[BlackCat]

Now starting to work on the home theatre room.  Equipment made by a company called ATI has been recommended to me.  Supposedly ATI is the old SAE company I remember as "audiophile quality" from my college years.  They have a neat "card amp" system, where you just plug amplifier cards into a chassis to add more channels.  Prices look really good, preamps / processors look neat.  Anybody have any listening / user experience with them in an HT environment?

www.ati-amp.com

[randytsuch]

Hi Blackcat,

At some point, somebody told me ATI makes the amps for Outlaw, and ATI's amps were better than Outlaws.  This is just something I heard, don't know if it really true or not.

The other thing I remember is Ed Frias (a speaker manufacturer, there was a thread about him a little while ago) used to sell ATI, because he really liked the stuff, not sure if he does or not.

Randy

[JoshK]

ATI didn't make Outlaw's amp but it was indeed a rumor going around.  Maybe Outlaw bought a design from ATI but they are very different amps.  

I previously owned an ATI 1505 and it was a great amp for HT purposes but wasn't the end all for music as it didn't quite have the finesse of some of the better amps.  However, if this system you are building is for HT only then I can think of no better starting place to look for amps.  They had major slam factor and more headroom than I would ever use and I am speaking in regards to the 150wpc version.  I think for 95% of the applications 300wpc is serious overkill and you would be fine with their 200wpc version and put the money elsewhere like the display.  If you are planning on going with VMPS RM40's all the way around in a huge cathedral room then 300wpc is probably a good idea, otherwise it is too much IMO.  

I have never tried their processors, no opinion there.

[John Casler]

Now starting to work on the home theatre room.  Equipment made by a company called ATI has been recommended to me.  Supposedly ATI is the old SAE company I remember as "audiophile quality" from my college years.  They have a neat "card amp" system, where you just plug amplifier cards into a chassis to add more channels.  Prices look really good, preamps / processors look neat.  Anybody have any listening / user experience with them in an HT environment?

www.ati-amp.com

ATI makes a good quality product and has solid perfromance.  They are also reasonably priced and I place quite a few with my customers.  The new line also offers balanced and unbalanced inputs which may be of concern with longer interconnect runs.

Others to consider in the price range would be the CineNovas and used Brystons.  Although one of my distributors carries ADCOM I have not heard the new line (supposedly re-designed by the ex-Cal Audio guys) which is also reasonably priced.

Much would depend on your pre-pro and speakers, as to what would work best.

If you want the best musical sound, I would look to used Bryston, then CineNova, then ATI/ADCOM.

If it is for HT only they all work well.

[bubba966]

Hmmmm.

While on the back burner for now, I've been thinking of getting a 7 channel amp at some point. I was planning on going for a used Theta Dred 2 at 200w x 3/100w x 4.

But the ATI 180w x 7 looks promising. At least in the MSRP category.

Where does the ATI stand against a Dred 2?

And do these ever come around used, or if not what do they normally street at?

[Mad DOg]

...it was a great amp for HT purposes but wasn't the end all for music as it didn't quite have the finesse of some of the better amps...

i own the 2505 and for HT it is awesome. but as JoshK says, it doesn't have the finesse of my Aragon monoblocks for music.

[cametz]

Could I assume that the ATI 2505 is better than the Kenwood 6070 receiver?
Clyde

[John Casler]

Could I assume that the ATI 2505 is better than the Kenwood 6070 receiver?
Clyde

Yes.

Hi Clyde,

With your speakers, You wouldn't want to do anything less than the ATI or CineNova, espescially for the front array.

The Kenwood amp sections are not known for their "stability" and be assured that the 100wpc they claim is questionable at best, where the 250wpc of the ATI are "real" 20-20 RMS watts with a massive power supply (in comparison to the Kenwood)

[Mad DOg]

Could I assume that the ATI 2505 is better than the Kenwood 6070 receiver?
Clyde

I'm not familiar with the Kenwood 6070, but I can tell you that the ATI AT2505 is a very capable amp. I've had folks over auditioning my system and we've had the volume cranked up beyond reference levels in my room and the amp isn't even breaking a sweat. No distortion. I haven't been able to get the overload indicator lights to even come on yet driving my Rocket HT speaker system.