If you are talking about the amp I think you are talking about, you would have to be glutton for punishment trying to care and feed for that many tubes. Yikes!
Caesar-Never mind the cost of the amp and the costs of the tubes, I would be more concerned with the reliability because there are 14 gazillion tubes that you have to worry about going south on you and I'm getting to the point of losing patience with tube amps for a number of reasons.
Not with the Atmasphere's! The 6AS7 tubes they use are intrinsically reliable, last for long and when they occasionally break go in open circuit - you risk not noticing it! I have owned Ma50's and Ma2's and never had to replace a single component, even after some severe abuse took some several output tubes. I just had to replace them and it played again.
BTW, most tube problems are caused by poor tube quality or abuse - e.g. operating the amplifier with a not adequate speaker having low sensitivity or low impedance points.
Most modern loudspeakers are designed to be used with solid state and are not tube friendly.
So, after 6 years since this thread began, has anyone heard the MA-3? There are no reviews and no prices that I could find online.
Does anyone know how much a pair costs?
So, after 6 years since this thread began, has anyone heard the MA-3? There are no reviews and no prices that I could find online.
Does anyone know how much a pair costs?
Very few exist, and I doubt that anyone has heard them. They go for roughly $147k/pair.
A pair were on static display at THE Show at the St. Tropez in Las Vegas in I believe January 2004. A sight to behold.
They are unique in that they have built in power conditioning and are capable of full output power even when the voltage out of the wall sags to as little as 100 volts. They also have built in tube testing. The 42 output tubes (6AS7G) in each are configured in 3 banks of 14 tubes each, which can be switched on or off depending upon listening conditions. Like all Atma-Sphere OTL amplifiers, there is a single stage of gain, no global feedback, and full Class A operation, all triode. The MA-3s put out 500 watts into virtually any load, yet they are pretty darn efficient, so heat output would be less than what you might guess.
So, after 6 years since this thread began, has anyone heard the MA-3? There are no reviews and no prices that I could find online.
Does anyone know how much a pair costs?
Air or water cooled?Very few exist, and I doubt that anyone has heard them. They go for roughly $147k/pair.
A pair were on static display at THE Show at the St. Tropez in Las Vegas in I believe January 2004. A sight to behold.
They are unique in that they have built in power conditioning and are capable of full output power even when the voltage out of the wall sags to as little as 100 volts. They also have built in tube testing. The 42 output tubes (6AS7G) in each are configured in 3 banks of 14 tubes each, which can be switched on or off depending upon listening conditions. Like all Atma-Sphere OTL amplifiers, there is a single stage of gain, no global feedback, and full Class A operation, all triode. The MA-3s put out 500 watts into virtually any load, yet they are pretty darn efficient, so heat output would be less than what you might guess.
Air cooled. The distributor in Guatemala who has a pair has a vent above them to pull a lot of the heat out of the room, which is a good solution.Air or water cooled?
Guatemala hogging all the good stuff againAir cooled. The distributor in Guatemala who has a pair has a vent above them to pull a lot of the heat out of the room, which is a good solution.
The amps run in Class A, with three banks of 14 output tubes each which can be turned on or off to suit your needs.
LOL. That might be the only place you could hear them. I know of another guy who has a pair but is a total a-hole.Guatemala hogging all the good stuff again
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