Class D Technology

I am very happy with my Wyred4sound MarkII poweramp.
I am driving Wilson Sophia speakers.

Just received a new pair of Theta Digital Prometheus mono blocks to replace my Simaudio amps. They were a little more money than some other class d amps,but so far I am very impressed with them.

The Esoteric I-03 Class D integrated is one of the best implementations of a Class D integrated amplifier ever made!  BOLD WORDS for a stellar integrated.  MSRP was $12,000.00.

With all that said, I don’t think the snobby audiophiles went for it.

To my ears it is without equal!

I have used the Bel Canto Ref600 mono amps for almost 5 years now, currently driving a pair of ATC SCM 19v2 loudspeakers. 99.9% of the time I don’t detect any issues with their performance. Perhaps that 0.1% anomaly could be attributed to their Class D design, but I can’t say with absolute certainty. What I can say is I agree with what some others have said concerning the synergy between the amps and loudspeakers (a relatively flat impedance curve is optimal), and power source and power cables also come into play. I am pretty discerning and sensitive to the quantity of the sound of my system, and I have tried other amps, but the fact that I continue to stick with the Bel Canto Ref600 mono amps for almost 5 years now speaks for itself. Their sound quality was only reinforced after I purchased their new E1X controller/DAC. So I guess you could say I am biased, but as the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”, and I am really enjoying my system.

Happy listening, and remember to enjoy the music!

if it weren't for efficiency & power, would there be any reason to own a Class D amp?

Class D amps rock the category of watts per dollar, which makes them a good choice for powered subwoofers where the goal is control and damping of large drivers while imaging and spatial information doesn't matter.

Do they beat Class A in any other categories that count for sound quality?

Power and control, both of which are harder to achieve economically with Class A.  Otherwise, Class D does not beat Class A in my experience comparing Class A Lamm M1.2s and Clayton M300s with Class D Ncore NC1200 via Acoustic Imagery.  I owned all of those amps and compared them directly in my system over an extended period.  The Class A amplifiers were way better at portraying music naturally and believably, which seemed to relate to the spatial representation of the individual sounds and instruments.  The NC1200 amps also did not beat better Class AB amps, IME.  Better sound quality seems to be the current goal of Class D designers, with pockets of manufacturers and owners claiming that certain topologies and products are getting closer or achieving the goal but so far, the marketplace has not seemed to fully agree in the long term.