From one experiment to the next...

...so, just finished a month with a class D amp (XTZ A2-300). Not bad, but after I relaxed and compared it to my Nuforce STA200, I found it lacked a certain juiciness, or fullness. I don’t find the Nuforce overly warm, but I’ve always like the amp for its full articulate bass and balance across the spectrum, good soundstage, very natural sound. It always drew me in. We talk about the musicality of equipment; the Nuforce has it, the XTZ presented music but I was less interested, less drawn in, less caught up in the synergy of the presentation, as it lacked some of this. Incidentally, the XTZ presents micro details. I felt I could detect the recording space in many CD’s I tested, but there was something pinched or compressed about the vocals in some recordings and the Nuforce developed singing voices with more fullness.

So, I’m pondering my speakers, rated at 98db efficiency, and operating at 4ohms and down to 3.1, which means I can run a 6 watt amp and achieve 104db. I’m not open to an amp that can heat a room. This was one of the standards employed in pursuing the XTZ - the low heat. I ponder tubes but they run hot and I keep hearing they are not great with (low) ohm loads.

So, what do you recommend? I have brought this up before, but I’m refining my insight into the challenge and have experimented a little, so now I’m wondering what might work well in my next experiment. It is possible to go back into the class D arena, but I want a totally realized musical presentation, if that makes sense: nothing pinched, nor thin; I want a very real and full vocal range, etc. etc. You know.

One that comes to mind is the Schiit Aegir, but I also hear it runs hot...