Colloms, my thoughts exactly. Having tried a small group of Class D amps, extended listening resulted in my dissatisfaction in several areas with all the amps. Of the group that I listened to, I owned the CI D200 amps the longest (several months) to get a pretty good grasp on their performance.
They did do some things well enough (but since I don't factor in weight, size, appearance or power consumption) in the end these amps did not do it for me either. I have moved on and not looked back.
I do believe; however, that there are several companies making these amps (which are quite inexpensive to mfg) due to the rather high margins, low cost of mfg., and current high demand for profitability purposes. I see no fault for doing this as it is what the public seems to want at the moment. And, this is the history of the industry.
I think to build these amps properly, to deliver acoustically, will prove to take more money than just the sum of ordering various off-the-shelf parts from parts distributors that achieve the high margins and immediate sales opportunities present today.
In the long run, fine Class D amps will be designed and built and available as an alternative. However, when this happens, all these cheap, mediocre D amps will be available for literally pennies (ie. $0.05 to $0.10 on the dollar). Some of these better Class D amps are finally starting to show up.
I would not rule the technology dead, but for me, I have not seen the light, the parting of the sea or the supreme acoustic deliverance that others are reporting.
The truth is the only person's opinion on equipment performance one should care about is their own (or perhaps other close family members that share in the listening).
I still own 2 class D amps. Paid $20 for each of them and they are fine for my patio/deck and my 11 year olds sons bedroom. I have come to my personal conclussion that the power supply is such an important aspect of good amp performance that it will take a lot of careful examination/audition/review to try another Class D amp.
I am suspect of the reviews, especially those in the rags like Stereophile where every product they review for the year ends up in their "Recommended Components".
