NCore Vs. Purifi

So I have owned, Ice, Ncore, Purfi (NAD China licensed) and ended up going back to Class A A/B. Norma Revo IPA-140B. 

I found them all very lacking in depth and soundstage. A bit bright (speaker pairing more than likely the issue). Great detail but not enough to over look other deficiencies. 

Looking to try a GaN Class D from GATO.

I am not condemning Class D just did not work in my audio ecosphere. 

My Daughter-In-Law has a Kick Butt system that is all class D Merrill Audio and Sf speakers and it sounds awesome. My Son says it's just a stereo to him...LOL

I think Bel Canto has built some really good Class D amps I would certainly consider.  That said, I’d have to think the current VTV and GaN amps available today are a cut above.  When @ralph@atma-sphere.com is building digital amps, that says it all to me. 

Both my Hypex NCore NC400 Dual Mono Class D Power Amplifiers and my Mola-Mola Kaluga Class D Mono Power Amplifiers (NC1200) were very disappointing.  Neither amp sounded very musical nor very engaging.  

I eventually purchased the Ayre AX-5 Twenty amp and like it very much. The sound is different in that the sound is more natural and less exaggerated than my previous Class D amps. This is very hard to put into words. The sound is there with no artificial extra stuff around it.   My Ayre amp sounds like music with no extra stuff in the way if that makes sense. I like this description since it describes what I am hearing.  The music sounds natural, relaxed, and just right.

The only way to know what sounds great, is to listen using your components in your home. Obviously, I made some mistakes but, more important, I learned what sound I like and did not like. 

Been using a Cambridge Evo 150 with Hypex Ncore and love it. No “extra stuff” in the way just lots of detailed dynamic music.