Adventures in amplification

[DaveF]

Out of curiosity would ESL's work with that amp? If so have you ever considered that route as the newer quads would be within your budget?

I dont know much about ESL's Tony. I've heard Fran's and briefly heard Ivor's and they were impressive but I didnt get any time with them listening to recordings that were familiar. I would imagine that the ATM2 would have no problem driving them.

I took the Meridian G06.2 CDP today but to my disappointment it hasnt changed the situation. Not a whole lot different from the Opus 21, more refined alright and a lot less strident than the Wadia was in system but the characteristic problem in the treble is still there. Not many CD's tried though but I know what I'm gonna hear.
I also have a Clearaudio phonostage on loan, a 3 box set with a battery power supply. Sounds nice but again not hugely different from my Pro-ject Tube SE II.

I think I'll just have to face the fact that I'm going to have to get rid of this Airtight OR a speaker change to something warmer. Sonus Faber I believe have a distintive warm sound and I've comes across a few mentions online of driving them with ATM2's. I do love what the Kharma's do though so I'd prefer to keep them.

Ivor will bring his Lector here on Monday afternoon so that will be interesting but putting it all together I think I'm now certain that the Airtight is at the core of the problem.

[Diapason]

Well at least you're making "progress" of sorts, even if it's not going quite in the direction you might have hoped for.

[DaveF]

Thanks to Ivor who called out earlier with his Lector CDP. As I pretty much predicted the Lector didnt solve the problem either. The same treble issue existed on the 'problem' recordings. When I say problem recordings I refer to recordings that suddenly sounded worse with the arrival of the Airtight.
Known 'good' recordings were fine but I still could detect that slight pitched up on tone.
Ivor easily detected these treble issues on both digital and analogue sources as did Fran a while back so I'm certainly not imagining things nor am I nit picking over nothing.

So that's it really, it's most certainly an speaker/amp synergy issue. The problems have followed the ATM2 since day 1.

Back on the amp merry go round.

[Diapason]

It's amazing really that none of the different sources addressed the issue. I would have lost money on that if I were a betting man. Any ideas where you'll start on the amp hunt? At the very least, you should be able to offload the Air Tight for roughly what you paid for it. Notwithstanding your issues, it's still a VERY desirable product.

[DaveF]

I suppose I could trade it in for a Leben CS600 and put any difference towards a new phonostage. The Airtight ATM2 is highly desirable piece of kit, its important to stress that its not a bad amp by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that it does not suit my Kharmas. No doubt it will be a perfect match for someone elses speakers.

1. Leben CS300. I heard this in the Cloney's driving the Kharmas just before I took the speakers away. Sounded really good with some accoustic guitar that was playing. Only 10 watts though so might be strained by Orchestral stuff.

2. Leben CS600. I havent heard this one yet. Certainly the reviews online are full of praise of it. Rated between 28 - 32 Watts depending on what valves you choose.

3. Hold onto the ATM2 and bide my time until some Jadis monos show up.

[Diapason]

I had the smaller Leben at home for a good while and found it warm and cuddly and very attractive in many ways, but it certainly wasn't for me as a long-term solution. YMMV of course. I never heard the bigger brother.

The Jadis monos would be nice, but they hardly ever come up.

I know the temptation now is to look for subjectively "warm" amps, but that might not be the actual solution. You might find the synergy where you least expect it, so if I were you I'd try a bucket-load of stuff now that you have the chance.

[DaveF]

I know the temptation now is to look for subjectively "warm" amps, but that might not be the actual solution. You might find the synergy where you least expect it, so if I were you I'd try a bucket-load of stuff now that you have the chance.

That's probably wise alright. My previous Gamut was never regarded as a 'warm amp' but it was fine, so another neutral-ish amp might be just do the trick.
Lavardin is another possibility.

[Fran]

Aren't Jadis now dead and gone?


I'd be going back looking at this from scratch - your previous best sound was via a 200W SS amp - don't rule those out too. 10W might not be the best match ever, and I think would not satisfy long term.


Fran

[Diapason]

I know it sounds mad, but I really think you should have a listen to that Primare I mentioned. That was the closest I came to sonic nirvana, and the only thing that stopped me buying that was the changing sound problems that were driving me mad at the time. Even now, I know that did some things better than the Graafs (although I'm completely happy with my purchase) so it might do something for you. Warm it isn't, but it sounds "different" to lots of other amps I've tried. If anything, I thought it sounded subjectively very like Kharma's own MP-150 monos, and better in some ways (caveat: it's ages since I had the Kharma monos at home).

Apart from that, I still think higher-powered valves are the way to go, especially if you enjoy listening at loudish levels, and enjoy the occasional burst of something very uncivilised. I have yet to hear lower-powered valves really make the Kharmas sing.

[DaveF]

I'd be going back looking at this from scratch - your previous best sound was via a 200W SS amp - don't rule those out too. 10W might not be the best match ever, and I think would not satisfy long term.
Fran

I take your point alright Fran. But the 200watts was necessary for the Ushers. They needed a bit of welly and were restrained at lower volumes. I dont think the Kharmas require anywhere near that power. They are pretty much ruler flat across the freq range at 8Ohms.