CLASS D MONO AMPS buy ATMASPHERE MUSIC SYSTEMS

Nothing on there web site as of yet. You must be in the know

Try google. It is on their facebook pace. Very tecknickel ;-)

Where did he get the amp if it's not even on the website? Is he a personal friend? 

He must I have a Bel Canto REF 501S that is not out yet and I know a guy…..that knows a guy and I got it from him. Chicago thing you know.

Where did he get the amp if it's not even on the website?

We're doing limited production and the product page isn't yet up.

Good on ya Ralph, the world needs more great music gear !

jim

Specs? Cost? Pics?

Ditto above post. When will they be available for sale, any product literature, any specs, pictures, posted on web site and at what price?  

A little more info. Monoblocks, about 11" x 13" x 3",15 pounds each; the power supply employs a conventional toroidal power transformer; 100w into 8, 200w into 4.

I know I am very interested and there seems to be a lot of great stuff being built in the State of Hockey. (MN)

yea am on verge of a possible amp change and if it happens it will be from Class D to Class D.  

Last I heard from A-S earlier this week, Class D mono block $5400/pr SRP.  I have a pre-production pair and it's the best amp I have owned by big margin. 

I agree with Ralph and two others (one an A-S dealer, the other not in the business) who are huge proponents of Ralph's OTL amps: the new Class D is a doppelganger for the M60 above the bass range.  This would be with the M60 driving a well-suited load, ca. 12-16 ohms, benign phase angles and moderate to high sensitivity.  The Class D has no such limitations and can drive a 2 ohm load.  

The qualifier "above the bass range" probably makes sense to anyone familiar with the unique bass presentation of A-S's OTL amps.

I would say that in some systems (dare I say most?) with a digital front end only, no vinyl, Ralph's Class D amps are very likely more refined than the digital gear IFO the amps.  I provide this warning consistent with Ivor Tiefenbrun's "Audio Hierarchy," warning against such system blending; the risk is that the more refined component more accurately reproduces the weakest links upstream, potentially sounding worse than less refined power amp.

I recently also purchased an MP-3 Mk 3.3 and will simply say that it is the most under rated, under the radar component I have ever heard.  My significant other's reaction upon hearing it was, "It's like driving over the Golden Gate Bridge at night."  It "takes the top off" the music like no other component I ever heard.  

My MP-3 replaced a superb DIY 5842 tube preamp with Magnequest output transformers, which outperformed a renown 300b preamp and also another highly regarded 6SN7 preamp.   

Hey @atmasphere  Glad to see these innovative models are now in production.

I wish you even greater success in the new year with them.

Best,

Erik

I wish you even greater success in the new year with them.

Thanks!

If you're making it Ralph, I will believe that it must be great. I feel a bit sad asking, but will you, like Bel Canto now discontinue or gradually phase out your tube based models?

I'll need a lot more than that to convince me to ditch my Hypex NC400's.

That's news for sure. Always thought Ralph was hard core tube! Very interesting though. 

Love stories like this!!!

Look forward to reading more about how people are responding to this.

So cool that a company that is known for its OTL tech is producing something using completely different tech and from the comments, excelling at it!!!

Looks like Ralph knows what he’s doing :)

Always happy to read about someone producing excellent gear. Especially someone who shares their very real knowledge so openly with us. And does so with such grace.

Hope it becomes a successful part of your product lineup and that it brings joy to those who are fortunate enough to be in possession of them!

I did a double take when I saw this.....would love to hear one

This cat's been out of the bag for a while. I think there's been talk of it here for about a year at least.

I’m confused… is the implication from the comments above that Ralph’s new GanFet class d could be easily mistaken as a tube amp with a great bottom end?

Found this: http://www.atma-sphere.com/en/classD.html

Image does not load but details if you scroll down.

Pics here:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/AtmaSphereMusicSystems/posts/

Nice,  Good luck with those Ralph, sounds like they could be a game changer.

@atmasphere ,

How exciting!

 I just joined your FB page so I can keep abreast of all your good news.😃

JD

Long time Class D fan here. My Ohms in particular love them. Looking forward to hearing more. Would love to compare to my current Class Ds. Been dragging my feet a bit with new amps waiting for more CLASS d GaN amps to come out.

Any pics of the innards yet?

Congratulations, Ralph. This is a great development.

It would be nice to have photos available to those who choose not to participate in Facebook/Instagram.

Congrats Ralph. This has been a long time simmering and now people can hear what you've wrought. The thought of your expertise devoted to making Class D sound great should have people beating a path to your door. I hope you're prepared for it. 😀

All the best,
Nonoise

Congratulations are definitely in order. I hope to get an opportunity to listen to them in the near future. I expect that they will sound excellent.

Finally something reasonably priced from Atma-Sphere... 😂

$5400/pr SRP = $598/pr USD   Something I can finally afford... Yippee!!

I am sure double the wattage will mean triple the price tag... in future products...😊 since it just made his tube amps obsolete... Looking forward to those discounted products!!

Congrats Ralph !!   I am sure it will put everything else to shame... again.

Yes, I long for a $3000 a pair amp that sounds as good. If Ralph’s amps were made by Kinki Studio they would be around $2500 the pair. Check out:

https://www.kinki-studio.com/ex-b7

The Kinki Studio amps are $3500 a pair and sound really good, twice as heavy, twice as powerful, way more parts and great build. Srajen, at 6 moons, uses these as his reference.....2 meg bandwidth.

Maybe when Ralph retires he can make a deal with Kinki or someone and have them cranked out in China....then more of us could enjoy this quality of sound. $5400 is nothing for some but for most audiophiles....still a lot of money. I’ve never bought anything that expensive.

In the meantime you have modded Purifi based amps, and stock or modded GaN amps from Orchard, LSA and Peachtree that are really great.....all way cheaper.

If these amps are better than much more expensive amps....then this is really good. However, a more powerful version has to be in the wings.....100 watts is just not enough for some speaker systems. I would go at least 300/600/1000 watts......of course, even more money ($10K?)......but, again, if they beat the big boys than great.

@ Ric

Please go away...your next post will let us all know that you have already modded an unreleased amp from Ralph. Everything is better...peace on Mars

The GaN stuff is pretty good. I have a Class D Audio for a secondary system and it comes pretty close my Purifi’s (Mivera). Built many DIY Hypex over the years (UcD, nCore).

BTW - Congrats Ralph. May need to try one (or two)....

I have been watching for this, half hoping that Ralph would conclude his class D effort couldn't play in the same league with hist tube OTLs, and half hoping that he was able to pull this off, thus giving us Atma-Sphere fans a wider selection of compatible speakers. 

I don't know how many times I've sworn I would never move on from my M-60's.   Now, maybe, I should be thinking about this.

Congratulations Ralph.

Every single person (including me) is necessary in this universe. No one needs to go away. If you do not like what I say.......remember.....when you point a finger at someone.....3 are pointing back at you.....it is all projection. What I try to project is love and respect towards everyone.....because I know that everyone is divine....worthy and deserving.

I doubt anyone would send me a $5400 amp to mod.....but I am open to it. Everything can be improved.

By the way, the Mytek Gan amps are still delayed....they have a 200 watt a channel $6K amp that may come out soon......so more things to try. It never ends.

I hope Ralph can crank out these babies soon so a lot of people can get great sound for not a fortune. Blessings to all.  Peace on Earth and especially in your heart.  Love is what we all came here for.  You create it anytime you like....you are in control.

This cat’s been out of the bag for a while. I think there’s been talk of it here for about a year at least.

Yep, Ralph himself has causally mentioned he was working on such.

100 watts is just not enough for some speaker systems. I would go at least 300/600/1000 watts

No need to if the amp has 4 ohm taps. And even it didn’t, if the speaker is rated at 4 ohms, you gotta a banger. Not to mention if you have efficient speakers 100 watts is plenty.

About class D amplifier current? I need to study up on that...How does class D amplifier current work? Is it dissimilar to class A and AB? Anyone?

200 watts into 4 will not drive Apogee speakers, Magnepans to great volume, various Wilson, etc. speakers.  There are no ohm taps on a transistor amp.  The output impedance on Ralphs amp is low......but the voltage/current it limited.  Works the same on class d and class A or A/B.  Purifi has a new module about to be released that has 40 amps of current instead of the 26 for its current model.  This will make it double from 250 watts at 8 ohm to 500 at 4 ohm and even puts out 900 watts into 2 ohms......now that will drive more speakers, for sure.  I am sure Ralph will do something similar.  Myself.....100 watts is plenty.  But I have easy to drive speakers.

I agree high power is necessary for low sensitivity loudspeakers speakers, I built the GR RESEARCH NX OTICA with Servo Woofers…which are 93db @ 8ohms…16hz-22khz in an open baffles design…I have servo set to high damping @ 20hz

Paired with the GR Research NX Otica and Servo Woofers…

Atmasphere Class D mono amps with 100 watts @ 8ohms are simply incredibly transparent and the most open soundstage I have ever had in all my audio journeys 

BTW I am using the Pass Labs XVR-1 that I upgraded with Polystyrene Capacitors

Thanks for Reading

In comparison to what or perhaps I should say...who?.

"Neutral", even without a demarcation from music’s fundamentals of timing, tonality and dynamics, for some, would be "less".

I’ve heard the otl amps and one of my favorite topologies. How does one achieve "more neutral" or are you not saying that?

Prototypes 

@dill - Thanks for posting the photos.

The Class D has no such limitations and can drive a 2 ohm load. Reference: @spkrplus

200 watts into 4 will not drive Apogee speakers, Magnepans to great volume, various Wilson, etc. speakers.

Thank you @ricevs and @tubeguy45 as you two have probably forgotten more than I will probably ever know about transistors, digital, open baffle, transformer and tube builds.

Last year I bought a one of a kind custom Clayton Audio M-200 pure class A stereo amplifier. It was built this way from the shop/factory with the extra heavy duty power supply like the one in the Clayton Audio M-200 mono amp and not a rebuild.

And I was told this thing can perform to a 2 ohm load without breaking a sweat, although you could cook an egg on it in the summertime! And it is rated at 200 watts at 8 ohms per channel and could power ANY speaker pair load. The 1KVA toroidal transformer in it has up to 160,000 microfarads of capacitance.

Since I’ve been on Agon for only about 5 years I’m still learning, so forgive me if I sometimes have to question what it is read here.

The Clayton dealer Al Kallik of Hi Fi Art in Canada who sold me this amp says it will power any set of speakers, and I tended to believe him at the time and Wilson Shen of Clayton Audio hadn’t told me any different.

Back to Ralph, compared to you I know nothing of this audio profession, but I thank you for ALWAYS taking the time to explain and teach in layman like terms to folks like me here.

How amazing it’s going to be for me and us to go on this new journey with you and your team. I know there will be ups and downs, haters and naysayers, but I know in the end you’re gonna have one fine class D amp that ANYONE can afford. Keep us informed of your progress.

I love my tube OTL to death (not an Atmasphere but from a highly respected design engineer) so if Atmasphere can engineer a Class D that sounds as good or better than a quality tube OTL, that would be AMAZING!

Ok. Never was tube guy...

I'm listening to my old UcD 700s with MiniDSP Dirac.  Not bad. Wish I could do it with my Purifi's (Mike....???)

Someone tell me that they have heard the new HiFi Rose RA180.  Hope it gets to the US later this year.

I think Ralph will be working on bigger Amplifiers in the Class D Domain at a later stage. Remember this is not using anyone else module but he designed it from ground up.

I love my tube OTL to death (not an Atmasphere but from a highly respected design engineer) so if Atmasphere can engineer a Class D that sounds as good or better than a quality tube OTL, that would be AMAZING!

@ltmandella maybe we can get @atmasphere to opine on whether (or how) one could bi-amp the class-D on the bottom (woofer) with your tube gear on MR/Tweeter?
(It is a fantasy of mine at least,)

I have heard many great things about Ralph’s gear.

There also seems to others doing some great work based upon those Class-D systems..,. So hopefully the high end market can allow for a few people doing bespoke gear to exist in respective geographic areas.

Are they all basing it off of the standard “Bruno parts”?
(with their respective additions and experience.)

[[ one could bi-amp the class-D on the bottom (woofer) with your tube gear on MR/Tweeter?]]

you are describing the topology of a system having sdd-on subwoofer I guess.

Anyone?Are they all basing it off of the standard “Bruno parts”?

@holmz No. The amp uses a module of our own design. I don't see why it could not be used in a bi-amped system.

will you, like Bel Canto now discontinue or gradually phase out your tube based models?

Its way to early to say. One big difference between our tube amps and the class D is the latter behaves as a voltage source with an output impedance of only a few milliOhms. Our tube amps are designed to be instead a power source, meant to work with speakers of higher impedance or speakers that aren’t voltage driven, like most ESLs. http://www.atma-sphere.com/en/resources-paradigms-in-amplifier-design.html

“I love my tube OTL to death (not an Atmasphere but from a highly respected design engineer) so if Atmasphere can engineer a Class D that sounds as good or better than a quality tube OTL, that would be AMAZING!”…ITMANDELLA

Well it is truly… Amazing as Atmasphere Music Systems new Class D mono amps have outperformed my MA-1 mk3.0 with NOS Tubes on the driver tubes in all areas…

FYI The OTL’s 1000watts of power at idle while the Class D only draws 10 watts at idle 

Thanks for Reading