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Competitive class D amp suggestions

I have been Class D fun since a few years ago when i bought my first class D amp. I like the concept, in general, and all the attractive features of this class of amplifiers. I tried 4 different ones, currently i  stayed with one of them that i consider to be the best among all four amps. I do enjoy and like it. At the same time,  my 5 watts SET amplifier (with more than 100 times higher distortion according to the specs) gives more natural and (surprisingly) notably cleaner sound (THD of the class D amp is 0.001). The soundstage  of the class D amp is not so bad but that of the tube one is still better.   

I remain attracted by class D amps though. 

Any fresh suggestions on reasonably priced class D amps (i mean excluding  non-reasonably priced class D amps, e.g., Merrill amplifiers)?

Any comments on non-reasonably priced class D amps are also welcome (so far i was not able to audition many class D amps and am curious if there are some which could really compete with Class A). 

128x128niodari
mbmi's avatar
mbmi
534 posts
 

For high efficient speakers the Mono blocks and for medium to lower efficient speakers , get the Ultra Starkrimson ...according to Leo at Orchard Audio....  And he always answers the phone....

raulvandyk
1 posts
 

Try Martin Logan Forte. Such an amazing tool and amplifier.

pwdmark's avatar
pwdmark
33 posts
 

Jeff Rowland Model 125. A friend just purchased a pair for his Maggie's and loves them.

smargo's avatar
smargo
51 posts
 

for you to say that the peachtree is far behind the purifi is kinda ridiculous - this has not been my experience - at least compared to the nad purifi. i thought what sounds better in the long term  - is the most important criteria - 

niodari's avatar
niodari OP
299 posts
 

Thanks everybody for your comments and passion to class D amps, a challenging alternative way of sound reproduction. 

Analyzing your suggestions, if i am not mistaken, Jeff Rowland Model 125 is ICE Powered. Since I already had an ICE Powered amp, this might not be an attractive option for  me (given that this amp not cheap, perhaps just good-looking). 

Peachtree GAN 400 can be an interesting choice. I have emailed them a few days ago, did not get an answer (not a nice way to "answer" questions). Then i called them. They say that  they do not ship outside US or something similar (a bit inflexible answer, i would say). Orchard Audio GaN mono blocks is an alternative  (also less expensive) option . I just emailed them. 

As to Rogue Hydra and Dragon amps, Hydra's power would be fine for me unless Dragon sounds different. Somebody mentioned AGD Audion monoblocks. Both, Rogue and ADG are hybrid, AGD is about twice more expensive and twice or more times lighter, do they sound better? 

Honestly, I am not too convinced with an idea to combine tubes with SS in one unit. If I want tubes, I go and listen to my tube amps. 

My homework turns out to be not easy -  I may end up with buying nothing.  

Anyways, your further inputs and highly appreciated!

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