Recently purchased ARC DS225 Class D amplifier as a secondary (summer amp and live in Texas) to my ARRC VS115 tube amp. Have not been a fan of Class D, however, the ARC DS225 sounds amazing. Not much heat coming off and has balance inputs. Seems ARC designed to have the same sound signature though you can tell it is not tubes.
Class D amps that are superior to all or most?
Recently, I have heard about some Class D amps that may be close to the best there is regardless of class. Certainly, this technology has been in development for decades. The main issue has always been the switching power supply. In this regard, I have taken notice of AGD. They have created a whole new power supply that “switches” at a frequency 100 times the normal silicon based MOSFET. The designer uses a gallium nitride based PS. Interesting, it is enclosed in the KT88 glass envelope that sits on top of his amps. I am aware of two more pricey amps that seem to be also at the top- the Solution and the Merrill. There must be others that compete for the title. After my thread, “Is there a SS amp that can satisfy a SET guy?”, I am still on the quest.
Don’t want to spend $50K!
Don’t want to spend $50K!
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Digital Amplifier Company Cherry Amplifiers. Lots of opinions here on Agon. If you have a negative one, you’re entitled to it, I will give you that. In the end, the only person impacted, is the one who didn’t choose to audition one for themselves. The real winner is the one who discovers a product due to another’s recommendation. |
@atmasphere ralph good luck in your work to launch the amps in the event you want some consumer testing/trial, i'd be happy to help i don’t have torture-chamber speakers to drive (mostly british monitor types - harbeths, proacs bigger and smaller, spendor, also spatial m3s, vandy 3a sigs, fritz monitors and of course old stand by esl63’s), then have quite a few traditional ss and tube amps to compare, ranging from several arc, lta zotl40, air tight, carver 275, pass/fw, hegel, devialet and w4s class d... |
It strikes me that the one other contender not yet mentioned in this thread is the LKV Veros PWR+. https://www.lkvresearch.com/lkv-veros-power-plus.html It's been very well reviewed, but I don't know how many units are out there in the field. |
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