Class A or Class D solid-state amplifiers (modern designs)

You will pay a premium in TCO for a good power guzzling Class A amp. No need these days IMHO. So many practical and affordable and great sounding Class Ds in various kinds of integrated devices.  Class D is where it’s at these days and in the future.  Pick some and listen for yourself. Also consider features and practicality if that matters to you.

Lots of great Class D out there now.

Bel Canto.

Cyrus

AVM

NAD (okay)

Rogue

Just to name a few.

If I were in the market for a new amp, I'd definitely be looking at Atma-Sphere's new GaN class D monoblocks.  If there's anyone who will do class D justice, it's Ralph Karsten.  If they really give his tube amps a run for their money, then his class D might be very high level performers, and they aren't terribly expensive at $~5-6K.  For 2 channel, I've only owned one class D, the NAD C388.  It was very neutral, albeit a bit "dry" sounding in the treble, and perhaps a bit anemic in the midrange.  I don't think all class D is like that though.  It's all in the implementation, I have no doubt that some class D out there sound fantastic, I just have no interest in it at this point in the game.   

What is TCO?

TCO is total cost of ownership--I'm guessing he means power bill.