Class-D amps - a different re view

I have to pay closer attention to Class D amps. I've read a lot about them but really considered them. I looked at the Nuforce speakers and Nuforce nine amps at ces. It sounded good but didnt move me. I just returned from RMAF and wow! What a show. Im considering the Acoustic Zen Adagios as my next speaker. I talked to Robert Lee of AZ and I told him the Halcro/AZ combo was awsome at the show. He said for the price range i want to be in, that i should consider a pair of moded belcanto 1000 or red dragon amps to go with those speakers. He said they sound as good and in some eyes better than the halcro/az combo. The same goes for the national sales rep for joseph. Im very familiar with joseph speakers. He mentioned that the Belcanto 1000 amps were mind blowing amps with the new RM 33s speakers. Now i want to hear them.

Atmasphere, Yours is a fair and responsible reply. Thank you.

Chaz801, in the same general price range as the Nuforce and Red Dragon, you should consider also having a listen to the Spectron Musician 3 Sig, the H2o, and to the Rowland 501 monos. You may find they sound somewhat different from one another. You may love one or more of them. . . or you may very well hate them all. If I am correct, some form of at home auditioning may be available at least from Spectron.

Atma, I am glad you are withdrawing from "it can be expressed in words, therefore it must be true" kind of logic. As for distortions, I hear a lot of distortion in most systems, regardless of underlying technology and -- I should add -- regardless of price point. Yet, whereas my ears may be 'bleeding' when listening to a particular system -- or conversely I may be dying of boredom -- I notice audiophiles as hardened as I am, experiencing true rapturous epiphanies around the very same setup. Am I unable to grok true audioheaven? Or are those other audiophiles getting a little case of 'The Emperor's New Clothes"? Or should we perhaps accept somewhat soberly that we all may be seeking subtly differing things in our private quests for audio Nirvana?

Atmasphere,

I take issue, just a bit, with the notion that there is one technology that represents no compromises, based entirely on sonic considerations. I know that all triode, no feedback, and no output transformers have a lot of theoretical advantages, but, some would argue that paralleling multiple tubes to increase output and to decrease source impedance has its drawbacks. I am not arguing that that is the case, but, just pointing out that every technology has its theoretical disadvantages.

That said, I personally like very much what I hear from your amplifiers. There is nothing like a good OTL when it comes to liveliness, energy and sheer fun (something so many designs seem to suck out of music). But, there may be purely subjective reasons to favor another form of amplifier, even if that amplifier is not "objectively" as accurate.

I have only extensively listened to one Class D amp myself. I heard a Rowland (first generation amp which sold for something like $15,000 for the pair) in two systems, in one driving Sonus Faber Anniversarios, and in the other, the same amp driving a custom horn system. I personally did not like the sound, but not because it sounded edgy, as some have commented. To me, that amp, in both systems, sounded shut in on top (lacking "air") and devoid of natural sounding hall cues and realistic decay of notes. The soundfield just sounded artificial and "dry." There was something else "odd" and "unnatural" about the sound that I cannot quite describe, but it was immediately bothersome to me. This was a drop-into-a-system audition with no attempts to find complimentary components and optimize setup, but these same characteristics were evident in both systems which makes me wonder if this was an inherent trait of the particular amp.

I know any one example cannot possibly represent all applications of a particular technology, so I hope to hear other switching amps in good systems.