Yes, these were very good articles in The Absolute Sound. Although the reviewers have probably forgotten more than I will ever know about audio reproduction I concur with much of what they said, but if not disagree I would offer a slightly different prospective.
I believe all the reviews were of stand alone amplifiers. I currently own a Jeff Rowland Concerto class D integrated amplifier which has essentially the same amp section as the Rowland 201 Reviewed. Two things are for certain with this class D integrated in my system. 1. There is a slight loss of air in the high frequencies (read that as ambiance) and 2. It is very sensitive to associated equipment especially cables. With that said I think one of the reasons I have been so taken with this amplifier is the fact that it is an integrated. Much of the component and cable matching have already been done by the manufacturer. Synergy is high with an integrated and I think that's a bigger deal with associated component sensitive class D amps. I would be interested to see what the TAS panel would have said if the amps were mated with that manufacturer's pre or if integrateds were used or if less demanding speaker loads were used (currently using JM Lab Mini Utopias with the Rowland which is a pretty easy load).
XLR interconnect cables from CD player to integrated have also made a huge difference in the sound. Much bigger difference than I have ever had with both tubed and solid state gear. Bad combination was using Kimber Silver Streak even though it sounded great in previous systems, too bright and brittle with the Rowland. Great match is the Synergistic Research Luminescence which has greatly improved the high frequency air and smoothness. Great too because that ended up being one of the cheaper cables I tried. In my experience much of what I hear with this $4,100 Rowland integrated (used price) is superior to amp/preamp combinations of similar combined value.
I don't think class D will be the dominate amplifier design of the high end in the near future but I do think class D will be one of three choices. It will no long be just tubes vs solid state but tubes vs solid state (A, AB) vs class D switching. Each offers their own strengths and weaknesses.
I believe all the reviews were of stand alone amplifiers. I currently own a Jeff Rowland Concerto class D integrated amplifier which has essentially the same amp section as the Rowland 201 Reviewed. Two things are for certain with this class D integrated in my system. 1. There is a slight loss of air in the high frequencies (read that as ambiance) and 2. It is very sensitive to associated equipment especially cables. With that said I think one of the reasons I have been so taken with this amplifier is the fact that it is an integrated. Much of the component and cable matching have already been done by the manufacturer. Synergy is high with an integrated and I think that's a bigger deal with associated component sensitive class D amps. I would be interested to see what the TAS panel would have said if the amps were mated with that manufacturer's pre or if integrateds were used or if less demanding speaker loads were used (currently using JM Lab Mini Utopias with the Rowland which is a pretty easy load).
XLR interconnect cables from CD player to integrated have also made a huge difference in the sound. Much bigger difference than I have ever had with both tubed and solid state gear. Bad combination was using Kimber Silver Streak even though it sounded great in previous systems, too bright and brittle with the Rowland. Great match is the Synergistic Research Luminescence which has greatly improved the high frequency air and smoothness. Great too because that ended up being one of the cheaper cables I tried. In my experience much of what I hear with this $4,100 Rowland integrated (used price) is superior to amp/preamp combinations of similar combined value.
I don't think class D will be the dominate amplifier design of the high end in the near future but I do think class D will be one of three choices. It will no long be just tubes vs solid state but tubes vs solid state (A, AB) vs class D switching. Each offers their own strengths and weaknesses.