nor are they warm, or for that matter cool. I just always felt they gave a tremendous amount of shear musical gestalt - that quality of vitality that imbues recorded music with the essence of the performer that got me closer than anything else I listened to, tube or SS, in my system or others I have heard.

It's true I have heard some other amazing systems, but the gear sells for many many multiples of what Atma sells for.

Absolutely try the Zero's . You can get them on a trial basis I think.

Having used them on a number of speakers, the Zero's can make things better on 8 ohm and under speakers, especially if the bass seems a little uncontrolled. If there is no benefit you'll hear it, but I'd suggest having a set around just so you could try your OTL's with other speakers at friends, stores, etc. Especially as the S-30 is compact compared to my MA-1's.

You can get the OTL to work well with almost any speaker using Zero's to get to the optimum impedance.

Also there is an amazing synergy between their amps and pre's if you get a chance to borrow one.

The latest versions of both the amps and the preamps have elevated the gear to that afore mentioned echelon. Ralph Karsten's continued discoveries in Vacuum tube circuits has now created (with the M-60's and above with an Atma pre) I believe, "set for life components."

Anyone (save for those that just truly enjoy playing with electronics rather than playing music,) can now rest assured that they are getting such a high degree of realism and enjoyment, that any further desired upgrades in sonics are really now about tube rolling, ac cords and conditioning, cables (and a few other things I've discovered), and about the other gear in one's system, not their electronics.

Not that I'm changing, but there is a possibilty that some of this thread would have some opinions on the differences between Atma-sphere and Joule OTL amplfiers (I do own a Joule and Atma-sphere preamp).