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

Showing 4 responses by mapman

It would be nice to run the two Atmas pieces together if the tube amp could handle the load on the Dyns, but I do not see how that would work. Assuming this, you'll need a SS amp, either the Krell or Pass, not sure which would be better though.
How does the # of tubes affect the ability to match the impedance curve?

If it can drive the big Dynaudios I'm thinking it could also drive larger Ohms. I have not heard where there is a tube amp out there that is a good fit prior though.
"One still needs to be cautious about the speaker's MINIMUM impedance (e.g., probably not less than the mid-3 ohms range) and still to seek speakers that have reasonably smooth impedance curves (no steep drops or spikes) without a lot of crazy phase shifts going on. "

The Dyn Confidence 5's meet this criteria?

I suppose the only way to know for sure how it will sound would be to try it and compare if possible without taking a loss if things did not pan out.

I understand how a lower output impedance opens up more possibilities regarding speaker matches, but I still wonder how to determine anything reliably up front in lieu of more detailed impedance curve info for a particular pair of speaks.