Aesthetix Atlas

So far, CES 2007 has completely defied my expectations in the mid-priced electronics category. I assumed I would be chronicling a wave of Class D amplifier entrants. Instead, virtually every new amp or preamp I encountered on Day 1 was tubed. Typical of the trend is the all-new Atlas stereo power amplifier from erstwhile phono and linestage producer Aesthetix. Available now, it costs $8,000.

The Atlas, like many other amps bowing at the show—notably the similarly priced Conrad-Johnson ET250S—is actually a hybrid design. The input and initial gain stage are tubed while the output and driver stages are bi-polar. The idea is to combine the musicality of tubes with the grunt of solid state. To that end, the Atlas makes a healthy 200 watts/channel into 8 ohms. In keeping with Aesthetix’s bedrock philosophy, the amp offers both single-ended and balanced inputs and utilizes no negative feedback.

The Atlas would be significant simply by being the first foray into power amplifiers for designer Jim White, whose work is uniformly prized and praised here at TAS. But this amp has another interesting and, in my experience, unique feature: it includes a built-in high-pass crossover. Aesthetix conceived the capability with speakers like the Vandersteen Quatro and 5a in mind. These are full-range units that incorporate powered subwoofers.

Utilizing the Atlas’ internal active, variable-frequency crossover allows the user to bypass the passive unit within the speaker, theoretically providing greater flexibility and performance. Though of limited applicability today—the crossover slope is fixed at 6db/octave, making it compatible with the Vandy’s and few others—I expect it to broaden going forward. Aesthetix will undoubtedly make the slope variable, and speakers with powered low ends are increasingly common. That’s one area where Class D amplifiers actually are proliferating.

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