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Time to buy a class D amp?


Will some new class D amplifiers outperforming the current ones appear soon

(the newest ones i know were released a  few years ago)?

Class D amps attract me as I consider them the most ecological ones with obvious non-auditionable benefits.

I have no doubts that they posses the maximum ratio performance/sound quality among the amplifiers of all classes.

At the same time, the sound quality the class D amplifiers that I have auditioned produce, although is quite good,

but not yet ideal (for my taste).


I use PS Audio Stellar S300 amp with PS audio Gain Cell pre/DAC with Thiel CS 3.6 speakers in one of my systems.

The sound is ok (deep bass, clear soundstage) but not perfect (a bit bright and somehow dry, lacking warmness which might be more or less ok for rock but not for jazz music).

I wonder if there are softer sounding class D amps with the same or better details and resolution. Considering two reasonable (as to the budget) choices for test, Red Dragon S500 and Digital Audio Company's

Cherry  2 (or Maraschino monoblocks), did anybody compare these two?



128x128niodari
tweak1
3,546 posts
 
I had the PS Audio preamp and M 700s. The amps were far superior to the pre, which lacked umph and color, which should be remedied with a beefy outboard PS, like Audio Alchemy's PS 5 did when I added it to my DDP-1

I replaced them with Ric Schultz EVS 1200 (dual mono), which sounds fantastic, but is a large chassis component

I owned a Audio Alchemy DPA-1, stereo amp, which is quite small and may well be what you’re looking for sound-wise, Probably can be bought for < $900

I never heard NuForce, but they appear to be much smaller chassis
nitrobob
238 posts
 
I just ordered the newly released Legacy I*V 5 Amplifier yesterday. It's what they have been working on for seven years with this "Ice" technology. There're  sold out, as the first batch sold faster than they thought. Shipment is mid February.I am replacing my 300 watt ATI 6005 Signature series. Kind of glad to get rid of that 140 lb monster. I had to move it twice, I was learning to hate it. I have all Legacy, Focus Se’s, Marquis Center, Phantom Surrounds, and I wanted to try this 600 watt unit and see. Hope I didn’t make a mistake. But, you don’t know if you don’t try , right?
niodari's avatar
niodari OP
297 posts
 
You may not be disappointing. The design is nice. 
Take into account that Class D wattage is not the same, you may have about the same power as with your ATI (tube 50 watts \approx class ab 
100 watts \approx class D 200 watts). 
nitrobob
238 posts
 
I'm hoping it has warmth. I'm not a bright fan of any sort. I've been told the ATI's were a little on the bright side. Some say neutral. I don't want to go backwards on my taste.Fingers crossed .     
yukio's avatar
yukio
15 posts
 
I use a Lyngdorf SDA2175 class D amplifier which, coupled with a PrimaLuna Prologue 3 preamp, pilot of the Scansonic MB2.5B. The result is excellent
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