Atma-sphere S-30 with Reference 3A?

I used an S-30 with the deCapo for about 2 years and it worked very well. The deCapo has a wonderful mid band and the S-30 shows that to great effect. But, but, but...

the speaker has no deep bass and is a bit lean up into the mid-bass, Notwithstanding Duke's observation, above, IME the S-30 will do nothing to ameliorate that. The tonal balance of the speaker was pretty consistent with all of the amps I paired it with, but struck me as "even more evident" when paired with the S-30.

Good Luck,

Marty

If memmory serves, I believe that the speaker has a relatively benign impedence curve (I investigated the question when I bought them - more than a few years ago). I suspect that the problem with the S-30 may be more a simple lack of grunt. I'm no headbanger, but as spl went up (to modestly loud levels), the S-30 sounded thinner on bottom with the deCapo.
There were 2 reasons I ultimately sold the amp:

The first was that it worked best with horns (Zingali in my case) and I chose to keep my Cary 300b monos for that application.

The second was that IMHO the deCapos were skillfully designed to present a natural octave to octave balance - the low end limitations were matched with a slightly rolled top. (I always felt that they were a great dynamic alternative to Quads). In the end, those limitations were more than I cared for so I sold both amp and speaker. But the main point is, I don't think any amp is likely to change this basic characteristic of the deCapo.

Marty

Atma,

Funny you should mention the Merlins. I also used my S-30 with the old VSM SE and had an almost identical experience as with the deCapo - the inherent lean quality of the speaker was emphasized. OTOH, I sorta wish I would have waited on the sale of the S-30 until I had my VSMs upgraded (unfortunately the S-30 was gone by then. ) The new VSMs have a significantly richer balance through the mid-bass and I'd love to hear the current VSM/S-30 combo.

Atma, I'd also note that the deCapo/S-30 actually worked well in that the speaker didn't tax the amp beyond its capabilities until somewhat higher spls were required. My observation on the leaness of the deCapo remaining quite evident via the S-30 was more a response to Duke's post implying that the match might mask the issue - in my application it did not.

FWIW, I'm not surprised that you got some great feedback from your customers who used the deCapo/S-30 combo: As I noted it kinda reminded me of Quads and there are many who'd take that as pretty high praise, indeed. Just not my personal cup of tea.

BTW, I expect that most folks who use the amp for its original intended application -SET world -will find few faults. I just walked away guessing that higher output amps -perhaps your 60w monos - would be a better match for the deCapos.

Marty

I believe that mine was among the very first you guys shipped. If I recall correctly, it was supposed to be the first disply/demo for your dealer in Venice, Ca. I happened to be in the shop when it arrived and -after a brief look & listen - the unit left with me.

No surprise on the M60s or MA1s with the VSM MX (how's that for alphabet soup?). As I indicated from the outset, my suspicion is that the S-30 has inadequate OTL output for most loudspeakers (other than horns, etc). Your amps don't have this issue.

Marty

I should have noted that the above comment on limted output of the S-30 and the associated bass response on most loudspeakers may be specific to early production S-30s, like mine.

Marty