Demo Atmasphere's Class D Amps at Audioconnection

[GdnrBob]

I want to set up a date to audition the Atma Class D amps at Audioconnection (Verona, NJ) in the near future and would like to have as many ears as possible.

If you are interested, PM me. I want to set up a date, probably early afternoon, that doesn't conflict with John Rutan's business.

So, it will probably be during the week.

Bob

[ctsooner]

If I can make it, I'll attend.  Just a lot of things going on at the home front, so not sure I'll be able to free up a day.  I'll try like heck though.

[GdnrBob]

Great Peter!

I have one other member that wants to go, too.

B

[nymarty]

I want to thank @GdnrBob for the invite to hang out with him and and John Rutan for a fun Friday afternoon at Audio Connection.  It was great meeting Bob in person and always great to talk to John and get his thoughts and advice on gear and setup.   We first listened to the 1c’s, comparing Bob’s class D Atmasphere monoblocks to the Belles Aria monoblocks.  I’ll let Bob and John share their own thoughts, but I thought the Belles were more natural and dynamic.  That said the Atmasphere was very good and the differences were slight. We then moved to the Treo’s and compared the Atmasphere to the Belles Dual Mono Integrated.  The Belles was also the preamp for the Atmasphere amps.  Again, I preferred the Belles. The Atmas provided  a more controlled bass note but overall was slightly darker sounding than the Belles and not as dynamic.   We then moved to listening to Quattros on Ayre (AX-5 Twenty and QX-5 Twenty) and that was pretty magical.  
John then upped the magic by adding an Innuous PhoenixNet between the Ethernet cable and the QX-5 and wow..  I’m not much of a believer in audiophile network switches but this changed my mind.  Impressive piece of gear to make the Ayre gear sound better.

Again, thanks to Bob and John for a fun afternoon.

[ctsooner]

Thanks so much for sharing. Wish I had been able to make it.  I need to talk to John about the Innoous deal.  I have always used a filter or optical converter on my ethernet.  It makes a HUGE difference for sure.

How much are all the amps involved?  I think that's also important when listening to products.  

[nymarty]

6 hours ago, ctsooner said:

I need to talk to John about the Innoous deal.  I have always used a filter or optical converter on my ethernet.

What are you using today for your ethernet?  The Innuous is a little out of my price range and wondering what some more cost effective options would be for me.  

 

6 hours ago, ctsooner said:

How much are all the amps involved?

Do you mean price?     

[GdnrBob]

I should have posted sooner...

My experience echoes @nymarty. The Atma D had a nice sound, albeit somewhat dark, with really much 'tighter controlled' bass-as you would expect.

But, the upper mids to treble just seemed lost. I set up the Belles Monoblocks after the demo, and the difference was like removing a thick piece of carpet from in front of the speakers.

 

So, why did I go to Audioconnection to do the demo?

1. It is really hard to change out equipment in my system, as it is placed in rather tight areas. By the time I could swap amps, I wouldn't remember what I heard earlier.

2. I wanted to enlist John Rutan's years of experience. I just got back into stereos after a 30+ year hiatus, so my listening skills are rather rusty. Having a well trained ear made it much easier for me to understand what I was hearing. 

3. I wanted to try the amps on a couple of different speakers. 

In the end, the Atma D's sounded best on the Magnapan's.

 

@nymarty,

The Innuos Mini can be had for around $1-1.5K used, sometimes including the external power supply.

@ctsooner,

The Innuos Phoenix Ethernet is around $3.5K, so not chump change. There is also a Phoenix USB which is a little less expensive. It, provides a bit more detail and clarity, while the Ethernet version seems to give a 'darker' background.

 

Bob

[ctsooner]

Great stuff guys and thanks. How much are the two amps in the shootout?  
I am currently using a hospital digital filter that’s about 80% of what a Sota unit costs.  The upper line optical converters has so much less noise that they become a needed device to max out most players. My music player has the optical converter built into the Ethernet card they use because I asked him to. Those alone cost them over $500. Ayre QX5/20 uses that Ethernet board. They still sound better using optical isolation before hitting the net board. That tells us something about how easy RF/emi pollutes our sound I assume. 

[Holmz]

Interesting reading… Thanks,