2. amps-preamps
  3. 129821-4358

Initial impression of the Nuprime ST-10 amp

I have a very fine McCormack DNA .05 Deluxe amp, a Don Sachs 6SN7 preamp, driving my Spatial Audio M4 Turbo S open baffle speakers and today swapped the McCormack amp for the ST10 amp.  Right out of the box, the ST10 is quite an amazing amp.  It is very powerful and yet quite delicate in its rendering of sound. To my ears, it is somewhat tipped-up in the HF compared to the McCormack amp, and at this point seems to give up a bit of the LF rendering of the sound to the McCormack amp, but overall, it has lots of inner detail and a sublime mid-range.  It has not a bit of harshness or dryness that I have heard with earlier Class D amps... it is very musical with the sound flowing effortlessly.   I will post my impressions after it has been run-in for a week. My initial impression is that for $1600, this is a very fine amplifier.  
whitestix
whitestix OP
687 posts
 
I have a Rogue Atlas Magnum and a Platinum-upgraded McCormack DNA .05 amp.  I will have a Don Sachs KT-88 based tube preamp in a couple of weeks, as well.  I have lost all interest in class D amps.  
wolf_garcia
6,608 posts
 
I like Class D in my Ampeg Bass amp as it's powerful, cute, tiny, and folds up into the speaker box (Porta Flex...utterly adorable). I also like the lighter weight of Class D for the pro audio stuff which I'm involved with, but otherwise tubes rule the roost, so to speak. No SS amp has sounded better in my many decades of hifi rig obsession than a single ended little tube power amp and a tube preamp...I think it has something to do with how music sounds with tubes...something...
orgman40's avatar
orgman40
2 posts
 

I just want to respond to the gentlman above who thought the new class d amps sounded so "great", than all of a sudden found them unlistenable! VERY STRANGE! The Rogue and McCormack are VERY warm (colored) amplifiers. The newer class d amps are almost RULER FLAT! Class d keeps improving, so if I were you, I would keep trying them. Merrill Audio has terrific sounding class d amps. Also I would try the newer Purifi based amps (VTV and Rouge).

secretguy
1,574 posts
 

Talk about fickle...

whitestix OP
687 posts
 

orgman, You are bit late to this thread, yet I agree that Class D technology has markedly improved since this thread began.  I have the VTV Audio EVS1200 amp, modded by Rick Schultz, and it is as you say, it strikes me as being ruler flat in its sound.  I really love it. However, my Don Sachs Kootenai tube amp and my Wells Audio Majestic ss amp have quite a bit more emotional and visceral impact to my ears.  However, if I did not have these two remarkable amps, I could easily be perfectly happy with the VTV amp, but I guess I do love "coloration" in amps.   I have thought for years that Class D would be the ascendant amp technology and the $1600 VTV amp is clear evidence of it.  

More to discover