Talon speakers and Spectron amps?

The Atma-Sphere MA-1's are fabulous amps, but I believe they really do need to "see" higher impedances than the 4 or 6 nominal Ohms that Talon speakers present.

I lived with MA-1's (not the current Silver Edition version) for about 2 weeks. They may be the most startlingly real-sounding amps I've had in my system. I am not sure if using an auto-former (such as recommended by nealhood) does not also take away from the OTL magic. A former colleague had the Atma-Sphere M-60 and autoformers. He said the autoformers impacted their performance negatively. Just what he said....

I used the MA-1's with the Coincident Super Eclipses--a good combo with the Supers' 10-Ohm efficiency and 92 dB sensitivity. The combo struck me as very picky about cabling and isolation. Super revealing and in a non-electronic, faux "High End" way. Just not sure if Talons would work with any OTL....

Neal - your description of the Atma-Spheres matches my limited experience with them in an in-store demo against my Aleph (a very good amp to begin with)- vocals were just amazing. I am concerned about equipment that sounds too squeaky clean - this seems to be exactly what the Talons don't need. What digital amps have you tried?

I would recommend trying one of the Atmapshere models if at all possible. It will open a clean new window on sound. They detail, quickness, extension, and certain bloom that is arresting. Extrememly musical. For that "reach out and touch me" sound on vocals, these amps are champs.

Depending on the impedance of your speakers, sometimes the use of an auto-transformer is necessary to best match the speaker impedance to the relatively high output impedance of the OTL amplifier. Both Amasphere and Paul Speltz make these auto-transformers. Generally these auto-transformers are in order if your specified speaker impedance is less than 8 ohms.

I have also read very good things about the Tenor OTL and Hybrid amps but, I have not auditioned them. But, they are very highly regarded.

I have not had good luck with the digital amps as they seem to sound just a little too squeaky clean - to the point of sounding bleached. But, I am sure there are some speakers that mate up well with these digital amps. It is all very subjective.

Thanks for the inputs. Twopippis - I checked out your system - WOW. Regarding the Pass, is your comment in reference to the X series, the Alephs, or both? It's good to hear from other Hawk users. I really like these speakers, and have been surprised at the lack of mention of them anywhere.

I'm using a pair of Cary 40 M signature monoblocks. I'm going to be replacing them pretty soon with another tube amp, that is based on a KT-88 design rather than the EL 34. In my office, which is not terribly large, the Hawks do not need very much power.

I'd recommend the Goldmund Stellavox PW-1 monoblocks, 200wpc. Or perhaps the Sim W-5 stereo or W-6 monoblocks. I've not known the Pass amps to be a good match for Talon. (IMHO). Not familiar with the Spectron.