2. amps-preamps
  3. 159920-976

What is missing here?

In this months Absolute Sound magazine there is a nice review of an amp that many of us would probably consider based not only on the review but on the topology utilized with the amp. The amp in question is the new Air Tight ATM 300R. This amp utilizes the 300B tube and according to Dick Olsher " The Air tight ATM300-R wowed me with countless hours of listening pleasure. It consistently brought to life the full sonic promise of the 300B". Sounds amazing right??


Except, nowhere ( except in the specs section) does it mention that this amp is limited to 9Watts/Ch!! And at that it is putting out about 10% distortion! So not only is the amp severely limited to which speakers one can match it to, but those speakers had better be ULTRA high efficiency. While most experienced a’philes will expect the extremely severe limitations of this kind of max output, how many casual listeners who read this article will realize the extreme limitations that this amp comes with? Certainly none of that is mentioned in the review, which brings up the question...why not??? How many even somewhat seasoned a’philes have made the mistake of matching a flea powered amp with a less than favorable speaker load? Let’s hear about it....
128x128daveyf

Showing 1 response by billzame

billzame
69 posts
 
I would make a different point about the problem with the review.  I am not in the market for a low power amp or for $15,000 amp of any power.  The knowledge that this is a low power amp that costs $15,000 would very likely inform my decision about whether to read the review ... I shouldn't have to read to the end of a long review to find that out.  To make the point a little more sharply, suppose TAS were to publish a long and detailed amplifier review that ended with the sentence "Unfortunately, only 10 of these amplifiers were manufactured and they were all destroyed when the factory exploded."  Would't you feel sort of cheated that you had read an entire review of a non-existent product? 
[I guess this might be OK on April 1, but not in September.]
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