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Kr Audio Kronzilla vs Atma-sphere MA1?

Has anyone ever compared any of the Kronzilla amps (stereo or mono blocks) against the Atma-spheres?

They both look like all out designs.

Just a few of my thoughts on each:

Pro's of the Kronzilla: Build quality of the tubes. It seems like this could contribute very heavily to excellent sonics.

Cons: solid state input section. Maybe it helps sonics, maybe it makes it sound more similar to a SS amp?

Atma-sphere: Pros: OTL - which if compatible with your speakers

can remove several layers of veiling (and Zero box can be used if necessary)

Atma is a very known and respected company in the US , good resale value, updates available etc.

Weight: The Atma's dont weigh alot since they have no transformer. MAybe not an issue for some, but to me it is.

Balanced in as well as single ended-

Cons: Heat - the Atma's use alot of tubes - and I would imagine generate more heat than the 2 tube Kronzilla's????

(though you can remove tubes from the Atma's for warm weather use and get less heat and power - a big plus as well)

Comments from anyone who has compared these 2 excellent amps?
emailists

Showing 1 response by r_f_sayles

r_f_sayles's avatar
r_f_sayles
872 posts
 
Emailists, I can't speak for the Kronzilla, but have owned MA1 MkIII Silver Editions for several years now and find them to be fantastic. IMHO the Atma’s are the end of the road and my search. Sylvania 6SN7 GT's are well worth adding, balanced is definitely the way to run them, and less than an 8 ohm load from speakers could cause trouble, Otherwise the Atma-Spheres are dream amps. As said ahead of me, the balance is neutral, very fast, a lot of low-end punch, outstanding low level detail and air. Consider your power needs because the M60’s sound equally good in the proper application and create about half the heat and half the power consumption. And should you need, Ralph Karsten is one of this hobbies most friendly and helpful, a consummate gentlemen.

Curious, what speakers do you plan to drive with them?

Happy Listening!
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