Spencer,
Well that was quite the quick response. And all made plenty of sense of course.

Even with the large room size (20'x 40') it was nice to have the MA-1s on to take the edge off of a particularly hard winter. But I do remember when I had them in a 11'x 14.5' room in my other house. So I completely understand.

When we first found this house my first reaction was to search for a room for the system. Not exactly how the wife felt about it but fortunately it all worked out great.

I will contact Ralph again about this, but the last two times I corresponded with him about it, he had me in the 20 to 50-grand range so I politely backed up, took a breath and went on another direction, trying not to show my shock. I should make it a point to open the conversation with my budgetary boundaries and hopefully different results will occur next time.

Good Luck Spencer! And many thanks.
Dave

watersidedave March 26, 2010 14:46

Hello Spencer,

Getting in on this very late in the game but could not help but notice the amps in the early pics - mainly because I as well have a set of the MA-1s. What made you finally decide to change them out? I was about to do the same early last year when I at the last minute decided to go ahead and send them back to Ralph for an upgrade instead. The change was absolutely stunning. Something magical indeed. You say the LaFolias present bass in a very different way but inner detail may have been slightly less. As someone who lived with the MA-1s for a while, how many different speaker pairs did you go through before you landed with the Merlins, and what was your main deciding factor in finally changing the Atma-Spheres for something else may I ask? My situation is still one of wonder and extreme resist when it comes to changing a set of amps that have for some odd reason become extremely attached to. There is something incredible going on with the Atma Spheres that I absolutely love, but I just, even after 7 different speaker pairs, cannot seem to find that perfect synergistic relationship. Still! Its a bass thing. I am always between 85 & 95% there - but looking for the other 5% keeps me looking and asking. I have to admit that my relationship is almost at the "college girlfriend" level, because they definitely have their quirks. But when it comes to.... well enough said. There is just something shockingly beautiful about the sound that I cannot get past. Since the upgraded units have come back, I am not yet willing to give up on them. So I am still searching for input from other owners. I cannot speak for everyone, but I sure wish to thank you for your continued willingness to keep us all so wonderfully informed through your journey down the audio trail!

Ciao Spencer!

watersidedave March 21, 2010 17:26