I’m with twoleftears, I’m always up for a thorough discussion on all the class D amps that owners think are noteworthy. I’m very satisfied currently with my 6 year old pair of D monoblocks but I’m constantly curious about the latest examples and I’m very interested in reading about opinions on them, whether from owners or those that have personally auditioned them.
I became a member here back in 2013, and if I recall correctly, that’s about the time that the newer, very high quality class D amps began becoming available. At that time, I remember there were a lot of forums from owners of various brands of these very high efficiency, small, lightweight and relatively affordable class D amps that were being extolled as also offering very good full frequency range performance.
These claims of very good full frequency range performance seemed to be a major point of disagreement on the forums at that time. The class D naysayers were typically proclaiming they were only suitable for bass amplification, sterile midranges lacking body along with bright and fatiguing treble.
Even as long ago as 2013, the class D amp advocates were proclaiming many of the latest D amps were much improved, powerful, dynamic with high quality full range performance, including the vary important midrange and treble frequencies, in their systems with a variety of speakers.
After reading many of these early forum discussions on the merits of class D amps, I was a bit perplexed and frustrated. Were these amps as good as described by many? Why was there such a polarization of viewpoints, with avid opinions on both pro and con explanations? Were these class D amps, being examples of newer advancements applied to a somewhat older technology, any good or not?
I finally realized I was unlikely to receive any objective answers to my questions by simply reading Audiogon and other audio forums about them. So, I decided I needed to just pick out a reasonably well performing and priced class D amp, purchase it on a free 30 day in-home trial basis and determine the technology’s viability for myself in my own system and room.
I bought my initial class D amp, a Class D Audio SDS-440-CS high powered stereo unit from a company in California, based on its generally favorable reviews and reasonable $540 price. To state I was impressed by this relatively small and lightweight amp would be a serious understatement. It easily outperformed my 2 prior decent quality and high powered class AB amps, an Aragon and a McCormack, in driving my Magnepan 2.7QR main speakers I used at that time.
So I finally had my answer, even a budget class D amp performed very well in my own, very important just to me, opinion. I was definitely impressed, but somewhat unexpectedly, this only made me more curious about the practical applications of this new to me class D technology. As a result, I fairly quickly decided to purchase a few more D amps to see just how good higher priced and quality examples might perform. I next bought a stereo Emerald Physics EP100.2SE unit and then a pair of monoblock D-Sonic M3-600-M amps.
My main points? The D-Sonics are the best performing class D amps I’ve used to date, Just like twoleftears, however, I’m still curious about new advancements in class D amp technology in general and I welcome any reasonable forum discussions on the subject.
I also suggest, for any others uncertain about the performance level provided by class D amps in general, that individuals don’t rely on taking mine or anyone else’s opinion on the topic.
Instead, I recommend individuals take advantage of one of the numerous class D amp company offers, of no risk free in-home trial periods, and just decide on the merits of the class D amp or amps for themselves.
Tim