Atma-Sphere Class D… Amazing

Ego fighting is not making your stereo better or making anyone else's stereo better or making people feel better......or be more happy. What makes you happy? When you are happy you radiate happiness.....and you also want others to be happy. Do you want me to be happy? If so, then praise and raise me to heaven. I am doing that for all of you right now. You are all beautiful.....you are the light of lights.....may you feel loved by the universe.....right now.....for you are.... Every single thing and being in all the known and unknown universe is loving you right this moment. You have never been unloved. Rejoice....celebrate this incredible miraculous moment.....for this very moment is all we have. You are worthy.....you are deserving.....you are incredible!

Share your beauty.....share you knowledge (what you have experienced), share your love....share your magnificience..

There is "what I want" on track......and there is the track of the soul......there is plenty of time to know about an amp......but to live right now in your heart.....well that is precious.......and worthy of eternity.

Getting back to the specific Atmasphere amp being discussed. I am not an Audio Engineer so please excuse the possibly foolish question. Why is the power supply not a switch mode? I see a large selection of supposedly well designed, medical grade SMPS, by Traco or Meanwell. Yet, I see class A or class D amps not using these. Why?

Most class D amps use switching supplies.....some don’t. There are advantages to both. Switching supplies are smaller, cheaper, more effecient and operate at high frequency so there is no 60hz ripple.. But because they switch at higher frequencies they have more high frequency noise that needs to be filtered. As with everything.....it is in the details. If you use the very best parts and execution on both.....which will sound better? Very few know this.....again each manufacturer will usually have their own predilections and go from there. There are many who have changed a switching supply to a linear supply and have gotten better sound. Then there are those who have done the opposite.....and there are those who have tweaked their switching supply so it sounds way, way, way better than stock. As with what I said above.....there is NO common knowledge. Great amps have been made using both. The latest class D from Aavik that Jonathan Scull just raved about uses a modded Pascal module and switching power supplies and all kinds of tweaks. Lots of ways up the mountain of sound.

Why is the power supply not a switch mode? I see a large selection of supposedly well designed, medical grade SMPS, by Traco or Meanwell. Yet, I see class A or class D amps not using these. Why?

Most class d amp makers do use smps. There are a handful that use an old school traditional tranny, bridge, etc. If your amp module design is well done with a high PSRR, it makes little difference, according to experts like Bruno Putzeys, who uses smps exclusively with ncore and purifi. They have many good points but some still believe an amp isn't any good if it doesn't weigh 50 kg.

there is NO common knowledge

Wrong, there is a lot of common knowledge. There is no common opinion on what sounds "best" thus a market full of products of different designs, classes, power supplies etc. It's not a lack of knowledge but a wealth of knowledge that allows manufacturers to produce products that appeal to a broad market full of consumers with widely varying tastes.