Atma-Sphere Class D Mono blocks

[Republicoftexas69]

Wow how is it possible that the last active response to this thread was in feb 23?

This is big news, and a few noteworthy observations.

1. I find it pretty crazy and amazing that Ralph is throwing this Class D amp in the mix putting all his legacy work/tube amps at risk of being devalued. This says a lot about his intentions/belief on his new class D.

2. I find it also surprising that so many people are attacking the guy indirectly and directly when he has been nothing but a gentleman when responding. I do not know the guy but come on, give some basic tier respect.

3. Instead of constantly judging something new without listening to it first and speculating to no end, I am going to trial and pair and likely to keep them based on gut feel.

Looking forward to trialing them and updating here. My favorite piece of gear thus far are the playback design dacs, absolutely wonderful. I just got into them recent and I come from the head phone world transitioning into speaker world full on.

Ralph is a treasure and a real class act, a true gentlemen. Always willing to help.

 

[Hear Here]

I am going to trial and pair and likely to keep them based on gut feel.

Looking forward to trialing them and updating here.

I bought a pair of the these Class D amps that arrived 3 days ago, also entirely based on hearsay. Until they have a few hundred hours under their belt, I'll not be commenting in detail, although I've noticed one unfortunate but very minor problem. The power indicator lights are widely differing in intensity - one is too bright and the other much too bright. Ralph says they can easily be extinguished (a job for next week), but no indication as to how they can be equalised in brightness or reduced to a level that isn't distracting while listening in the evening.

Initial impression of sound quality though is good, but more to follow when burnt in and compared with my other excellent Class D amp using Purifi Eligentakt technology.

 

[Tuckers]

Ralph says they can easily be extinguished

My fixes for bright LEDs include using a black sharpie on them to reduce intensity, and cutting a small piece of electrical tape to fit the hole.

 

[F208Frank]

My fixes for bright LEDs include using a black sharpie on them to reduce intensity, and cutting a small piece of electrical tape to fit the hole.

This would bother me to no end. I really hope my set coming to me have equal light brightnesses or else I
would be very very bothered.

 

[Tuckers]

My set are perfectly matched.

 

[Tinear1]

I also did a demo in my home and thought his Class-D amp was quite good. While I am a SET 300B guy I also find it odd how people are hostile towards anything new.

 

[F208Frank]

I also did a demo in my home and thought his Class-D amp was quite good. While I am a SET 300B guy I also find it odd how people are hostile towards anything new.

Yes it was difficult reading the hostility. With that said I am excited to receive the amps and will update with honest impressions when I am ready to be fair once they are burned in fully.

 

[Gregadd]

Yes it was difficult reading the hostility. With that said I am excited to receive the amps and will update with honest impressions when I am ready to be "fair".

I am not hostile, just skeptical based on my experience. I would be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Kingrex]

Try a little piece oc cotton from a swab to dim the light. I find LED in all my equipment an annoyance.

 

[Hear Here]

This would bother me to no end. I really hope my set coming to me have equal light brightnesses or else I
would be very very bothered.

Are you getting the A-S amps to replace the AHB2? If so, I'm sure you'll find the new amps a huge improvement. I had the Benchmark in my system for a few months and found it dreaily dull compared with my previous SET amps. I then home demo'd about 10 other ss amps before choosing the NAD M33 above many more costly ones from Accuphase, Mark Levinson, Sugden, Lyngdorf and other less well-known brands. The Class D NAD was a breath of fresh air after the Benchmark, such that I wanted to turn up the volume, rather than turn it down.

We must compare notes as we will some both have new A-S amps! It will be much harder for me to decide which amp I prefer than it will to you, I suspect

 

[F208Frank]

Are you getting the A-S amps to replace the AHB2? If so, I'm sure you'll find the new amps a huge improvement. I had the Benchmark in my system for a few months and found it dreaily dull compared with my previous SET amps. I then home demo'd about 10 other ss amps before choosing the NAD M33 above many more costly ones from Accuphase, Mark Levinson, Sugden, Lyngdorf and other less well-known brands. The Class D NAD was a breath of fresh air after the Benchmark, such that I wanted to turn up the volume, rather than turn it down.

We must compare notes as we will some both have new A-S amps! It will be much harder for me to decide which amp I prefer than it will to you, I suspect

I used the AHB2 more so as a tool to judge the rest of my digital chain. Upon playing around with the digital stuff (dacs/streamers/etc) I realized how important they were. I used to think AMPS made the biggest difference, but have slowly realized the front end is equally if not more important. The benchmark as you know is a great amp in terms of telling you what the rest of the chain sounds like, probably poorly worded on my end but I am sure you understand what I mean. I never intended to keep the Benchmarks, I respect them as a company, and TRIED to want to keep it, but as you mentioned just a bit too sterile.

What I respect about Benchmark is that they probably know this and do not depart from that kind of sound, as they are proud to create gear in what they deem is in their own lane, flat/neutral/low noise/THX tech/extreme transparency/work bench tool type gear.

I recently sold my Riviera AIC-10 as I come from the headphone world, that item was a great headphone amp, but for my deville speakers, despite the speakers being efficient, I can feel that the speakers can use/appreciate more power. This is why I am in process searching for a dedicated speaker amp, rather than keep a headphone/speaker hybrid amp (Riviera AIC-10)

I am fully departing away from headphones so it no longer made sense to have an amp that does headphones really well and speakers so so well. To be fair, that AIC-10 did sound quite wonderful with the Devilles but when using ANY speaker amp with more power, I can tell the speakers appreciated it.

 

[Hear Here]

But what I respect about them even more is that they probably know this and do not depart from that kind of sound, as they are proud to create gear in what they deem is proper, flat/neutral/low noise/THX tech/work bench tool type gear.

I think that's right. They like to appeal to pro users who care more about 100% accuracy than getting enjoyment from the music they are listening to. I found much the same with studio monitor speakers used in the home - less than thrilling! I did like some of the AHB2's other features such as adjustable bias.

 

[F208Frank]

I think that's right. They like to appeal to pro users who care more about 100% accuracy than getting enjoyment from the music they are listening to. I found much the same with studio monitor speakers used in the home - less than thrilling! I did like some of the AHB2's other features such as adjustable bias.

Exactly, but as mentioned with all that said, I respect that company dearly, they are also very fairly priced and american made.

 

[Gregadd]

There's nothing like tube glow.

 

[F208Frank]

There's nothing like tube glow.

True. I do love tubes. I happen to also be those guys thats a little irked out that tube lifetimes slowly deterioting so class D new tech resonates with me. I am not saying the class D will necessarily sound better than the wonderful SET tube amps, but it does seem to be a reasonable compromise for people like myself. The beautiful thing about audio is that every1 makes their own compromises and do whatever they are comfortable with. I am excited to try the amps!

 

[Gregadd]

True. I do love tubes. I happen to also be those guys thats a little irked out that tube lifetimes slowly deterioting so class D new tech resonates with me. I am not saying the class D will necessarily sound better than the wonderful SET tube amps, but it does seem to be a reasonable compromise for people like myself. The beautiful thing about audio is that every1 makes their own compromises and do whatever they are comfortable with. I am excited to try the amps!

Careful. Ralph does not think it's a compromise.

I agree. If you think of the absolute sound as a dot in space, depending on your perspective you land on a certain spot. After awhile, you'll need to either move closer or change your angle. We can never reach that point, but we can improve our point of view.

 

[nquery]

1. You can buy light dimming led stickers on Amazon for $5 for 100 variations. I use silver ones on my Atma-sphere class D’s and other electronics because they are in my living room.

2. I moved from a Line Magnetic 805ia SET amp to the Atma-sphere class D’s and don’t miss it whatsoever. I leave them on 24x7 and they have performed flawlessly.

 

[F208Frank]

1. You can buy light dimming led stickers on Amazon for $5 for 100 variations. I use silver ones on my Atma-sphere class D’s and other electronics because they are in my living room.

2. I moved from a Line Magnetic 805ia SET amp to the Atma-sphere class D’s and don’t miss it whatsoever. I leave them on 24x7 and they have performed flawlessly.

Do you find it odd that people who use these class D amps, seem to have really really good gear everywhere else in the chain? I am just little shocked at how price competitive the class D amps are and how people throw them in really expensive chains. I mean, there are amps much much more expensive than these but people still consider these, that says a lot about them.

 

[Hear Here]

Do you find it odd that people who use these class D amps, seem to have really really good gear everywhere else in the chain? I am just little shocked at how price competitive the class D amps are and how people throw them in really expensive chains. I mean, there are amps much much more expensive than these but people still consider these, that says a lot about them.

Well if you have high quality kit, in particular speakers, and want it to sound its best, an open mind is probably the best way to find a first-class amp to buy.

After 15 years of using SETs with my Avantgarde speakers and wanting to listen to far more music per day, I looked round for an ss amp that would provide as good or better sound than the SETs. I bought (new or used) or borrowed a dozen contenders. I thought a Class A would win out, but the amp that impressed me most turned out to be Class D.

As you say, Class D is relatively inexpensive and when you look inside the case and compare the innards with an SET or costly A or AB amp, you realise that the Class D boards are small and their efficiency means a small power supply and little if any heat dissipation fins.

Why pay for all these costly features that run up high electricity bills when a Class D will be cheaper to buy and much cheaper to run. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the cost of a good Class D amp will be fully recouped within a few years by the lower electricity bill alone!

 

[Atmasphere]

The power indicator lights are widely differing in intensity - one is too bright and the other much too bright. Ralph says they can easily be extinguished (a job for next week), but no indication as to how they can be equalised in brightness or reduced to a level that isn't distracting while listening in the evening.

The LED will have to be replaced and in that regard replacing the LED board is probably the easiest way to do it. I should have mentioned that in our PM but got distracted.

If you think of the absolute sound as a dot in space, depending on your perspective you land on a certain spot. After awhile, you'll need to either move closer or change your angle. We can never reach that point, but we can improve our point of view.

I want it to image nicely, with depth easily portrayed. The speed and detail needs to be precise so the smaller things are easily heard. The tonal balance should be such that overall, the listening experience is to the music rather than the stereo. If its not involving its going to be a waste of money.