Class D is just Dandy!

Hi Erik,

i had home demoed a Peachtree Audio Nova 125 SE and a Rogue Audio Sphinx v2. Although I wasn't able to do a side by side comparison, from what I recalled, the Red Dragon sounded the best. I also had my old Qinpu A1.0x integrated that I had in my system immediately prior to inserting the Red Dragon and it was definitely the better of the two.  Of the 4 amplifiers, the Red Dragon had the best overall sound and the most enjoyable sound.

At some point (perhaps Black Friday deals?) I would like to upgrade my DAC, and the preamplifier since both are low budget (but decent)  components. But I figured I could build the system piece by piece as the budget allowed. I'm just very grateful that I was able to obtain the amplifier that had won so many accolades!

Hi autre,

     Congrats on choosing the Red Dragon S500 stereo amp.  A very fine example of a class D amp done right.  It utilizes the newer Pascal S-Pro-2 power module that is also utilized in the Jeff Rowland 525 bridgeable stereo amp and the Rowland Continuum 2 integrated and the Gato Audio integrated.  

     These modules have an enhanced and patented class D technology named UMAC, which  integrates the Switching Mode Power Supply (SMPS) with the  Switching Output Stage on one board and not on separate boards like the high-end Hypex NCore amp implementations in which the Hypex NCore 1200 SMPS  and NCore 1200 Output Stage are on separate boards.   This integration enables the Pascal S-Pro-2 to be the most compact 1,000 watt class D professional amp module on the market.

     More importantly, however, is how does this Red Dragon S500 implementation of the Pascal S-Pro-2 power module combined with Red Dragon's custom input buffer stage actually sound?  From the many reviews I've read  on this amp at 6Moons, Dagogo and Audioholics, along with your very positive reports, it's abundantly clear this is a high performance amp.  

     Unfortunately, I've not yet been able to audition this amp in my system although I was very close to buying a pair of Red Dragon M500 MKII  mono-blocks based on their excellent reviews and the very cool Red Dragon logo that lights up on the front of each amp when active (in red of course).  The black units were out of stock at the time and I decided to buy a pair of D-Sonic M600 mono-blocks instead.

      I've been very pleased with the D-Sonics but would still love to try the M500s or S500 in my system just to determine if I made the right choice.
 
     My current opinion is that these are all very good class D amps that I'd be pleased with in my system.

     I'm continuing to enjoy learning about and understanding each individual amp/tree in the exciting and constantly improving class D forest.

      I've also continued to fail to detect even a whiff of a sniff of an inkling of any sonic anomalies in any of my 4 class d amps caused by their mid 500 Khz switching frequencies.

     Is the 'Wonder From Down Under' still propagating his unsubstantiated and debunked theory that class D switching frequencies need to be over 3 Ghz to avoid sonic anomalies in the audible range that no known human has ever claimed to have actually heard?

Enjoy autre,

  Tim

Recommended Components: 2017 Edition Integrated Amps & Receivers
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-2017-edition-integrated-amps-receivers#6e... 

Sterophile has two picked two “Class D” integrated amps to receive their highest “A” rating for 2017.

i own one of them; the Classe Sigma 2200i.  Great sounding amp and massive power output 200W x 2 into 8ohms and 400W x 2 into 4ohms.  Clean, sweet, refined sound with tone controls, room equalization, network streaming, internal DAC, AirPlay...blah, blah, blah,  

Thanks for the link @sfseay

Best,

E

Although I am the happy owner of a class A tube beast that weighs almost as much as me, I'm curious about class D amps. I'm not getting any younger and handling my amplifier by myself is becoming an impossible task. Not to mention the heat and the cost of maintenance.
I've been looking at some class D amps from Ghent Audio, Temple Audio and Class D Audio. I'd like to buy something under or at around $1000.
Ghent Audio uses the ICEPower and the other two are using the Tripath.
What are the main differences? Does anyone compared any of these three brands? 
Opinions?