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Archive page The MA-1 Silver Edition Amplifier
The MA-1 Silver Edition was built from March of 2003 to January of 2005. The amplifier was built as a collectable in celebration of 25 years of operations at Atma-Sphere. It featured the regular Atma-Sphere circuit design, built upon a polished stainless chassis. Several versions of the amplifier were built. The original units were class A only. During the fall of 2003, the class A/AB switch was introduced, which was attended by a high voltage regulator for the driver power supply. The regulation was added to help out during class AB operation; during class A the regulator made no contribution to performance (and so the earlier class A units do not have it). These amplifiers made during this period had manually adjusted bias, but in time this was dropped in favor of a more automatic system (although the manual DC Offset control system was retained), which began shipping during Spring of 2004. As a result there are two distinct chassis built during this period, the original style and the style that had the extra switch for class A/AB with manual bias. When the automatic bias setup was introduced, less switches were on the chassis so the chassis reverted to its earlier form. In late October of 2004, a few minor revisions were introduced that enhanced tube reliability and reduced distortion. The last Silver Edition was built in late January of 2005. Below follows that text for the amplifier that advertised it on our website at the time: Recipient of a Golden Ear Award (TAS 2000), the MA-1 Mk. II enjoyed an enviable reputation. Now it has been replaced with an upgraded version that is built on the same circuit concepts, but features an enhanced driver circuit for lower distortion and wider bandwidth, driver supply regulation, again for lower distortion and enhanced AC power immunity and a new chassis that features welded and polished corners for a seamless look. The Silver Edition has been introduced in celebration of the completion of over 25 years of Atma-Sphere operations (after July of 2004 it will be called the MA-1 MkII.3). The MA-1 employs more of what audiophiles have craved in amplifiers since the beginning of HiFi. The list of features below outlines an encompassing, musical design that has yet to be equalled by any amplifier except our own MA-2 Mk. II.3. The best way to describe the design is much like a pair of single-ended triode amplifiers wired together differentially. It is the world's first Class-A all triode fully-differential zero feedback output transformerless amplifier (the original MA-1 was introduced in 1987). Thus it can reproduce greater depth, the lowest, most precise powerful bass, with sumptuous, revealing midrange and highs yet remaining tonally neutral. The MA-1 has proven itself to be an extremely reliable amplifier as well as inherently musical. The output tubes are reliable and inexpensive. The MA-1 is the correct balance between music and electronics. Designed for music, not sine waves, the MA-1 tracks dynamic waveforms faster than any other amplifier in the world. It extracts more detail than ordinary designs, thus presenting your music intact. FEATURES
SPECIFICATIONS
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