Which Class D Amplifier? PS Audio, Ghent, Nord, Merrill or other???

I want to hear a GaN amp with the higher switching frequency and a higher low pass filter. The manufacturer trying to confuse people with the "tube" doesn't pass.

The manufacturer trying to confuse people with the "tube" doesn't pass.

It's not really a tube, just the bottle of one with the GaN module stuffed into it. I think he regrets doing it as he did say,

"Company founder Alberto Guerra admitted that he did it largely for the sake of visual aesthetics. “Otherwise a class-D amp just looks like a box,” he said. The amp uses gallium nitride MOSFET output transistors, which Guerra says switch faster and allow the amp to have a noise floor in the -120 to -130dB range. Power is rated at 200W into 4 ohms."

Cheers George

     I agree the glass tube containing the GaN module is a bit goofy.

     But I think something like this on a class D amp, a convenient location where some type of plug-in is inserted to change the amp's sound characteristics using a variety of purchased opamps or dsp chips, might be kinda cool.  Like Nord but more convenient/accessable.
     Maybe they could offer 'Classic Tube Sound', 'Flea Watt SET Sound with SS Bass', 'Lamm Tube Amp', "McIntosh', 'Pass Labs SS Amp', etc.
     They could also have a class D preamp with these plug-ins so one could match various preamp qualities imparted to various amp sounds and tailor the sound just to their liking.
     I  think this type of technology could be feasible in the near future.

Tim
      

What's the general opinion of the Kharma MP150? It got rave reviews when it came out, but at this point the amplifier is 10+ years old. I presume it's been given updates over the years. One reviewer claimed it bested the darTzeel stereo amplifier.

Kevin T

kgturner,

     I don't know what the general opinion of those following this thread is but my opinion is that these mono blocks are excellent amps.
     Kharma, mainly a hi-end speaker and cable seller at the time, introduced their first  class D amps  (the MP150 and MP350) in 2007. Kharma owner, Bruce Oosterum, collaborated with class D UcD inventor, Bruno Putzeys,  on these UcD based amps.
     Putzeys had claimed to be able to bend the sound of any class of amp, be it A, AB or D, to his will.  So the design goals for the new Kharma amps was to make them sound like a tube amp in mid and high frequencies and retain class D's traditional excellent bass response. 
     As you stated, according to the reviews of the MP150 from The Absolute Sound, Stereophile and 6 Moons at the time, they were very successful.
     Around 2010, I heard a pair of MP150 mono blocks driving a set of Magnepan 20.1s playing vinyl and it sounded spectacular.  I wanted to buy a pair for my Magnepan 2.7qrs but the price was too steep for me at that time; about $7K/pr. if I remember correctly.
     I'm very satisfied with the much newer and higher powered D-Sonic class D mono blocks I'm now using with my Magnepans but I wouldn't be surprised if a pair of the Kharma MP150 monos, even a 10 yr old used pair, sounded just as good or possibly better.  However, I heard them on the top Magnepan speakers which isn't really apples to apples, either. 
     I'm also not sure whether Kharma has updated the MP150 over the years.  I think Kharma has since offered an MP1000 model amp that is class A/AB.

Tim