Atmasphere Novacron MA1.5 amp with Merlin VSMSE

Sue Kraft(writes for Absolute Sound) has a pair
that she really likes.

Gorgeous amps. Best if you have space in between your speakers for amps to be displayed. If you can get these near 3k or less it would be a no-brainer. Check Atma-sphere web site for more info. I think they have a owners group discussion board.

hi m, the atmas are fantastic and are one of my very favorites!
not sure whether you know it or not but i also have two pairs of quad IIs which i have done work on myself. also a great amp but not quite as tonally neutral as the ma. i would suggest using a good tube pre with the either though. are you using a bam? if so, it should be buffered by the tube output section of a tube pre. it also has a capacitive input which is another reason to use it prior to the tube line output stage of a pre. you should also consider upgrading the speakers to the mme or mxe. that in itself would create a bigger and more important change than the amp upgrade would, imho.
regards,
bobby at merlin

Thanks for everyone's input.

Yes, Bobby I am using an older version of the AC non-battery bam. And of course I would love an upgrade of the speaker into mme or mmx, and I will talk to you again if I am ready to do the upgrade.

Talk about the pre-amp. should I look for a quad pre or any other recommendation?

thanks,
Michael

Atma-Sphere makes preamps, too, which happen to be especially good with their amps.

Sue Kraft's Novacrons differ from anything that came from the factory, but yes, she likes them. It was interesting to read her comments in a review she did of another brand of OTL amplifier several months ago.

hi michael,
your preamp selection really depends on the whether you will use the quads or go with the atmas. the atmas work best with an atma pre and the quads would probably sound best being fleshed out a hair if they are stock. there are a number a really fine pieces to choose from but getting the bam in front of a tube line output stage will do really wonderful things for your music as you will see (especially an older not battery unit).
the old quad pres were ss so you want to go with a unit that has a tube line output stage, not ss or a passive either.
call me and i'll give you a list to look at.
bobby