Eric, i thought feedback was something to create the gain. I am too far from this field, but will try to have a look on some books (e.g. why the feedback is unavoidable).
Could something similar to switching waveform be used to create a correct and accurate digital signal from the source analog signal and "amply it digitally" without any distortion? Is there no way to amplify a digital signal directly from the digital sources (e.g., CD player), what this would really mean? Then you will again need a DAC just to output the amplified digital signal to the speakers (but i understand that "amplified digital signal" cannot exist, a binary number cannot be amplified and that that the conventional amplification is analog).
I was not aware of Technics class D players which is interesting. Cherry amps are produced by a US company called Digital Amplifier Company (DAC), there should be some reason for this name.