Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

Could be bought in US only, looks interesting.

There is a pair of them on Audiomart right now. Someone talk me off the ledge before I make that purchase!!

Could be bought in US only, looks interesting.

@sngreen you mean dealers?
They supply them in 50Hz/230v in addition to US/NA power.

First of all I want back the more than 90 minutes of my life I spent reading this thread. And I blame @kuribo for his stalwart refusal to accept that Ralph might have a different design priorities, marketing strategy, and business plan then what he believes to be the correct way all companies should act for his benefit. Also I’d like to give @atmasphere a medal for being so long suffering, patient and informative.

Also, @kuribo please don’t read my post because I’m afraid it will probably contain things evil, venal and subjective that would definitely not be worth your time :)

I actually slogged through this because I have some decent experience with the products in question and wanted to see the background before I posted.

I’ve had in my system probably close to a dozen digital amps, going back 20 years to Spectron, Ice Power Amps, Hypex Module Amps etc.. I’ve also many owned super high end solid state and tube amps. Until I heard the VTV I was never completely happy with the Class D amps, for many of the reason people say: grey/cloudy, flat lacking transparency, and just a boring presentation.

I’ve owned a VTV Purifi stereo amp with the SparkOS input buffer for almost 2 years. I also had the Orchard Audio Starkrimson GaN stereo amp for a month evaluation and I’ve had my Atma-Sphere Class Ds now for almost 3 months. The AS Class D significantly betters any digital amp I’ve heard in my system.

I really love the VTV amp. For the price (now about $1,400) it is pretty much without peer! The Starkrimson ($2500) was so similar to the VTV in sound if I wasn’t listening carefully I’d not be able to tell them apart. On careful listening though, I felt the Orchard sounded a bit recessed and did not have as much macro slam and dynamics as the VTV. Imaging was further behind the speakers with the Strarkrimson, and things like horns as stuff did not have as much dimensionality. The Orchard has a bit more overall bass energy, but did not have the taughtness/ fastness of the VTV. I am making these differences sound much bigger than they were. These differences though are more to do with what my taste is than big differences in quality. I tend to like more vibrant dynamic presentations. I think the Orchard would probably be an excellent match to a big ballsy sounding rock and roll speaker like some Klipsh etc. The Orchard was just a bit more polite and reticent.

Both amps were dead silent, incredibly dynamic and without grain or brightness. And the bass is awesome. They do vocals amazingly well. They have wonderful tone on acoustic instruments, especially with things like woodwinds and brass (the Orchard did those things just a touch better than the VTV). They have a palpable reach out and touch quality to the music that is addictive. Highs are airy and extended. They don’t sound harsh or have any fine grain, or greyness/whiteness, flatness or sound boring. While I wouldn’t say they sound like tubes, there is a clarity to the midrange that reminds me of them.

For a $1,400 amp, the VTV Purifi will make many many people happy.

The Atma-Sphere Class D amps are in another realm altogether though. Take everything I said about the above two amps and add the following. They are quieter and bring out more detail. The blackness between notes etc is replaced by more acoustic information than I’ve heard on my favorite recordings. They are significantly more transparent which reveals more music information and fine touches. On the music I know best, I've discovered new instruments/backup singers in the background. They are incredibly even handed and neutral in a way that puts the focus on the music (they are not sterile). The bass (which took many hours of break in to fully mature) is simply incredible, I am hearing more in the 25hz to 35hz range than I’ve ever heard from my speakers. The speed of attack is so instantaneous and fast it adds to the feeling of transparency. the tonality of instruments is also excellent as well. The soundstage goes further back and is very defined. Even my TV streaming source sounds more detailed with more depth. Dynamics are increased. Movies really pound and soar with the right soundtrack. I’ve heard some Atma-Sphere setups over the years, and by my recollection, there is a bit of similarity of sound. Mainly that transparency and even-handedness reminds me of past experiences with Ralphs amps.

I would say that for my musical and audio values, the Atma-Sphere’s sound twice as good as the VTV :) So I think they are a VERY good value.