Discussion of Class D Amps Application & Experiences

As long as it's what I hear not what I assume I hear while looking at it. 

It is all about trusting yourself. Back in the late 70s my friend knew the owner of Sumiko (who imported Supex cartridges, among other things)....so he borrowed 10 brand new Supex cartridges and we mounted each on on a universal head shell and put a number on each one with masking tape. We spent all day listening over and over again to each one.....and all three of us in the room agreed on which ones sounded best. A couple were not very good at all.....most were in the middle and three were at the top......and one was clearly the best. The frequency readout sheets that came with each cartridge showed practically the same response on each one......which had no correlation with the sound they gave. Once you do these kinds of listening tests with others in the room (all of whom are open minded) then you really start to trust what you hear.

I have been mind blown several times over the years.....I would think this "MU Metal" cable cannot sound good.....no way.....then it does sound good.....of course, there are way better cables now than those Lindsay-Geyer cables......

I sure hope that today’s cartridges are less variable than those made back then....BTW, we did the same test with 5 Fidelity Research cartridges and they all sounded different, as well.

All audios journeys are tied to dollars and rooms

My room is huge volumetrically speaking: ~ 20 x 40 x 12ft peak in open beam ceiling, front wall is 70% glass floor to ceiling, while the back wall is actually 3 sided all glass from floor to ceiling, plus up/down stairwell in the middle of one long wall, all of which add up to needing more umph to load this room.

Approximately 3-4 years ago I purchased Emerald Physics KCIIs knowing they would be out of their depth, BUT, they came with a BOM (bass management) and I already had 2 @ 12" SVS powered subs, whose volume controls are the WORST, driving the amps to play WAY too loud when barely cracked, and was hoping the BOM would solve it, but no bueno. I even have an pair of EVS attenuators, which I tried on the SVS sub inputs running their built in VC at full volume, but adjusting the attenuators starting low, again no bueno.

Various Class D amps included Emerald Physics 100.2 SE monos with upgraded fuses, but they didn’t do it for me, followed by Audio Alchemy DPA-1, followed by PS Audio M700s, which did a very good job, and I would have kept them longer, BUT, they are stock, AND, at that time (a year ago?) Ric introduced the EVS 1200, which was only a couple hundred dollars more then what I knew I could sell the M700s for. For me that was a no brainer, whether I need all that power or not, it is a hot rod of Rics tweaking abilities. And, I totally agree that bigger power supplies can be HUGE on smaller wattage amps

The 1200 combined with the 3.4s is quite magical on quality recordings, but lower bass is still missing IN THIS ROOM. I have been impatiently waiting for EP 2.8s which are 97db when single amped. The speakers are arranged in D’Apolito each with 2 @ 15" carbon fiber woofers in addition to the same 12" carbon fiber concentric driver/ polyester tweeter as in my 3.4s. Once they’re in the system, I could evaluate your Purifi amp, and am still in line for the LSA Voyager GaN amp MSRP $3000 for 200/400wpc: I am told it has a bigger PS than needed for the same reasons Ric mentioned. It is possible that the EVS 1200 could eventually be used for the bass and one of these amps for the mids/tweeters (be still my beating heart). In this case possible likely means probable

https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/lsa-electronics

hth

maybe for 2 grand i would take a flyer and try a 'creme de la creme' class d amp

for 5-8-10 grand, no thank you - just don't care enough to LOL

curious but not THAT curious

not like my Odyssey, VAC and Audio Research amps aren't leaving me feeling something is lacking

I agree with you. Part of the appeal of class "D", at least to me, is the huge price differential. If you have to spend an amount equal to my class A/B well then.......