I think you are right. While the Air Tight is not an OTL design, it sports two very large handmade output transformers, I believe the amp was clipping. Last night I had an extended listening session at low to almost moderate volume level- no louder than 5 or 6 people in a conversation, and the sound was nothing like my other experiences. I have a pretty large room 17 x 23 with an A frame 18' ceiling. With the volume control set between 7:00-8:00 o'clock the sound is liquid, smooth and detailed. As soon as I hit 8:30 the propblems start and at 9:00 I am taxing the amp to the point where the sound suffers. Keep in mind that the amp has its own gain control, which I may have set too high giving the preamp little head room. The equipment is great and I seem to be the only person who has noticed this problem with power.
Be careful what you wish for ...an upgrade that...
...wasn't
My old system consisted of a Linn LP12/Ekos/ArkivB/Lingo/Linto
Linn Ikemi
Harmonic Tech Magic Link/Magic Woofer
Sony SACD-1
Avalon Opus
Pass X1
Pass X250
Everything was fine - the Pass stuff was new- having recently upgraded from Rowland- until I listened to my friend's system - It was magical- all the detail and quiet of the Pass, with the musicality of Naim. He was using a VAC signature preamp and VAC 70/70 Renaissance.
I decided to finally take the plunge into tubes. I got rid of the Pass stuff, and replaced it with an Air Tight ATC-1 line stage and ATM2 KT88 based amp.
The result- LPs sounded much better- CD sounds much worse. First I sold the Ikemi- it sounded hard on top with the Air Tight stuff- but I cannot find a suitable replacement.
Now I am listening lesss and less to LPs. The system, while on the one hand more transparent and visceral- on the other hand has become harder in the 2-3k range with sibilance on vocals and definite loss of air- I'm tempted to go back to the Pass stuff- but lost a fortune selling the new Pass stuff to buy new Air Tight- I'm even tempted to chuck it all and buy a small all Naim series 5 set up with a small Pair of ProAcs or Spendors.
What happened?
Can anyone shed light on what I can do to get the "magic" back into the system? Separately they are great components- I have heard the Air Tight used my Avalons without any of these unpleasant artifacts ...
Please make suggestions......
My old system consisted of a Linn LP12/Ekos/ArkivB/Lingo/Linto
Linn Ikemi
Harmonic Tech Magic Link/Magic Woofer
Sony SACD-1
Avalon Opus
Pass X1
Pass X250
Everything was fine - the Pass stuff was new- having recently upgraded from Rowland- until I listened to my friend's system - It was magical- all the detail and quiet of the Pass, with the musicality of Naim. He was using a VAC signature preamp and VAC 70/70 Renaissance.
I decided to finally take the plunge into tubes. I got rid of the Pass stuff, and replaced it with an Air Tight ATC-1 line stage and ATM2 KT88 based amp.
The result- LPs sounded much better- CD sounds much worse. First I sold the Ikemi- it sounded hard on top with the Air Tight stuff- but I cannot find a suitable replacement.
Now I am listening lesss and less to LPs. The system, while on the one hand more transparent and visceral- on the other hand has become harder in the 2-3k range with sibilance on vocals and definite loss of air- I'm tempted to go back to the Pass stuff- but lost a fortune selling the new Pass stuff to buy new Air Tight- I'm even tempted to chuck it all and buy a small all Naim series 5 set up with a small Pair of ProAcs or Spendors.
What happened?
Can anyone shed light on what I can do to get the "magic" back into the system? Separately they are great components- I have heard the Air Tight used my Avalons without any of these unpleasant artifacts ...
Please make suggestions......