We have concentrated on the Rowland 201 because the most vociferous defender of class D happens to own that Rowland. I have not heard any of the Rowlands, and have no opinion of their sound.
The builder of my amps, the H2O (a 500A module amp), also makes the digital power supply amps. He makes no bones about it, he feels the 500A module, mated to his massive power supply, sounds better.
The point of this is there are a large number of class D amps. One cannot draw a general opinion through these amps, unless that opinion is derived from a built in love for tubes or solid state sound.
For my ears, Class D amp builders are not trying to achieve a sound like tubes or solid state. They are trying to amplify the truest signal to their ability. If it were the mimicry of tubes they were striving for, they would not have employed a passive filter to peel away the manufactured even and 2nd order harmonics, the very distortion that endears some tube defenders.
Recently I auditioned a higher order DAC. It introduced a lot more tubes into the mix. While the huge DAC did spit shine shine separation, and power, it's three more tubes obviously lent a good deal of color.
My preference, and I must insist it is my preference, is for less coloring, and more raw truth. My amps and preamp (class A) are doing that for me.
The builder of my amps, the H2O (a 500A module amp), also makes the digital power supply amps. He makes no bones about it, he feels the 500A module, mated to his massive power supply, sounds better.
The point of this is there are a large number of class D amps. One cannot draw a general opinion through these amps, unless that opinion is derived from a built in love for tubes or solid state sound.
For my ears, Class D amp builders are not trying to achieve a sound like tubes or solid state. They are trying to amplify the truest signal to their ability. If it were the mimicry of tubes they were striving for, they would not have employed a passive filter to peel away the manufactured even and 2nd order harmonics, the very distortion that endears some tube defenders.
Recently I auditioned a higher order DAC. It introduced a lot more tubes into the mix. While the huge DAC did spit shine shine separation, and power, it's three more tubes obviously lent a good deal of color.
My preference, and I must insist it is my preference, is for less coloring, and more raw truth. My amps and preamp (class A) are doing that for me.