Air Tight ATM2 Direct Driven by CDP?

Mahalo e Jond. Thanks for the view and the fine point re the Air Tight's attenuator v. the variable output on a CDP. I'm encouraged. I've also noticed on your Virtual Systems post you have a Herron preamp, which has been highly recommended to me in combo with its own power amp, but I'd have to guess how it would interact with the ATM2. Did you ever put it together with your Air Tight ATM-1? Thanks again for the quick post.

"If your Cary has a fixed out which has less in the way then the Variable, this would be the best way to go."

I'm sorry. But I don't follow this very crucial comment above. My Cary has a VARIABLE OUTPUT, but I can set it to any specific level and use the ATM2 attenuators to control volume.

I heard from the dealer today, though, that this method would REDUCE dynamics as compared to using a preamp and that I might lose a fullness of sound as well. Comment?

Thank you.

My sense of the above advice is that, if my Cary 303/300 can be set to a FIXED output level, it's better to use the attenuators in the Air Tight ATM-2 to control volume--correct?

It's also my sense that the amp works fine without a preamp and may be even more transparent.

Finally, Jond, did you ever use your Herron preamp in combo with the ATM-1 you had? How did it sound?

Thanks.

Noble110,

I notice on other threads you've had experience with various preamps and the ATM-2. I'm now considering going this route, looking at Air Tight ATC-3, Herron VTSP-1, Modwright SWL 9.0SE, Acoustic Masterpiece C101, and EAR 834L. Any opinions? Other suggestions? Anyone?

Garrett

Thanks. This is very good to know. I've seen ATC-3 Pres out there, but no ATC-1 pres yet. I'm now using the ATM-2 with a Thor TA-1000 Mk 2, which is fairly transparent, I think. It passes along every tube change in the Air Tight and can sound analytic sometimes, especially with 6550 power tubes and all Telefunken triodes in the power amp. I find I myself need to "sweeten" the sound with Mullards in the Air Tight input stage and in the Thor's 12AX7 positions. So, your ATC-1 Pre must contribute what's needed perhaps. However, all my listening is from a digital source--a Cary 303/300.

Mahalo Jaytea,

I'm running the Cary 303/300 through a Thor TA-1000 Mk.2 preamp I'm trying now with good results. Running it direct into the ATM-2 Air Tight made the music sound like amplifed MP-3 files--rough, etched, not great. The Thor seems to me transparent, adds gain, and has a kind of big stage and good imaging in small combo acoustic music. But I listen mainly to choral, opera, and orchestral music, really, and it's pretty good for that too. With small choirs, it's magic.

Aloha Jaytea,

Yes, my ATM-2 transformers are quiet. I'm sorry yours aren't, but glad Air Tight is getting you a new unit. That's very good to hear about Axiss Distributing. I haven't heard of this problem with the amp before.

At Toms suggestion, I've tried running the Air Tight direct from the Cary 303/300 CDP once again--this time with more interesting results. It's not as brittle and hashy sounding as when I tried it before--perhaps the contribution of all my tube-rolling (in both amp and CDP)--and there is more clarity and less distortion of some kind, but there is also a definite tip up within a certain treble range. The information comes through much cleaner and, thus, I can hear what's tipped up. I'm sure it's that impedance drop in my Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home speakers below 4 ohms in the 4kHz-20kHz range.

At the suggestion of another member from another thread, I lowered the bias-settings on the Air Tight by two measure markers. He suggested lowering the bias to improve sound, particularly relating to the Air Tight's leanness and tone of being "tipped-up," as that's been his experience with his Air Tight ATM-2. He reported that, when he tube-rolled his pre, a Wavelength, the character of the ATM-2 would change, brighten in tone, and sound "tipped up and leaner." This has been my experience whatever the tubes in either pre or amp, actually, though some are better than others.

Well, I lowered the bias-setting by about two measures and the choral music I was playing was immediately slightly better--more resolving. As I listened further, I could tell there was more inner detail in the soundstage and that the voices themselves were more easily separable, creating different polyphonic lines (as they should), and coming together more cleanly in coherent harmonies (again, as they should).

Overall, judging by a handful of CDs played with the bias lowered and the CDP running direct in to the Air Tight, this results in a cleaner choral sound. And a very sweet, clear, and fast orchestral sound too.