Posted by Al Sekela on July 14, 2003 at 13:39:22:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Use of preamp vs. direct drive with Wadia posted by Tom Merritt on July 13, 2003 at 13:16:02:
Tom,
Thanks for your warm (pun intended) comments!
I live in Santa Rosa, CA, the center of the Sonoma County wine district. We have alternating hot and cool periods through the summer, depending on which way the wind blows. While this is great for wine grapes, it makes it difficult to run Atma-Sphere amplifiers for serious listening. The attic fan and air conditioning on hot days make too much noise.
I've added an InnerSound ESL amp to my setup, thanks to Travis. This amp, when treated with external damping materials and with the RCA input loaded with 600 ohms, does a very good imitation of Atma-Sphere sound. It is not quite as resolving, but with the increased hot weather background noise, this is not an issue.
With patience on Audiogon, you can find a used one for ~$1600. With a used one, be sure the circuit board is not fried by the power resistor that drops the main DC supply to operate the front panel LEDs. Damping the casework is simple, and gives benefits of improved sound-stage. Let me know if you want more information about this remarkable amplifier.
-Al