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The NAD M33 will cancel your complaints about Class D

There are many reasons to like one type of sound over another. Even among what are considered very good amplifiers there’s a broad range of tastes and preferences among audiophiles. Just ask a SET aficionado!

However, no class is more maligned, inappropriately, than Class D. To hear some regulars tell it, Class D sound will thin your blood, make your teeth fall out and ruin your enjoyment of just about everything because it sounds so (fill in a lot of tropes from the 1980’s here).

I’ve been listening to NAD’s prior collaboration with Bruno Putzy and I can tell with some confidence that none of those tired old tropes apply. For reasons related much more to tonal balance than anything else, I’m sticking with Class A/B in my main system, but with the introduction of the next gen Anthem AVR receivers and the NAD M33 I may be making the switch back to class D.

You don’t have to like the M33 or the Anthem’s but can we at least agree that it’s time to retire the old guard of reasons not to buy Class D? Lets lay those poor phantoms to rest.
erik_squires
spenav
416 posts
 
I am using a Nuprime ST10 class D and have no complaint. 
wolfie62
352 posts
 
I don’t pull enough watts to justify a class D amp. Just to be buying a new amp? Really?

No thanks.
gtahan
7 posts
 
I have been using class D for almost five years now (Devialiet 400 mono block) and I haven't heard anything better in the class A/B till now.

I believe it is a matter of taste rather than good or bad. 
reven6e
44 posts
 
I have had two Devialets, previous NAD generation and various other class D bits and pieces. Can’t stand them for that very reason: tonal balance. Nothing wrong with them. So I disagree. D is not yet there. High end is not about class D yet. 
reven6e
44 posts
 
Admittedly I haven’t heard the M33, the latest Lyngdorf or any other Eigentakt hardware. But reading Darko’s review (not first person experience, agreed), one word strikes a cord: out of the box the amplifier sounds a bit lean. Darko had to make good use of Dirac to get it to play to his taste.

And I remember my days with Devialet and WA Duettes. One had to buy the garden hose variety power cord because Devialet was very fussy about mains quality. A power regenerator would be even better. Only Transparent Reference would do as a digital cable. A lot of people would vouch for Entreq grounding products. Silly expensive speaker cables (I had to get to 15K Transparent Reference XXL to bear the sound) but even then, sitting down, I would end up dissecting and reasoning, not enjoying the music. 

A clear trend emerged where people would go to great lengths and spend silly money to convince themselves that this class D or that was the bees knees and they really enjoyed the sound when in fact they would equalise, filter and tune the sound to try and compensate for the inherent class D flaws. 
Also the Devialet was an absolute nightmare for all other Hi-Fi components - I think it was injecting a lot of junk in the mains. Even my TV was suffering, until I got a power plant. 

Someone hasn’t heard anything better than his/ her Devialet. Have they tried a Gryphon Diablo, a Pass Int or any number of other serious integrated A/B amps? Maybe and of course in the end it’s all a matter of taste.


 I would certainly love to have an anorexic, slim, cool and power efficient amp, possibly an all in one solution to get rid of all the big, heavy and geeky looking boxes in the lounge (no, I am not into HiFi porn). Devialet would have been my ultimate Hi-Fi system if it would have delivered ultimate sound. Everything else was superb, if bling. I sold it within 6 months of trying, really trying to convince myself I was enjoying its sound. 
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