Why no Class D integrated love? (from manufacturers)


Unless I'm mistaken, it seems that Class D integrateds are not receiving the same attention from manufacturers as a whole. Sure there are the Peachtrees and NAD's of the world but by and large it seems the better class D tech is going into separates right now and that's somewhat disappointing to me. It's easy to find affordable separates based on the latest Icepower and Hypex modules but almost impossible to find integrateds based on anything but the lower end modules, for example the Nord integrateds.  Perhaps I am missing something? It just seems like this is an area that is ripe for some innovation. Anyone making "affordable" integrateds based on Hypex NC500 or IcePower AS1200 for example?
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Showing 3 responses by audioman58

I have a friend who own the Classe 2200i and I am a 40 year vet 
and owned a Audio store. I put the 2200i in my system which used
very good custom vacuum tube gear as well as Digital from Denmark Gato Audio ,and Pass Labs class A Amps and Parasound Halo, McIntosh . They all have their strong and weak points , I think the Classe is very musical and not plain like I read a few references, that is IMO just bad cable matching .this amp 
deserves and responds to a very good power cord, even the Fuse
responds well ,that is a mark of a very good design ,you can hear 
into the recording. I put my modded Lampizator Amber 3 on it 
which has several tubes and it is very involving and sweet .
that is why I find a lot of ignorance sometimes on these forums 
based on A brief listen at a dealer. Who may or may not hav3 tried other options ,and to their ears may sound good this amp has
received several A, or high recommended ratings ,which is better then most of any amplifier type. Unless you have a Big $$ to spend then nothing we’ll be the end all.
I would like to also mention if you hav3 a very high quality Blu-ray player this can connect directly to its HDMI. And is fantastic with movies,as well as concerts, and it has several patents in keeping the digital signal intact until the end conversion. At $5500 retail 
actually a excellent buy . In fact I am now buying one used.

I have heard the Gan fet amp ,the cheaper ones pretty respectable but not better then good conventional amps, Merrill Audio and others have starting at $16-35k 
gan amps that are very good , but at that price many other conventional designs 
may better it  in specific areas ,nothing is perfect and all Audiophiles have a sonic preference from Single ended triode tubes, to class A ,Ultralinear,Class AB Solid state, hybrid tube -SS , class D , there are finally very good sounding in All amplifier categories. I was just listening to a Excellent Classe class D amplifier and had great clarity and sounded like a very nice vacuum tube amp with exceptional detail ,the 2200i, which was recently discontinued, their new line is better still which I was a bit surprised having owned a Audio store and 40 years in Audio it has come a Loong way since the 70s. Many good values especially in the used market if you do your home work. I  am thinking about purchasing one of the top classe Integrated  Excellent value,very versatile .having several great designs and 4 k hdmi on a great Blu-ray player and my Big  LG Organic LED Tv, movies as well as concerts can be done all in one very good integrated amp.And look and sound a Great.
that being said one guy said it had no life . Maybe true for it was not setup properly,or not 
with good cabling,even a power cord  made a noticable difference in its balance 
a very good indicator of a good amp it detects every change made in the Audio chain .listen in your own system then decide reviews are a good reference ,
but your ears are the best judge of what balance you prefer.

In Europe much more so it more main stream. I have the Very good Gato Audio 400s integrated amp from Denmark , a work of art in design and function.
they take the Danish Pascal pro  amp modules and modify them as well as the analog input and putput stages , with a good   Integrated          Burr Brown dac  for $6500:it beats a lot of$10k seperate combo 
units. Jeff Roland also uses the same modules , Mark Levenson 
as well as Merrill audio in the US make very good upper end digital audio equipment .