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Expensive amp or cheap classdaudio?

My four last amps in the order have been: Ayon triton II, still in function,Airtight ATM2, Audioresearch classic60, Threshold 400A.
Last sept. i bought a small classdaudio sds470 amp of $590 for my daughter and decided to test it with my Duntech Prince speakers.

Wow...what a big surprise! this small amp for DIYers has a high end sound....
If i hide which amp is operating, my golden eared friends could not realize that this is the small amp which is connected....incredible!
Two audiophile friends immediately bought one by internet,one for Tannoy the other one for Cabasse speakers and both are surprised that the sound is sooo better than with their former amp.
I am not anymore sure that well have to go on paying a lot to get a pure and transparent sounding amp..did you make a similar experience?
Sorry for my english but i am a frenchie talking from France.
maxitonus

Showing 2 responses by marakanetz

marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
I've compared W4S ST1000 monos class D with Tripath Sunfire SRA with Aerial 10t speakers:

They both sounded great in general with slight differences:

W4S: More definition, bass controll, precision.
Sunfire: More music, less bass controll, but more depth and warmth,
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
A very short note about digital amps:
As they become more popular they become to sound better by consumer's perception.
In reality having a Sunfire SRA model built in 2004 and comparing it with later class D models found no substantial performance difference. Another words couldn't say which one is definitely better.
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