Did you listen to Merrill, AGD, latest and best Nuprime, the best Cherry, modded Purifi, modded IceEdge, Technics biggie? All these were available before Covid except the modded Purifi.
The very best of the latest Class D sound very neutral. If you are a tube person, or a super lush class A person, then you will still might find some of them lacking in warmth. However, if your system is tweaked so you don't "need" a warm amp to balance it then you can get goosebumps. Many find they like a tube preamp with a class D amp....and that gives them the magic they want. I lower the distortion in my system so that I can run a solid state DAC right into my class D amp and get super NATURAL sound. When some people say "real" they are talking about a sound I would call colored. I once ran a solid state phono stage directly to my amp and then inserted a Modulus line stage (just the output stage....no pot, no switching, etc.). It sounded way more real with the tube in the chain. It was adding its own coloration....that made the music sound more real because I did not have a great source. Turns out that my Ariston turntable was real grainy and my phono stage was not great either. But if you tweak your system for super low distortion then the very latest class D can give you chills and thrills.
The very best of the latest Class D sound very neutral. If you are a tube person, or a super lush class A person, then you will still might find some of them lacking in warmth. However, if your system is tweaked so you don't "need" a warm amp to balance it then you can get goosebumps. Many find they like a tube preamp with a class D amp....and that gives them the magic they want. I lower the distortion in my system so that I can run a solid state DAC right into my class D amp and get super NATURAL sound. When some people say "real" they are talking about a sound I would call colored. I once ran a solid state phono stage directly to my amp and then inserted a Modulus line stage (just the output stage....no pot, no switching, etc.). It sounded way more real with the tube in the chain. It was adding its own coloration....that made the music sound more real because I did not have a great source. Turns out that my Ariston turntable was real grainy and my phono stage was not great either. But if you tweak your system for super low distortion then the very latest class D can give you chills and thrills.