Has anyone tried an amp from Class D Audio?

I have built and auditioned many of the Class D Audio amplifiers. They are a very neutral amp. If you want a bit of warmth in the mix, a nice tube buffer makes a work of difference. A buffer also helps putting a Class D amp in the system in regards to impedance as the Class D amps have a low iinput impedance and a buffer can have a very low output impedance.

The SDS-254 should not be a prpoblem as it has a 47K input impedance but some of the others are as low as 7K. This is also the best amp they offer in my opinion. Plenty of power, balanced inputs possible and easily handles 4 ohm loads. This module is the baseline for some hybrid amps we have designed.
A little tweaking and you really can have an exceptional piece for very litte outlay of cash.

If you are going to build your own based on one of their modules, I would recommend setting it up forst with the attenuators that come with it, measuring the resistance where it performs best for your system and then installing a resistor network in place of the attenuators (or simply leave the attenuators in for that matter. This can greatly reduce any residual noise due to the high gain of the amps.

Nobel100, it was your thread that first brought my attention to the amps from Class D Audio; especially, since you were coming from an Aragon amp similar to mine.

Response34, I THINK that neutral is what I'm looking for. I recently got my hands on a Marsh P2000 pre amp, and, as much as I liked my previous NAD C162, I think that the Marsh is in another league all together. I'm just looking for an amp that will let me enjoy the upstream components.

The reason that I'm looking at the SDS-254, rather than the more powerful model, is that the 254 is pretty close to the rated power of my Aragon and the Aragon has been all of the amp I've needed thus far. On the other hand, with the adjustable gains on the CDA amps, I may be able to make the more powerful amps work in my system and be able to rest assured that I have more than enough headroom available.

And that leads me to another point. With the Marsh and Aragon combo, I'm only able to get up to about the 11:00 position on my volume control before it's so loud that I can't think. I'm hoping that the adjustable gains will allow me to get the use of more of my volume control.

In any case, I think I'm sold. My very next purchase is going to be an amp from CDA. I just need to decide between the 254 and the 440. I know that the Minuets I'm running are small, but they are rated to 300 watts. I wonder if I've been missing something with the "little" 100 wpc Aragon.

It's also going to be nice to get that 40 something pound beast out of my little audio cabinet. I'll have room for more toys.

""Everything being right with no soul"

Strat,

Are you comparing the various Class D amps apples/apples with the rest of the system all the same?

Which Bel Canto amps specifically did you have and what was rest of the system?

I have ref1000m monoblocks. I find them rock solid performance wise in every regard, which is pretty much what I expect from an amp and works for me. Whether they possess "soul" or not will be largely determined by what they are run with. Source, pre-amp speakers, ICs, all will sound different. They have high damping factor that can sound towards lean side in some setups, but sound dead on in others. I experience this myself running various speakers in various rooms off them concurrently.

Tonyangel,

I would advise you to get the more powerful SDS-440 or SDS-470 amp. The 440 ($630) is 220 watts @ 8 ohms, which is in the middle of your spkr's recommended power of 100-300 watts. The 470($695) is 300 watts @ 8 ohms, which is at the top of the range. Either of these amps, combined with your Marsh solid-state preamp, would give you an accurate and neutral quality. which is what you said you like. Your spkrs are small but somewhat inefficient at 88.5 db at 1 watt input. I think having extra power (over your Aragon's 100 watts) would result in an effortless and relaxed presentation with plenty of headroom.

Personally, this combo would probably be too neutral and accurate for my taste, but it may fit your taste quite well. If you do feel it's a bit too neutral and accurate, you might want to switch to a tube preamp.

An alternative, if it's within your budget, is the Bella Musica Ibrido hybrid amp at $1,895. I've never heard this amp but it looks very interesting. It pairs a tubed input stage with a class D amplifier which should result in a smoother presentation but the power is lower at 125 watts/channel. I believe this amp uses the ClassD Audio amp module. You can read about the amp at http://responseaudiony.com/products.htm.

I'm sorry if this adds confusion to your decision, but I just discovered this amp online tonight.

Good luck,
Tim

Tim,

Thanks for the advise. I suppose that going for the more powerful amp would make sense. The main reason that I'm looking for a neutral amp is that I think I really like the sound of the Marsh Pre.

After the upgrade from my previous NAD pre, I think that I can characterize the sound of the March as not exactly tubey, but it does have tube like qualities that I've found I really like.

Although I would one day like to get into tubes, now is not the time. I do not have the space to accommodate tube equipment.