thoughts on ATI amplifiers (1 Viewer)

[Travis*N]

What do you guys think of ATI amplifiers?
My local dealer has one left (model AT1505) i think. Its around 180w/channel and retails for $3995 (cdn) and he has hinted that he would sell to me for maybe about $26-2700. I have heard this running with my speakers (paradigm ref. 60) and it really sounds good. However, the dealer can also order in bryston and anthem (the store doesn't stock them regularly)amplifiers, which i have heard good things about but never actually listened to. My problem is, do i go with the ATI, which I know sounds good, or do i take a chance ordering a bryston (lots of extra $$$) or go with anthem. any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated. thanks

 

[Arthur Vino]

http://www.hedmag.com/article_detail...cat_id=&pnum=1

 

[Chu Gai]

Well you do get that attractive Bryston warranty which helps to improve the resale value. No reason to not like the ATI. If he's willing to go to $2600 and you like it see if he'll bite at $2200. Bring your wife or g/f. Let her be the bad guy. Take her over and show her the amp. The guy'll come over and make his pitch. She'll then become adamant over the price and say 'you know that's not in our budget, come on let's go somewhere else'. The salesperson might be concerned. You take her to the side...exchange some meaningless whispers and then go over to the guy and say the best i can do is 2,200. He'll bitch a bit then maybe you get it at 2300 or so. take her out to dinner

 

[ChrisHeflen]

Sorry to bud in, but are you talking 2600 or 2700 Canadian?
What does that equal in US dollars?

That is a older model amp and can be had at a few different places on the net.

I have one and I am running it with Paradigm monitor 7's and I like it. It is more than enough in terms of power, it is built like a tank, and has a seven year warranty. I think though, it does error on the brighter side, but it is not sibliant or fatiguing to me at all. I don't know about the titanium tweeter in the 60's though. It might be a little brighter than the soft domes in mine.

Anyway, what's the exchange rate? You might be paying too much.

 

[RobertW]

to me, they sound pretty harsh, especially with paradigm reference. of course, everyone's ears are different.

 

[Craig Robertson]

i don't know what they are going for now, but i picked a 1505 up a few years ago for $1099US plus $40 shipping.

currently exchange rate is approx $1US=$1.40CDN or $1CDN=$0.72US.

 

[Geo]

To my ears, ATI amps are the best amps for the money. Especially the AT2505.
I think they have a very unique sound. Almost dark sounding, compared to all the other amps I've heard. And I love that dark, throaty, bassy sound.
I can't wait to get the new AT3000 series I've ordered!
Regards,

geo

 

[Kevin Alexander]

And I love that dark, throaty, bassy sound.

The words we use to describe the sound we love........

 

[BruceD]

I relate my experience.

Tested in my own room over a weekend, an ATI 1505 and a Parasound 1205a, two 5 channel amps. Both amps were well broken-in demo units. Each unit's output levels were matched with a digital multimeter and double-checked with an SPL meter. Testing was done in stereo mode with only L&R main speakers and music.

Used to drive faily difficult loads, my Dynaudio Contour speakers which have an 86dB sensitivity @4 Ohms. These are 2-way speakers with silk dome tweeters and 1st order crossovers.

I like jazz, jazz quartets, instrumentals, female vocals, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, just to give you a hint of my music preferences.

Winner for me was Parasound, and here's my results:

ATI:
- I preferred the looks/build of this unit
- harsh on mid-to-upper frequencies
- somewhat loose/flabby bass

Parasound:
- absolutely clear and smooth mid-to-upper frequencies
- bass was tight and very well controlled (I could easily identify each note of a standup double-bass)
- looks were less impressive, but sound was better.

 

[Michael Langdon]

I can confirm Bruce's results. I now have a Parasound HCA-1000A and HCA-1205A in my home theater. I also was interested in the ATI amplifiers. After comparing the ATI and Parasound amps, I chose Parasound for pretty much the same reasons as Bruce. However, I actually like the looks of the Parasound.

Mike

 

[Yogi]

I would back Bruce's results. I find ATI a little on the analytical and bright side. That is not to say its not a good amp and mated with the right speakers would sound as good as any other amp in its price range. Also depending on your listening preference you might like the sound of ATI over other amps.

 

[Dean Arizona]

I own the 1504 and the 1505. I use the 1504 (four channels) as a dedicated two channel amp for music only (the two open channels will eventually be used for my 6th and 7th surrounds when in HT mode). The 1504 is also bridgeable should I need the juice for hard to drive speakers down the road (over 900 watts P/C into four ohms in bridge mode!). The 1505 drives my center channel and two side surrounds + does second zone duty for a pair if in-walls in my pool table room. The 1505 is not bridgeable.

The amps are fed by a B&K Reference 50 SSP and drive Klipsch Ref 7 speakers all around. DVD player is Sony 9000ES (this unit is still superior to what Sony replaced it with in terms of same feature comparisons).

Anyway, the ATI amps are absolutely superb in all respects. There isn't a better value/performance unit on the market. No harshness whatsoever - that's saying a lot since I have Klipsch speakers. However, I'm not sure about the manufacturing future of 1500 series given the new line of amps coming out. The only drawback for some is the absence of balanced connections.

PS. These speakers are conservatively rated at 150 watts into 8 ohms - thus the series number "150". The last number in the series denotes the number of channels for the amp. I think an earlier post had the amps rated at 180 watts P/C (which may in fact be the case given ATI's conservative ratings).

 

[Travis*N]

thanks for the replies. I think I will hold off on a purchase until i at least get a chance to listen to a bryton.