ATI 1803 subjective review
Bottom Line Up Front: This amp is a functional and aesthetic improvement to my system; it does what it’s supposed to and it’s silent when it’s not playing. Classic Audio Parts is a reputable dealer. </SPAN>
Background: I recently replaced two Yamaha P2500S pro amplifiers (coupled with a Belkin PF60 used for 12v switching capability) with an ATI 1803 (b-stock from Classic audio parts). Did I need a new amp? No, I just wanted fewer components. Does the 1803 look WAY cooler than the P2500S pair – in my humble opinion, no question, absolutely!</SPAN>
Initial Impressions: Amp was double boxed, and the packaging was solid. It needed to be as the beast is HEAVY! I could not find anything on the amp to indicate it is a “b stock” – it looks pristine.</SPAN>
Power on sequence: The amp takes about 32 seconds to power on and does not make any noticeable sounds through the speakers (though the amp itself makes a couple of “click” sounds as it prepares to power on. This is important for me!</SPAN>
My P2500S amps were quiet but only with the gain knobs set at about 70% (always made me wonder how much power I was missing out on). Above 70% gain, there would be a noticeable hiss through my speakers. I also tried a set of 3 Outlaw (mono block) 2200 amps that produced a slight hiss. Neither of which was loud enough to notice from listening distances, but I like silence when the amp is not playing – the 1803 delivers.</SPAN>
Volume: For my purposes, the amp plays just as clean and loud as my P2500S amps did. I can’t tell a sonic difference.</SPAN>
Entertainment Center Fit: Sadly, my entertainment center does not have a great deal of room for components (as the earlier posted pictures demonstrate). First, I was concerned about heat, so at the advice of the forum I installed a fan with a thermostat-on switch + an extra hole for wire management.</SPAN>
I found the fan stayed on most of the time and it got really hot in the cabinet. Upon opening the cabinet door, the fan would shut off within 3 or 4 minutes. Hmm, lots of heat buildup it seems with that glass door – more on this in a bit. </SPAN>
Furthermore, and more troubling, the banana plugs and RCA plugs on the back of my system we really crammed against the back wall of my entertainment center – uncomfortably so if I wanted to close the cabinet door!</SPAN>
Drastic action was required as I was not about to give up my new amp. So, I erased my painstaking work of cutting two perfect 4.5” circles (one for the fan and one for wire management) and replaced them with a large rectangular hole. All is now well though I plan to have a professional carpenter clean up my work and put a duplicate hole in the other side of my cabinet for air flow and to give me the option of moving my amp to that side if necessary.</SPAN>
Back to the glass doors, I contacted Jim Salk with the idea of replacing the glass on my cabinet doors with speaker cloth since he does such detailed work. He said not a problem and even offered another solution of using some heavy wire mesh (black). As of about an hour ago, my cabinet doors are in route to his shop for installation of some more “airflow friendly” material. I’ll post pictures when they get back but I’ll be out of the country for a bit so it might be a while.</SPAN>
All in all, I’m very happy with the ATI 1803 (to include the professionalism of Classic Audio Parts). It drives my Song Towers harder than I listen to on a regular basis and, the amp stays acceptably cool now that I’ve removed my cabinet doors. I imagine it will run just as cool with the new mesh doors once I get them back.</SPAN>
Thanks to all the ATI fans for helping make this an easy choice – it’s good to buy American when possible and it’s even better when the product is a stellar one that looks cool.</SPAN>
