Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing
Today I picked up my Atma-Sphere Class D Amps. These aren’t broken in yet. And they are simply amazing. I’ve listen to a lot of High End Class D. Some that cost many times what Atma-Sphere Class D costs. I wasn’t a fan of any of them. But these amps are amazing. I really expected to hate them. So my expectations were low. The Details are of what I’ve never heard from any other amps. They are extremely neutral. To say the realism is is extremely good is a gross understatement. They are so transparent it’s scary. These amps just grab you and suck you into the music. After I live with them some and get them broken in. And do some comparisons to some other high end Amps Solid State, Tubes and Class D’s, also in other systems I’ll do a more comprehensive review. But for now, these are simply amazing amps.. Congrats to Ralph and his team. You guys nailed on these.
@celander what are the limitations in the modules? |
@avanti1960 Just go to Atma-Sphere.com and click on dealers, pick one close to you and call them or see if they have ordering on their website. |
@pstores Have you had time to compare the Class D monos to your MA-1s or other amps?
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No way would I ever leave my kit on if I am not listening. A Black Swan risk, one which is very irresponsible to do. |
I do the same @mrdecibel for the same reasons. |
@milpai That probably depends on the tube preamp. I don't leave any of my equipment on all the time, except my DAC. |
More people using these amps over here too https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/atma-sphere-class-d-mono-blocks.34493/ |
My tube-pre mutes for ~90 seconds on power up and mutes, with a few seconds of delay, before powering off. The whole “leave it on” stuff is something I hear about all the time, but have never experienced as a sonic bloom of rainbows and unicorns.
But I do leave on the Ayiama and NAD gear that is doing HT… mostly because it is easier for the Haus-boss. And I would have no issue leaving on the Atmasphere Class-D for convenience sake, but I would not be doing it for sonic benefits. |
After waiting 12 months for a Decware Zen 25th Anniversary amp, and at least another 6 months wait time left, and my Willsenton R8 red-plating on me after only 10 months of use (with upgraded Psvane EL34's) I decided to put my order in for a pair of AtmaSphere Class D's today. I LOVE tubes, I love how they sound, how they look, and the history and science behind them is fascinating to me. I just don't like living with something that takes 30-60 minutes to warm up before it sounds it's best, how I have to manually bias them a couple times a month, how their sound is always slowly degrading over time and must be replaced every few years, how dangerous it is to accidentally leave them on, etc., etc. I may eat my words and go back to tubes when the Decware finally arrives, but for now I'm ready for a change. |
These same attributes are true of humans past the age of 60. Though I hate bad grammar, "you pays your dollars and you picks your poisons". Some people go their entire life driving-in my estimation-boring Hondas and Subaru's because they're highly rated by Consumer Reports. They have so much understeer that they can't handle a hairpin at any speed. Others drive unreliable vintage Triumphs and Jaguars because they are more fun to drive. And there is everything in between. I'm a VW GTI guy myself. Farfegnugen-or as the hillbillies thought- F#@k-en-grooven). |
Wow, you have patience so far beyond my ability to comprehend. I have waited a couple months for speakers… but, a couple weeks I usually find frustrating. If I had to wait a year, I would be able to afford a unit a couple times better, and would have bought it.
Good for you, what discipline. On the other hand, I have something like 40 tubes in ,y system and warm up is about four minutes. No problems for thousands of hours. |
Thanks for the compliment brother. At the rate Decware is pushing their gear out the door I figure I've got another 6 months. I'm sure they're well worth the wait. I just thought, why not listen to a few other contenders until that fateful day arrives. I got a fantastic price on the AtmaSpheres and figured if it doesn't work out I'm sure I can sell it without taking a loss. Same goes for the Decware. As of this minute there are 2,013 people waiting for their bespoke piece of gear to ship. I'm sure I could find a buyer in about 2.3 minutes. That's how many watts it has btw. |
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After about 6 months of owning both the Class D Monos and my Pass XA30.8, I've finally settled on an amp, and recently listed my Pass. I love the Pass but the two are so similar sounding to me, with a few minor weakness/strengths relative to each other that I consider it overall pretty even in my system at least. My primary goal from leaving Pass was to get similar sound but without the weight and most important the heat generation in my listening room with no AC, and these monos fit the bill! I've never heard Dartzeel but the differences this listener mentioned over on the WhatsBestForum between the Class D monos and the Dartzeel are very similar to my thoughts between them and my Pass.
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Thanks for your opinion.
I am auditioning Orchard Starkrimson D amp right now which sounds pretty good at reasonable price.
Unfortunately, I can not compare between Starkrimson and Atma D since there is no dealer of Atma D around Seattle area.
Thomas |
@mglik , you may need more time to give a final judgement. Do you have now both, Atmasphere and AGD monos, which AGDs? The most transparent sound i have ever heard comes from my 5 watts SET tube amp. So i don't think that transparency is a distinguished feature of solid state amps. Do you perceive that AGDs are less harsh and more open? Thanks |
@fredag 100W with 8Ω, 200 with 4Ω. Current limit protection will kick in with lower impedance loads- as long as not to full power the amp will double its output power, but will reach its protection limit at about 250 Watts. |
@atmasphere Thanks! How about balanced operation. I understand the amp is not balanced/differential....can it be made with class D? (not ONLY balanced imput) |
@fredag They have a balanced differential input (and RCA inputs are provided too). I run them balanced at home. |
@atmasphere Great! I use only balanced cables at home. The other part of the question....can they be made differential from INPUT to OUTPUT, as many conventional SSs are (ML, Pass,Moon, etc)? Is there a point? |
Things are a bit different when you’re employing switching technology, but FWIW the comparitor (which is at the heart of any class D amp) we use is a balanced device. The reason to go fully differential (we’ve been doing that with our tube amps longer than anyone else as far as I can make out, since the mid 1980s) is to reduce distortion and noise. The distortion sources in a class D amplifier are very different from what you encounter in regular non-switching circuits. So the need isn’t the same. |
Loving my Gold Note PA-10 hybrid class A-D GaN but still listen to my tube amps also. A class D GaN mosfet nobody seems to have on their radar. Brawn and brains: Gold Note’s PA-10 power amplifier | Darko.Audio |
Can you comment on the fullness and tonal richness of the A-S Class D amps in your system? So many of the new generation of Class D amps (whether GanFET or MOSFET) receive praise for their resolution but are rarely described as outstanding in terms of warmth, smoothness, and richness of tone. I'm thinking of the naturalness and realism of voice and stringed instruments (especially guitars and upright bass) that emphasis tonal quality in the midrange and bass. My personal tastes value tonal balance over high-frequency pyrotechnics, but not everyone shares my tastes. Thanks for any further thoughts based on your extended experience with the A-S Class D amps. |
@sdl4 There is a review in this month's (June 2023) HiFi+ magazine. The reviewer had given us a very nice review of our M-60 triode OTLs about 2 years ago. He does make some comments of comparison. In both cases he was using the DeVore O96s. |
@atmasphere Thanks for letting me know about the HiFi+ review. I was able to track it down, and it presents a very positive view of the sound quality of the A-S Class D amps. Going forward, these monoblocks will be high on my list of amps I'd like to audition in my home system. Are you still planning to build a version with somewhat higher power output? |
I hope Atma-sphere are successful with the new class D amps. This is certainly well-deserved. I love my MA-1 amps, and have learned to live with them, using NOS tubes, turn them off after listening, and so on. The best advice I got from Ralph was to match them with optimal speakers. Is this the case with the new class D amps too? Before the MA-1s, I had the huge Krell FPB600, and was told that it could drive "anything". That wasn't quite true, however. |
Yes, but I think it is more evident with tube amps than with s-state? The MA-1s can sound ok with 4 ohm (maybe), quite good with 8 ohm, but to know what they are really capable of, you need to go up - my speakers are 16 ohms, staying between 13 and 17 ohms above the bass impedance peaks, with efficiency: 92 dB/1 watt. |
We started with 100 W into 8 Ohms, 200 into 4 simply because if you really need more power than that your speaker is impractical. The exception seems to be ESLs like the Sound Lab, which are easy to drive in that they don't need an exceptional amount of power, but challenge solid state amps because the bass impedance is so high (30 Ohms). We would like to make a more powerful amp, but to be noticeably more powerful than what we have already, it would have to be 600-800 Watts at least. This is simply because of the logarithmic character of the ear, which is why deciBels are used to measure sound pressure. This kind of power won't be possible with the existing module. As always, the challenge will be to keep distortion down and keep it benign.
Yes. Regardless of the amplifier though, its distortion will always be higher driving a lower impedance. For this reason, if sound quality is your goal your amplifier investment dollar will be best served by a higher impedance speaker, all other things being equal (which of course they never are...). However the class D seems to do nicely on lower impedances. Our local dealer likes how they drive the Magnaplanars in his store.
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Would these amps drive higher impedance loads easily? Let’s say Classic Audio Loudspeakers. I know only a handful of folks to include myself and Atmasphere who own T.1 series of the Classic Audio Loudspeakers. I own the T1.5s. These are often mated with the OTL Novacrons. I drive mine with McIntosh MC2301. Wondering if the new class Ds have been tested with higher impedance loads such as the Classic Audio Loudspeakers. Considering another set of amps to add to the setup, not replace anything. |
