I am wondering if anyone is using Class D amplification with their PMG stack. Have recently upgraded to PMG Pre, DAC and SACD with great results. Current amp is BHK250, bought new when first released. Speakers are Aspen FR10s with dual REL SHO/3 subs, and P15 Powerplant.
I have no issues with the sound with the BHK250, but have nothing to compare it to. Living on the Sun Coast of FL with the listening room on the second floor, I am considering something with less heat generated and less watts consumed.
Looked at Atma-Sphere and ADG online. Initial concerns are: Is there an issue using balanced PMG components with these? How can I continue to use high level REL connections on amps with one set of speaker connections? Will the amp gain be a good match?
I am a set-it-and-forget it kind of guy and am comfortable in the PS Audio walled garden. The new Beast amp may be more size and heat than I want.
Thanking you in advance for any experience or insights provided.
After hearing for myself just how good some of the upper-tier Class A amps sound, I became hooked. I also donāt live in FL. (My speakers are the FR20ās)
I suggest a read through Chrisās posts here on the forum relative to his new sub. My take away is that he wouldnāt make much extra effort to make a high level connection to a sub. On the other hand, Paul has been rather emphatic several times about the advantage of feeding the sub what the main speakers are seeing. In my experience, my greatest improvements have been in the midrange frequencies where I can well imagine issues such as phase shifting and background noise might play an important role. Conversely, itās hard for me to imagine that we could detect phase shifts in a big long 50 Hz signal.
Chuck, canāt help so much (although for Class D Iāve heard and liked AGD amps), but where are you in the Sun Coast area? Are you part of the SCAS? Going to the show?
My Atma-Sphere Class D Monoblocks sound great with my PMG Preamp and FR10 speakers. The sound is very transparent and natural. My main music source is streaming using an Innuos Pulsar streamer. I donāt use subs, so I donāt have any practical info about connecting KEF subs to Class D monoblocks.
Chuck, my Atma-Sphere monoblocks replaced a pair of M700s, the PMG preamp replaced a BHK preamp, and the FR10 speakers replaced the Thiel 2.2. These changes resulted in improvements all around!
If you can make it to FLAX in Tampa. Rm 427. Orchard Audio GaNFET Class D Amps. You can hear them for yourself. Weāll have Soundfield Audio providing the Speakers in the room.
I had a BHK250 in my system and it was good. I decided to experiment and ordered a pair of the M1200ās. WOW!!! They blew me away. My speakers are Magnepan 1.7i and they sound amazing with these Class D amps. I sold my BHK250 and couldnt be happier. Remember that with PSAUDIO you have 30 days to try out the stuff you buy and can return them if not happy.
Same here, Atma Sphere Class D mono blocs. Replaced my M1200s. I prefer the Atma Spheres, for one thing bass is better as is overall sound. Incredible little amps, do not generate heat, easy to move around.
My dream amp was always a Mark Levinson. By the time I could afford one, I canāt safely pick it up or move it. I used M700s for a couple of years and moved up to M1200. They power my Magnepan 3.7Xs and DWM bass panels. Iām very happy with the sound. Switching to Viablue SC-4 speaker cables for both, a month ago, helped a lot as well.
I think about class D amps the same way a well sorted fuel injection system used to be compared to emulating carbs. FI had and has distinct advantages to carbs and there probably arenāt many who would want to live with carbs day to day. Class D is getting better but itās still compared to Class A or A/B. Maybe the tech is finally there but thereās still a lot of momentum behind old school.
Regarding the Atma-Sphere, is there a credible review online. There was one where the reviewer thought it so inadequate that he didnāt do a full review.
The ānon-review reviewā mentioned above has been reported to have grown out of some ongoing personal disagreements (about unrelated issues) between the ānon-reviewerā and Ralph Karsten of Atma-Sphere. Ralph is a brilliant designer and a stand-up guy, and none of the criticisms in the bogus review have been borne out in my own experiences or reported in any of the mainstream reviews of the A-S monoblocks.
I know of multiple people besides you that feel the same way about the Atma-Sphere amps so I tend to believe Ralphās explanation of the āreviewerā issue. On several occasions Ralph has recommended that in addition to his amps you should listen to both the AGD and Orchard Audio amps. I took a chance back in June and ordered a pair of the newest generation 150wpc Orchard mono amps and have been completely surprised at how good they sound. A pair of the Starkrimson 25s are $2500 so considerably less than the Arma-Sphere or AGD amps. They also have a 30 day no questions asked return policy for amps in their original condition.
Iāve read good things about the Orchard amps, but Iāve never heard them. Before I ordered my Atma-Sphere monoblocks, Ralph said I could listen to them for 6 weeks and return them if they didnāt work in my system. He recommended listening for 6 weeks to be sure that the amps were broken in before they needed to be sent back. Needless to say, I didnāt need to ship the amps back to Minnesota.
Maybe someday Iāll get to hear the Orchard monos, the AGD Duets, and the A-S monos in the same system, but Iām very happy with my A-S amps right now.
