I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

erik, your main point makes perfect sense, and should regardless of new kit.

I would not make a buying decision on a unbroken in product of any kind (what audiophile would?). While I currently enjoy my AA DPA-1, I also bought a pair of PS Audio M700s that were likely sold for the very reason you state.

When I quizzed the seller, he said they had < 100 hours. BUT, several reviews indicated that they needed closer to 200 hours and then were pretty darn good, especially at $3K MSRP, let alone what I paid for them.

Alas, many claas D amps haven't gotten the interest from review magazines.  Still I didn't evaluate either of amps until > 100 hours break in, then another 100 using various mixing break in discs through the entire system. In both cases after 200+ hours, they got even better

Hey Folks.  This journey includes late 70's ss McIntosh MC2200 (ugh) // Electrocompaniet Ampliwire II ..the starting period of good sounding sand // modded hybrid Moscode 300 with great NOS tubes - less truthful but nice tube magic // Muse 160 with Marigo tuning dot treatment - a bit zippy but worth the try, not the answer  ///  my sealed Salk monitors like power .. now what?  For 3 years I had been on the lookout for a super clean NAD M2, the entry reference M Series, single box dac/pre/power that received consistently amazing press across many reviews.  Once found, after taming a horrid ringing box and and silencing everything but the dac, this, by far, is the best amp in my system.  Having gone to great lengths to lower the noise floor of my system (see posts,) the M2 drives subs deeply and cleanly, polishes the mid bass up through the mids with tone, dynamics and flesh; then tosses shimmer and sweetness to the top end.  No single strength stands out and an abundance of micros are displayed in a calm, collected manner, as in real life.  I probably listen 4 plus hours per day easily, finishing my day with top shelf playback of high resolution streaming or carefully selected ripped lossless files.  No muss, fuss nor strain...calm.  Three of my friends have built NCore D amps in the last few years.  All three have or have had high end tube amps along the way and enjoy their NCore in their main systems.  I have a euro friend that loves his Devialet Class D after lots of researching, mated with his Vivid Giya loudspeakers.  If you are handy, the NCore kits offer tremendous value and sound.  We live in exciting times.  More peace.  Pinthrift 

I did notice the amps sounded most excellent after about 30 minutes of on time. I did not hear any further changes after that.

For my part, the biggest change was in the first minute, right out of the box. Thereafter nothing terribly significant at any time. I will say that I'm quite impressed with recent offerings in the Class.

I always thought an amp needs to weigh 70 pounds with massive heat sinks and class D was sterile even though I never heard one.. I bought a used 2006 PS Audio HCA-2 with every mod Audio Reference Mods offered. It was cheap and was going in second system. I could not believe how fast and musical it is. It sounds like tubes in my system almost like a  el84 amp but 150 watts, I am using a tube  Preamp. The detail this amp pull out still amazes me eveytime I listen to it. It took 5 days for it to fill out but when it did it became big, tight and very fast with loads of information, I leave it on 24/7. This amp opened my eyes what digital can do, I'm not a digital snob anymore. I'm now wanting to look at more current digital amps to see what there all about, mine is quiet but you do hear a little noise if you put your ear close to speaker.

I own many types of amps, different types of tube amps, different A/B amps, including the much referred to Benchmark AHB2 (which is actually A/B/H) and big classA Gryphon Mephisto monos...
I have no classD amp to date, but do believe that, given the proper design and parts, they are the future of amplification.
I have seen many good classD amps mentioned in the thread, but I dont think I've noticed anyone make mention of the relatively new Japanese brand called Spec. These are the very example of what classD can be; better than many high end amps, whether tubes or SS!!