Suggestions for Class D amplifiers with Marantz AV7704 and B&W cdm9nt combo for HT.

@caphill Class D amps are also analog if I am not mistaken.

Class D amps are binary, but not digital. Weird, right?

They are not "digital" because they lack an Analog to Digital conversion stage, however, the output stage switches between on and off.  The rate at which that switching happens is controlled entirely in the analog stage.

Best,
E

I am very very pleased with my two channel system using a Marantz AV8801 as a preamp to my Bel Canto 500m monoblocks. Also in an enclosed cabinet (Salamander), and I have no worries about heat. Prior to the bel cantos I used adcom and B&K amps (200wpc) and moved to the BCs for the extra power and the heat factor. I think the Marantz and Bel Canto work well together. B My cabling was all Nordost but I did change my speaker cables to Acoustic Zen Holograms for a fuller sound with the BCs. 

@geek101 

 I am not familiar with Apollon.  Have heard of Nord. But know nothing about them. Will check both out.  

@caphill  I admit I don't know as much as others here in A-gon, but as I understand it in the class D space - anemic presentation - is still a byproduct that hasn't been resolved to the same substance and - for lack of a better term - meatiness of  the AB class gear.  As stated - everything is better today even class D. Which makes it all the more difficult for guys like me with limited funds to make a decision that I need to live with for a duration vs changing out gears every few months or years.  And trying to figure out which amp goes with what speakers is a daunting task - albeit - part of the fun of audio. But with the advent of SO many more choices than there were just 15 years ago -- it makes it all the more complex an issue of finding what works and what doesn't.

@erik_squires 

Reliance on the SMEs in A-gon has been very helpful.  So thanks to all who take the time to contribute.

  

@lightfighter2018,

That's what I found with a W4S ST-500mkii. Super clean, authoritative bass, not shrill by any stretch but a lack of meat on the bones. The DAC-2 being used as a pre was probably a bad match for the sound I was after. A tube pre might have sounded better.

Also, Live Dirac room correction focuses images and sharpens the presentation a good deal. This brings out the teeth on every note in a SS pre and class D amp combo. I prefered the older Parasound class A/B. 

@caphill  

lacking body, volume, air, midrange bloom, full mid-bass & bass power and overall musicality in comparison to very high quality analog or class A & AB designs IMO. Class D can usually sound leaner thinner lacking body and volume and somewhat analytical and lacking that lush analog sound and don’t sound liquid and fluid as good class A & AB designs.  

 
Ladking power in the mid-bass/bass is just untrue, they amplify linearly, maybe compared to tube amps. Body, volume, air, and musically are all non-descript terms, stuff like poor channel separation, high noise floor, slow transient response, high distortion, etc. are all more useful. Describing a sound as dry or wet is just nonsense talk, like describing a television’s picture as feminine, it doesn’t mean anything.