Class D for a Tube Lover


First, I'm sure this has been asked many times but searching the subject wasn't too helpful to me.

So apologies in advance.

I enjoy tubed electronics and class A amps, which tend to be a bit warm.  My current Cary 805s warm my small (12x16) music room even in the cool/cold of winter.  I've got other amps that don't produce much heat, but am looking for something that produces no heat.  Living in a home with no central AC the room gets uncomfortably hot during the summer months.

So...I'd like to try some Class D amps.  Stereo or mono is just fine.  And my speakers aren't difficult to drive so I don't need a thousand watts.  But if that thousand watt amp sounds great, I'm not adverse to that, either.

I'd like to keep the price under 2k used.  

Please help.

Thanks.


128x128audiodwebe
Having been among the very first to order a Voyager, well over 1 year ago, and having heard the many reports that it would be ready by X date, I would not hold my breath that it will be released by the end of May


Now, what you might do is check out what EVS is doing with the Purifi or Rogue amps as a possible stopgap, or just to chill with for several years, if not longer. Many of you know, I bought his EVS 1200 based on IcePower dual mono AS1200 class D modules, and still extremely happy that I did so

http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Purifi_amp_mods.html
hth
I have 20 pairs.
Do you listen to music or just hardware?

So an amp that’s able to drive a good variety of speakers is a must.
As with tube amps, the loudspeaker completes the drive circuit in Class D albeit with different characteristics and by different electrical properties.

Hence one loudspeaker may be chalk while another equally fine product may be cheese with the same amplifier. The exact opposite condition can arise with a different amplifier and the same loudspeakers.
One more PS Audio recommendation. I picked up an older Trio C-100 Integrated amp a few years ago, and recently tried it in my system. It’s actually a really nice sounding amp, and I paid $550 for it (in mint condition). EDIT - by "nice" I mean competitive as a high-end amp. There are a couple companies that offer mods/upgrades that (supposedly) sound even better, too. Underwood HiFi still provides it’s upgrade services on the amp, actually. It is a pretty rare find, but if you can snag one it would be a relatively cheap foray into class D territory.
Thanks for the suggestions.  I didn't realize PS Audio's catalogue had Class D amps.  I guess I never really thought about it until the heat the Cary's created in my music room even this early in springtime where it's still a bit cool to chilly outside got me a bit concerned.  I've had them for probably 4-6 months so not during the summertime.  They will not be in use in another few months.

I've got more amps but they're either tubed or Class A, for the most part.  I do have one amp that I haven't used in a long time that might not generate heat but I honestly do not recall.  May try that one out first after the temperature in the PNW rises.  BTW, it's a Marsh A400S.  And I've got the matching preamp P2000T so that just might be the ticket.  The other preamps I have are both tubes (though small tubes so not too much heat generated).

I realize component matching can be an issue but I'm of the mind that any  component with reasonable quality will play fairly nicely with other components.  I don't think I've ever inserted a piece of gear into my system which caused it to totally suck.  Different?  Sure.  But suck?  Not really.  Maybe I've been lucky or I'm not a critical listener.

I think I listen to music as opposed to hardware.  But I do have a lot of gear.  I just like the stuff. 

Do any of us "need" more than one of anything, really?