NEWS: ATC's integrated amp looks - well, different...
No, it's not a prop from a 1970s Cadbury's Smash commercial - in fact this is the new SIA 2-150 integrated amplifier from loudspeaker specialists ATC.
Selling for £2203, it goes into the shops in May, and is designed to complement the company's range of passive loudspeakers.
As you might expect from the model designation, the new amp delivers 2x150w, operating in Class A two-thirds of the way to full output. There's a fully discrete preamp section, and the power section uses four MOSFETs per channel fed by what's said to be a massive power suplly.
The amp carries a six-year warranty, and has four stereo line-ins, one tape loop, and both line and preamp level outputs. A remote handset is also provided, giving control of volume, muting, source selection, and standby.
The styling incorporates a precision machined 12mm brushed aluminium front panel, and the two main controls use iGUS ultra smooth bearings.
Technorati Tags: ATC, Stereo amp
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Comments
Love the look of this amp and you can rest assured the 150W rating will be very conservative. I own scm 40's and they're incredible, better than anything under three grand. PMC charge £2950 for they're new OB1i's - shocking, i couldn't stop laughing. I've seen a cutaway of these speakers and the magnets are tiny, especially on that excuse for a midrange - actually made by morel - i wouldn't pay £1500. Sorry AE but you got bumped
Here's some real drivers:
joshinweb.jp/contents/av/Hiend/SCM400812.jpg
six year warranty now thats what I call faith in your product. Other manufacturers should take note and be ashamed. With them its all hype and bull talk but they don't seem too keen to back it up with substance. Perhaps over pricing and under engineering is part of the issue with respect to the decline in the Hi-Fi industry and not solely the blame of the download and portable players.
allot of products last longer then that, but the problem is that after around 6 years most devices are hopelessly out of date.
mring - What you say is true my old Marantz PM66SE and CD67SE are still going strong after 10 years and have never given me any hassle. However I own I Marantz SA-8400 SACD and its useless the CD67se has a far better sound and not only that it often refuses to read CD's. I owned an Arcam Alpha 9 amp and it spent more time in for repairs than it did in my system. Their DiVa range was not much better with CD drawers that did not close properly. I was gutted when I suggested to a friend that he get one at the same time as me and his had the same issue...we where told by a service engineer that this was down to the cheaper unit using a Sanyo transport as opposed to the more expensive unit using a Sony, so the holes where drilled to suit the more expensive units.....great customer care there then. The point I am trying to make is that manufacturers move making the units to the Far East to save on costs and stay competitive yet prices go up and build quality goes down. My old Marantz stuff is outlasting most of my new stuff. Six years may seem out of date to some, but if the products are working and you still enjoy the sound why change it. Its getting to the point most stuff does not last that long. I would just like to see manufacturers have more faith in their products and back it up and a long warranty proves this.....Bryston 25 years Krell 5 Years etc. however most British makers only have one year...says a lot about the state of British Hi-Fi and why the Chinese are buying it out when the companies go into difficulties.
Home cinema products are certainly out of date within 6 years, much less usually. Hifi is not. Evolution in 2 channel technology has been slow and in some areas almost non-existent. It makes far more sense to spend more money on 2 channel reproduction than HT, even if you utilize 50/50. I agree warranties should be longer than the usual one year offered but I have never had any problems with products made here or elsewhere. Incidentally, I would say it is naive to say far eastern made products are qualitative substandard compared to stuff made here. I'd say the opposite applies.
Far Eastern manufacture worse? Where do you think those old Marantz products were made?
And I think the Bryston guarantee is 'only' 20 years.
Andrew - 20 years is still a whole lot better than 1 would you not agree? Its easy to pick up on a mistake but it proves they have faith in their product.
I am in no way suggesting that the far east makes grim stuff far from it. It just seems in my opinion its profit before customer.
Its not only myself but my friends who are also noticing trends in equipment.
Marantz is a Japanese company and they (the japanese) certainly have higher standards than most british Hi-Fi makers. How many of these companies have been bought out by the Chinese as opposed to British Brands.
What hifi now has more stuff to do with the ipods etc and this is the way its going to go in the future.
Less people are buying "audiophile" equipment and at least approx £150 on an ipod is easier to swallow when it fails.