My new VTV Audio Class D amp arrived today

Dunno about that as I did not open it up.  The build quality of his amps have been noted on forums, but Warren indicated in our discussions that these beefs have been addressed with his upgraded QC efforts.  

twoleftears,
I was, but figured my tube preamp would enough.  The tweaks offered above look interesting so thanks for the share on that.  

I have maybe 30 hours on the amp and honestly sense very little difference in SQ since the time I connected it to my system and have run it in.  I am really impressed with the crystal clarity of the music, along with very large soundstage and tonally very balanced top to bottom.  I got the Sparkos op amp, recommended for a softer musical presentation by Warren.  At the moment, I am enthralled with the sound of the amp in my system, but will swap back my McCormack amp as means of comparison after 100 hours.  However, at this point, I am of the opinion that this amp is a huge advancement in the art of Class D amplification, very different than my past experiences with Red Dragon, Nuprime and Bel Canto, although I am sure that all these Class D companies have greatly stepped up their game since my audition of their amps several years ago.   More later, but I am really happy with what I am hearing so far.  

Soix,
I have the DNA .05 amp, with the Platinum Upgrades. 

t ramey,
I think the gain is around 13 db, but by connecting an internal jumper, it would increase significantly.  No need for that in my current system.  I have a Don Sachs tube preamp.  My VTV amp has no "a/c mod" so I can't answer your question.  

Gents,
My initial impressions of the excellent performance of this amp have been validated after 3 weeks of listening.  I honestly don't sense much difference in the SQ  in my system during the run-in process.  It is a rather neutral sounding amp, with a degree of warmth that I prefer.  I could go on with superlatives, but I will say that it is an amp that leaves me with no desire to swap it out for my other excellent tube and SS amps.  I absolutely love it and the sound reproduction it provides in my system.  It works extremely well as a companion to my Don Sachs preamp.   I gotta have tubes in my system.

I am glad that I dispensed with my less-than-favorable experiences with earlier iterations of Class D amps and tried it out.  I am very happy in all respects of its performance.   I think that it is an astonishing bargain in the realm of high end audio.  

rtorchia,
Good for you, I hope you enjoy it.  I haven't swapped my McCormack SS amp in place of the VTV amp yet, but I did with my Don Sachs KT88 tube amp.  The VTV is a very neutral sounding amp, while the Sachs amp is emblematic of the very best tube amplification, of which everyone knows the characteristics they have.  I enjoy them both very much and don't need to chose one over the other.  However, in the blistering hot summer here in the Central Valley of California, the VTV amp will stay in the system. 

I sold the McCormack a while ago and it did have a more muscular sound, I'd say, whereas the VTV is just amazingly neutral with a huge soundstage and not a bit of harshness.  I don't sense that the VTV is more powerful than the McCormack and perhaps a bit less impactful.   The McCormack has "bigger balls" than the VTV amp, but am not sure it is overall as well balanced.   Both are stellar amps, but the stock .05 is getting long in the tooth with aging caps.  

I swapped out my tube amp for the VTV amp yesterday for the heck of it and again I marvel at how musical the VTV amp is, no question, just clean clear power.  I listened to it for hours and hours yesterday and loved it more as the listening went on.  My previous experiences with class D amps was awful, but with the fab reviews of this amp, I took a chance and am reaping the benefits.  It would sure be interesting to compare the VTV amp to the Merrill offerings, which cost 10X as much. The GaN-based class D amps are sure getting a lot of great reviews, too.

I agree that Warren is a great guy to deal with.    

Doug, 

I sure agree that these new Class D amps are amazing.  I thought years ago that analogue sound reproduction was kaput, but nothing could be further from the truth.   I think Atmsaphere and Pass Labs, among others, are going to gravitate to his sort of amplification.  I disagree that ss and tube gear will be gravitate to no value, that I can not envision a being remotely possible.  Just my take.