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Atma-Sphere amps with Eggleston Andra II's

I own a pair of Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3 OTL monoblocks that are probably the one part of my system that will staying put for a long, long time. Currently, speakers are Dynaudio Confidence C2's. Preamp is an Atma-Sphere MP1 MkIII.

I'm looking to change/upgrade my speakers. As good as the C2's are, i.e., extremely coherent, very natural and detailed, nonfatiguing, they certainly don't have much "slam" factor. Now, I mostly listen to classical, jazz, and female vocals at moderate levels, but once in awhile still throw on some Cream, ZZ Top, Seger, ELP or whatever that demands some volume and presence in the low frequencies. I have been reading that the Andra II's can provide most, if not all, of the C2's traits but also add the missing lower octave and slam.

My question to Andra II owners is this: will 220 watts of OTL power drive the Andra II's properly? The MA2's can handle 4 ohm loads without difficulty as long as there are no crazy phase shifts. I am mainly concerned about running my amps dry.

TIA.

Bill
billspecfoc

Showing 1 response by rushton

rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
As an MA-2 owner, I've been quietly reading this thread because I've never heard the MA-2s with the Andra IIs and they may well not be a good match with this particular speaker. However, unlike typical OTL amps, the MA-2s are designed with a low impedance output and are incredibly versatile in the speakers loads they will drive exceptionally well, and with tremendous bass authority.

For example, they have proven to be a great match with Avalon Eidolons (4 ohm nominal load, 3.6 ohm minimum) and with the Magnegpan 3.6 (which will challenge many amps).

I'm not trying to suggest they would be a good match to the Andras, but some very broad statements have been made here that might lead some to think that the Atma-Sphere MA-2s would not be a good match with lower impedance speakers across the board, and this is demonstrably not the case.
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