Hello @pokey77... Yep, looks like I have missed this happily brawling "class struggle" all together *Grins!*
Or perhaps this a "religious" argument?! Like in.... How many comparators can dance on the head of a pin?
Or is this the eternal fairy tale of "Princess and the Class D pea?
Reality is that if anyone is wondering if class D amplifier development has reach maturity, they need not look at any nebulous future.... That future is, quite comfortably, right here and now. Of course, this might mean taking stock of reality, open ears, eyes, and minds, and drop dearly beloved preconceived pseudoscientific notions of inherent superiority of any class of operation over any other one. Just go out there and start listening to music and systems.... And I mean, LISTEN WITH YOUR EARS".... Put back stats, graphs, and spreadsheet into the closet, where they belong.... Eventually you might realize that what moves you is not whats inside the box, nor what the box looks like, nor how much it costs.... But just what that box does for living, and the beauty of the music it is capable of conveying.
Rare are the amps that not only deliver the main content of the music with resolution and precision, but have enough subtlety to let you experience the thought and emotion of the composer and the performer.... And even fewer that let you glimpse into the hesitations and misgivings that the performer might be having about the music.
I have experienced this rare magic from amps of most all classes or topology.... Be they tubed, such as the AudioResearch Reference series amps, SS like the Soulution amps, or certain class D amps like the Merrill Element 118, the Rowland M535 bridgeable and my beloved M925 monos.
I am currently evaluating a pair of Rowland M535 bridgeable amplifiers for which I am preparing a detailed scribbling to be posted on Audiogon. I am absolutely stunned by the coherence of their presentation, the musicality of the tembre, the vastness of the stage, the concreteness of images,
the complexity of the harmonic exposure, the abscence of distortive artifacts in complex and simple passiages alike, the living silence between the notes, the majesty of their authority, the tunefulness of the entire audible spectrum from deep bass to high treble, the elegant luminosity of the overall presentation, and last but not leas the sheer emotionality of what I hear. If they costed $46K for the pair I would merely call them splendid.... Yet, M535 lists at a smidgeon below $6K per chassis.... I scratch my head trying to find the right word to define what I am experiencing.
M535 is not simply "Good for a class D amplifier"..... It truly is instead, a magnificent instrument for making music, regardless of its class of operation. Ah yes, in case you wondered, it runs as cool as a proverbial cuke, as it appears to be approximately 97% efficient.
Nor what Jeff Rowland is achieving with class D amplifiers comes in isolation. Last spring I had the privilege of having in my system an early prototype of the Merrill Element 118 monoblocks.... different house sound from Rowland, but also enormously captivating, with wonderful dynamics and subtlety all their own. As what I tested whas a prototype with some crucial parts of the audio path not completely finalized, I can't voice any conclusive findings... Except for having the feeling that the final product is something definitely worth considering.
Saluti, G.