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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
niodari's avatar
niodari OP
305 posts
 

@kuribo , thanks for your input on Peachtree Gan 400. It is important to have different opinions here and your arguments seem reasonable.  

 

 

phishhhhh4's avatar
phishhhhh4
119 posts
 

ps audio having a great sale on their m1200 monos now for month of may

vinylzone
288 posts
 

How is the PS Audio Gear? 

I also had a Stellar S300 for around a year.  Drove my Maggies flawlessly, always ran cool, and it was a steal at that price.  I replaced it with a Bryston 4B SST2 that fell into my lap at a price I couldn't resist.  I am sorry that I sold the S300, but used the proceeds for another upgrade.

niodari's avatar
niodari OP
305 posts
 

@orchardaudio and @atmasphere thank you for your comments and the link. I read them with an interest, they sound convincing. 

Class D offers a way around that, by allowing for profound amounts of feedback that is very difficult to do even with modern devices in AB circuits! With such high amounts of feedback its possible to build an amp that is both low in distortion while relaxed and detailed better than the best tube amps. To some this last statement might seem a bit weird but the experience of amps with low distortion not sounding all that good is common. At this point (and take this from someone who has been at this over 50 years) I'm very convinced that tube power amps are on borrowed time.

This is a very strong and challenging statement, especially from a tube amplified producer (i appreciate it very much). I did believe in this a few years ago. Nevertheless, so far, as mentioned earlier in this thread, i did not find a class D amp that sounds as good as  my 5 watts tube SET class A amp. Perhaps, Orchard and Atmosphere  already produce such class D amplifiers... 

@orchardaudio and @atmasphere, do you expect to have a further breakthrough is the design of your class D amps in near future? 

I realized that i don't have an answer on the following (perhaps stupid, forgive me) question. Would it make a sense to combine somehow GaN transistors  with Purifi modules in a single amplifier? 

celestial__sound
102 posts
 

Primare makes some great Class D amplifiers, they do not have the coldness some class D amplifiers might have. Indeed they sound liquid, have the clarity and the black bacground. Aavaik makes some great class D amplifiers as well but at a much higher price point. 

However, nothing can replace a Pass Labs class A amplifier weighting 100lbs having 2KVA power supply, be sure about that.

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