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

yes there are uber expensive class D amps that may or may not be any better than Nord, but here in the USA, PS Audio is leading the way with their Ice Power M700s ($2998 @ 350/700w the pair!) and matching Stellar Gain Cell Dac/Pre $1699, plus 2 trusted names,  EVS and Atmosphere will soon debut their offerings

I just hooked up the PSA GC dac/pre to compare to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5 power supply ($1995 + $650)

next week I will hook up the M700s to compare to my AA DPA -1 stereo amp

Report:

First I hooked up the PSA M700s with my AA DDP-1 and finally a PS 5 power supply. Why these were ever sold separately is a mystery as the PS 5 unleashes the DDP-1s true potential

My big issue in getting the M700s was the small but mighty AA DPA-1 just wasn’t driving my big ass room, so... enter the M700s. I was told by the seller they had maybe 200 hours, and I’ve read that 300 begins to reveal their wonderfulness. They’ve been powering the EP KCIIs since Saturday evening. And yes, my room needed that double the power, but possibly Edge 1200s will be in my future, but as of last night when I spun Diana Krall Impulse: WOW

Texture in spades, expansive and sweet sound reminiscent of Rogue M 150s with cryoed tubes; along wth ample power. I hear zero nasties unless recorded on the cd, and boy I can really hear how poorly mastered some cds are

At 4k the pair, GaN can wait

So AA is for sale, but not because the PSA blows it away, although it does in this room

tweak1:
"I hear zero nasties unless recorded on the cd, and boy I can really hear how poorly mastered some cds are."

Hello tweak1,

    I'm glad you like the initial sound of your new PSA 700M amps. My class D amps have only improved in sq over time.
     Some of the main and most obvious characteristics of good class D amps are their neutrality, low distortion and low background noise level. These qualities combined together results in a highly transparent and detailed presentation that is very revealing. As you're aware, good recordings sound amazingly good but bad recordings sound obviously bad, too. 
     However, I don't think anyone would describe the accuracy of good class D amps as a downside. I believe a person can be guilty of being too truthful and honest but not an audio amp.
     Some may prefer a less revealing amp that doesn't so clearly demonstrate the poor recording quality of some of their musical content. It is frustrating to discover some of your music was not well mastered and recorded.  But I still prefer the accurate and honest attributes because the good recordings sound so incredibly good.
     Unfortunately, good recordings of good music are not as abundant as I'd like but that's a whole related subject that's justifiably been the topic of  other separate threads in the past.  

Tim

Tim, of course.

I have a few torture dics- Annie Lennox Annie Lennox (solo) Jennifer Nettles Playing With Fire and Wilson Philips. It had been a couple weeks since playing JN and although the poor recordings sucked, they sucked less, as the M700s were able to unravel more; or was it the dac in the Stellar GC... or was it that the amps took better control of my speakers..., or the large space, or some combination? Hard to tell 

Last night and this morning the XLO break in disc has been on repeat to expedite that final bit of break in. Probably should have done that from day one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMD-Dact-type-Stepped-attenuator-Passive-Preamplifier/192132688811?hash=ite...

Hey Guys,
Any thoughts on this guy's passive pre's?

I was looking at them, it seems he uses high quality SMD Dact style pots; but I'm a little skeptical because of the price. Is it possible the pots he uses are cheap "knock-offs"?
The price-point is really good; but it could be the hint as to what the product really is.
Has anyone tried one of these passives?

I was also looking at the Parasound Zpre3; seems really nice. But I wonder how neutral it is being that it's not a passive type preamp.

Thanks for your thoughts