Class D is affordable and sounds as good or better the SS/Valve why buy anything else ?


I have spent a fair amount of my hard earned money on big ticket brand new SS and VT/Valve amplifiers over the years without hesitation, with state of the art 2019 class D amplifiers becoming cheaper and sounding better, i wouldn't join in again.

For older technology amplifiers SS VT/Valve to compete with State of the art class D, Their prices are going up and up.

One example is Pilium Audio from Greece or Bulgaria their Divine Line the prices are all over £100,000 for their pre amps and power amps, I know the UK importer he said they sound OK,

Another example FM Acoustics again up to and over £100,000 for pre and power amps. i have owned FM Acoustics pre and power again their OK,

I am not saying they do not sound good, i am saying why spend this much when state of the art class D probably sounds as good now and can only improve with the GaN capacitors and is nearly up to 100 times cheaper.

Is there still a market for multi thousand £$s SS or VT/Valve amplifiers ?

When class D finally overtakes SS VT/Valves what will people do with their multi thousand £$ amplifiers, keep them knowing there is something better ? Or will we see the market flood with exotic used amplifiers ?

Digital technology is rapidly growing pace and becoming cheaper, with GaN capacitors being introduced the sound is going to get better and better and will slowly or quickly become even more affordable.

If you had 50,000 to spend on an Amplifier, would you buy a high ticket SS amplifier and hope for the best ?

Would you stay safe and go with high ticket valve amp, class D can never match good valves right ?

Or would you sit tight and see how the GaN capacitors can further improve the performance of state of the art class D ?

Please feel free to join in, everybody is welcome, i think its a very delicate/touchy discussion for some people with big bucks invested in older type amplifiers.
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Showing 2 responses by dorkwad

I have a Nuforce Ref 9 V3 Se mono amps w/ TDSS level 3 upgrades. They are class D.  The standard Nuforce Ref 9 V3 SE amps already sounded very good.  It is why I Iooked into the many Nuforce and Nuprime owners that were having their amps upgraded by Bob Smith at TDSS and were very excited by the results.  For well under $4000 including the cost of the Nuforce amps originally, I ended up having them done and the result was now like having a pair of super amps for sound.  It also made them more reliable than stock.  I've used them in friend's houses with very different systems and speakers.  In every case, the TDSS Nuforce amps made the best sounds compared to expensive and well reviewed amps they were using prior.  The 2 mono amps are so small and light I can carry both under one arm easily.  I happen to have a very good TRL DUDE preamp that is 75 lbs. of great sound.  I was using VMPS RM40 BCSE ribbon speakers and they sounded great.  Now, I have an awesome pair of Vapor Joule Black speakers and the sound is just off the charts fantastic in every way.  I also upgraded my cables after hearing the potential of the Vapors.  This was the last touch the made a very nice difference.  At this point, following a 5-6 year plan I had, there is nothing to want in any way from my system.  I will just kick back and enjoy the music.  I had Edge and Bryston amps prior.  They were both good amps but these with the TDSS upgrades are many rungs higher on the ladder of sound.  

Bob
@bigkidz,

I can't vouch for the Nuforce amps you heard.  Bob Smith has at least 3 grades of upgrades of the Ref 9 V3 SE mono amps.  My pair have the level 3 upgrades which were his best at the time frame I got mine done.  You didn't mention which TDSS upgrade was done to the amps.  If it was a level 3 upgrade, and your amps walked all over them, that's pretty incredible, is congratulations.  I'm not going to get in a pecking fight to establish superiority of our amps.  If it wasn't a level 3, then it wasn't as good as one, period.  

Either rate, I'm very happy with mine and will NEVER feel the need to replace them.  Enjoy your amps and the music!

Bob