Preamp for MA1 amp

The higher price would be for a fully optioned MP-1. I don't know all the details, but when I asked Ralph, he confirmed that the price for a fully optioned MP-1 would be nearly $12,000.

Depending on your interest in optimizing playback for vinyl, an interesting option is the new Aesthetix Io, MkII, phonostage. When you order the version with volume controls, the Io now includes a front panel switch for a second input. This is a high level input that connects ahead of the last gain stage prior to the volume control. A simple switch box plugged into this input would then accomodate multiple high level sources. It has no tape loop capability, though. And, in keeping with the Aesthetix philosphy, there are no additional switches in the circuit either - so no phase switch, mono switch, etc., etc.

Of course, as Wellfed points out, the Atma-Sphere MP-1 is very well-regarded by those who have acquired them, and all MP-1 and MP-3 owners I've talked to say there is an incredible synergy between the Atma-Sphere amplifiers and preamplifiers. A recent review of the MP-3 (younger sibling of the MP-1) can be found at enjoythemusic.com if you've not already seen it.

Hmmm..., I should have mentioned that I use an Atma-Sphere MA-2, Mk2.2, and I have made the commitment to purchase the Io MkII, but have not yet received it.

Wellfed, I did not mean to temper your enthusiasm and I apologize if I sounded that way. I know that my enthusiasm for the Atma-Sphere amplifiers knows no bounds! I wish more of us could hear the Atma-Sphere preamplifiers to discover what Ralph Karsten has been able to accomplish. Your opinion of these preamplifiers certainly matches the comments I have heard from quite a number of MP-1 and MP-3 owners.
Kindest regards,

Mike, you might want to look at the thread on Audio Asylum (see URL below) where Philip O'Hanlon tells of lending his Io to a friend who has an Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamplifier (next model up from the MP-3) and MA-1 amplifier. The friend so much preferred the phono stage of the Io that he has decided to sell the MP-1 and get an Io with volume controls and second switched input (eliminating any separate linestage). I spoke with Philip recently and he says plans are still in motion, but they are waiting for the soon-to-be released "Signature" version of the Io.

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/114498.html

Jkubina - I wish I could, but I don't know. I wrote to Ralph Karsten when I saw an MP-1 for sale being described as "fully optioned" with a retail price of $10,000 since this didn't match what I had seen previously about the MP-1. Ralph's reply was simply that the price for a fully optioned MP-1 would be nearly $12,000 and that the seller's asking price would be "a steal." He did not elaborate in his reply and I never pursued it.