Cary 805s or Atma Sphere M60s?

Agree with Mechans on autoformers, to some extent it defeats of the purpose of OTL, though they we still be excellent amps, but not the same with as without.

Thank you for your responses I can audition the amps at the sales location, but not in my listening room, where typically components sound better. Autoformers are not "transformers" in the denotative sense; you can read up on them at the "anti-cables" website. Anyway, the OTL design seems to make better sense in theory. As silly as it sounds, it's going to be hard to beat the sound of those Carys. Of course I once thought of that with my first tube amps; Golden Tube Audio SE-40 monoblocks back in the 80's!

Erfranke I remember those amps as well;they made a big hit when they arrived on the audio scene;its to bad you can't bring the amps to your house for a real audition.It might be worth talking with Ralph from Atmasphere directly to get his point of view;he is a straight shooter and won't jam his gear down your throat to make a sale.I had cary slam 100's once and they were a fantastic amp but I think with ralph's amp and if your speaker will match the result will be unbeatable in my opinion.

Eric- Did you ever get to make the comparison? I own AtmaSphere MA1s and remember hearing Cary 805s at CES in 2006 and thinking they sounded fantastic (in the Cary room, with all Cary stuff, including speakers (single driver horns, maybe, not sure)). There was a definite magic there, but not sure if it was due to SET amps or single driver speakers, or what. If I were rich, I'd buy a pair of 805s and have both just for fun.

I had M60's MKIII for a couple of weeks. Partnered with Cabasse Iroise 500 speakers (4Ohm, 91 db) often referred as tube friendly. First the clarity of these amps where impressive but over longer time I missed body / substance and the "it's just right" feeling of my VAC PA60 KT88 amps back then. The Autoformers made it better, but overall I was not satisfied with the sound of the M60. The sounded somehow steril, too polished, slightly thin, mechanical and more hifi-ish than my VAC. I gave them back in the end.

I would strictly recommend to audition these amps on your specific speakers and system.

Btw I would rather think that the Vienna Acoustic speakers are not really an ideal match for any SET as well as M60's if you are in need for the autoformers even with the Cary.

Ron