Atma Sphere deserves praise


In the last 6 months Atma Sphere released a revision to their MK III designation to MK III.1. It amounted to a small part change and I think the resulting cost was less than $500. In my system, and in other's judging by recent posts, it was a very worthwhile improvement. Not only was an upgrade path available, but the cost was very reasonable.

Do you think other manufacturers that release "new" product updates every 12-18 months, or worse new products because there is no upgrade path are simply offering design breakthroughs? Or is this just running a successful business?

I think they hurt their current customers by devaluing their "old" equipment on the used market, and causing them to scurry like ants for the latest new stuff.
mmike84

Showing 5 responses by pubul57

I agree. Which is one reason I own Atma-sphere and Merlin, and Joule. There is something to be said for 15-20 year old designs that were so well executed the first time, that it is not necessary to reinvent the product every 3 years with no upgrade possible. I don't mean to be cynical, but those wholesale changes seem to be the result of bad design, or driven by marketing decisions about obsolesence.
I like the looks, especially the amps, they look like they are going to sound good:)
Mmike84, I dod see what you are saying about ARC, and it can be quite annoying to own a MKii when a MKiii comes out, but when they can, they have provided an upgrade option (not always possible), but in spite of that, they do make good sounding equipment and have provided support for there products about as well as anyone. But I can see some skepticism can creep when thinking about the number and frequency of updates, espcially with amps and preamps where good design has been well know for a long time now. Digital is another story.
I agree with Jtimothya that point-to-point does allow for a much easier upgrade policy, just much easier to make "alterations" to a basic design. I also agree that ARC certainly takes care of the owner of a unit that choose to keep - the annoyance is that audionervosa tends to set in with a perfectly good v.2 is no v3 and you can't follow the progress without selling your devalued unit to by the newer, "better" unit, which isn't in fact always better, but the itch is there to find out. Is it purposeful strategy to move new product, or the legitimate and natural march of "progress"? Hard to tell, but it is nice to know that if you want to take the step with Atma-sphere gear it is usually possible and affordable to have Ralph's latest thinking, even when the topology of the chassis changes. That being said, if you has a ARC LS5 and sent to ARC to replace capacitors and maybe some other passive parts you would still one of the best preamps ever made and ARC would be committed to keep it working as intended as long as you own it. So I do respect ARCs products and support, but prefer owning Atma-sphere gear because it allows me to stay with the evolution of the product - in part because the basic design was so good to start with and it is easy to keep an older unit as it gets sorted out with incremental improvements.
Jtimothya makes a good point about the need to stay in business, we do want out great designers to stay in business. It does seem to me that there are some pretty good examples of "successful" companies with stable products, with evolutionary and incremental changes, forthe most part with an upgrade path for owners. Ralph would be one, but also true of folks like Ken Stevens of CAT, Bobby P at Merlin, and some Richard fella making time and phase coherent speakers out in California. Their products today don't look much different than their products 10, 15 years ago, and if you bought them then you (for the most part) could upgrade to their latest thinking. Great designs don't have to be reinvented every 2-3 years to remain relavant or have a loyal following.