Class D Technology

It’s just dead quiet ie very low noise floor seemingly. Not sure why or how. Its a characteristic of both my BEl Canto Class D amps, but is especially noticeable with the all digital C5i integrated (no tubes upstream).

Lots of good discussion here. Going back to OP, I would simply answer that there are few really good reasons to own any amp other than sound. 

Like others, I've owned and / or auditioned solid state, single ended, push-pull, OTL, Class A & A/B. Some behemoths, some hibachis. If the sound was good, I never spent much time thinking about efficiency, heat, form factor, etc.

I had a chance to audition Merrill Thor and Veritas and the sound convinced me. Both were better than anything I've heard before. I bought the Veritas and could not be happier, but the performance to price point on the Thor is simply incredible. Yeah, it's nice that the Class D amps are small, cool, efficient,etc, but in my experience there was no trade off in sonics - only improvement. 

I think it's more likely that taste may vary (YTMV) and that's OK. But if you value open, relaxed, quiet, highly dynamic with expansive soundstage, there is no reason IMO not to investigate Class D amplification.

It looks like Merrill is taking Hypex modules, putting them in beautiful cases with Cardas wiring, Cardas connectors, custom house brand power cable, & stillpoint feet...and putting a seal on the bottom of the case saying the warranty is void if the case is opened. Then their Veritas & Thor amps get reviewed and the reviewers claim that the sound is as good as amps costing 2-3 times as much. I don't doubt that Hypex is state of the art, but these appear to be clone amplifiers.    

seanhesist I wouldn't call Merrill amps clones. It’s like baking a cake, taking ingredients and doing your own implementation to get the taste/sound you want. I know Merrill also uses high end fuses and yes I’ve heard them and they are super sounding amps. I could not detect any faults but will say it was mated to a tube pre-amp which can make or break the sound of some class D amps IMO. I'm now a believer.

Quite some years ago, I purchased a pair of Bel Canto REF-1000.

It ended up being my absolute worst purchase in my 30+ years in this hobby.

I understand of course that those class "D" designs have much improved since.

Still, I could not bring myself even today to even remotely give D another shot.