Atma-Sphere MA-1 Mk.3.1 Vs. Atma-Sph. MA-2 Mk.3.1

Don. A refurbished cabinet? Did you add any bracing?

Hello Don. The begnign impedance of the vintage Tannoy DC's makes for the perfect marriage with OTL amplification.

Each and every model of the Atmasphere OTL amplifiers will be more than capable to drive your Tannoy Golds regardless of level you wish to listen at....a superlative choice by the way and a marriage made for each other.

Absolutely no need whatsoever for the additional power of the MA-2 unless your listening in a concert hall.

BTW: It is relatively easy configure the crossover to accomodate biamplification should you choose to go that route.

All the best.

Hi Don. I don't mean to sound condencending, however... to keep things in perspective here regarding the sellers statement of power being the dynamics component to capture the dynamics of live music is way off base here.

To give you some perspective. I grew up listening to Tannoy Reds and Golds from my early childhood until I went to college and left home in the mid 70's.

In the late 90's, we moved to a home with a huge room [42 ft x 32 ft with a 16ft ceiling]

The room was set up as a dedicated sound room for music.

My main speakers are the Tannoy Westminsters [first versions] fitted with vintage 15 in Tannoy Golds with custom crossovers and powered with Atmasphere MA-2 MK-2's.

At the turn of the millenium, a close friend was a dealer for Atmasphere and brought by all kinds of amplifiers to play with. Hi and low powered tube amps... push pull, single ended triodes,ultra linear as well as big s/state stuff from Levinson, YBA, Macintosh etc.
I have had the pleasure of auditioning ever model of the Atmasphere amplifiers in my rig as well as many others.

Regardless of what model of Atmasphere amplifiers were used....I would be willing to wager that very few people would be able to ascertain which model Atmasphere was driving the Tannoy regardless of volume. Each and every model would produce an undistorted sound pressure level that would drive any sane music lover right out of the room.

In regards to your room: If it were me, I would buy the MA-60 or MA-30 and bank the difference. Either one will bring the musicians into your room.

All the best on your quest.

Mechans. With all due respect: re powering the Avalons with Atmasphere amps.
No doubt in my mind the MA-1 would be the better choice over the MA-60. The MA-60 hasn't a chance comparatively speaking here.
For that matter, even the MA-1's would be considered marginal at best when driving the Avalon. The only Atmasphere amplifier capable of getting the best from Avalons are the MA-2's.
For the record, my MA-2 mk2's were sold to an Avalon owner.
To be candid here: Even though your Focals are quite sensitive at 92 db, I wouldn't even consider Atmasphere amplification due to their lowish impedance load on the amplifier. Most all OTL topologies are not comfortable with impedances much under 6 ohms. As the impedance of the speaker drops, so does the wattage of the amplifier.

The Tannoy DC's impedance is very benign, nominally 8 ohms, typically around 9 ohms and never dips below 6.6 ohms. The perfect load for a Atma-sphere amplification.
In Donfibres room... Even with an extra 15db of headroom for the dynamic range over and above the power required I sincerely doubt more than 25 watts would ever be tapped.

Rushton. A great analogy and well said.

While I have never heard the 11 ohm Coincidents, I would imagine they would make for a very good match with any model Atma regardless of power.

Hi Donfibre.
The MA-1's offered at a good price locally seems like a no brainer to me, go for it before their gone.

RE: Bracing the cabinets:
The original Tannoy cabinetry made for the 15inch DC's were rather flimsy and will benefit from the some extra cross bracing and dampening inside the cabinet.
Adding some extra support will tighten up the bottom couple of octaves.

Hope this helps.