@reavesdc I have them paired with VSA Ultra-55s. I haven't tried any tubes. I find them to be very detailed but without bitterness. Very powerful too - they scream in my rig while drawing around 15w.
What is your favorite Class D amp?
Moving to a new home with a smaller dedicated listening room has caused me to rethink my entire system. I have always been a fan of EL34 tube amps and presently have a Primaluna HP (4 tubes per channel), but the size and heat make this a bit more difficult in my new set up. So I have been thinking about going with a smaller, less hot class D amp. But being a tube guy, I have never seriously looked into or listen to these amps.
so what is your favorite class D amp? New or used, in the 5k range, but could go up to 10k. Preamp is a Conrad Johnson ET-7. Speaker will be in the monitor/mini-monitor class (so I don’t need high power for a smallish room) but have not made my final decision on speakers as the amp/speaker synergy makes this kind of a joint decision.
I purposely asked for “favorite” to be a bit more open in your relies.
thanks, Bill
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I went through a series of Class D's over the years, from ICE through Hypex to Purifi. Had a chance to borrow a pair of Benchmark AHB2 for a couple weeks and sold the last Purifi after that. Like the person who posted above, the buddy who lent me the Benchmarks uses Atma-Spheres to heat his listening room in winter. Burnt my arm once on them while trying to reach behind to move a cable. |
I moved from Primaluna HP to Bel Canto's 600's and did not like the end result. In my system / room music had no life. I really tried to make it work but after 8 months I sold and started over. I moved from Bel Canto to AGD Audion. Everything was back, sound stage, warmth, with a llittle increease in detail, light weight and little to no heat. All in all it was exactly what I was lookng for. Like @marco1 I use a tube pre - Cary SLP 05. I've never heard Atma-Sphere Class D but, from my perspective, AGD and Atma-Sphere is where I would focus. I would not heistate to buy used but I rarely see either amp for sale used; may say something! Good luck with your search! |
I wanted the efficiency of class D for a large speaker system, but without the stereotypical sound character of class D (sterile, clinical, lean, or glassy). I did find the latest Hypex and Purifi options appealing due to their modular designs and price/performance ratio. The Hypex Nilai is well regarded, but I was impressed with the flexibility of the Purifi Eigentakt platform, which allows third party designers to engineer their own buffer stage, and it is here that the overall character of the amp can be individually tailored to a significant degree. Having seen a YouTube review by Thomas & Stereo (of Galion Audio), I took a chance with the VTV Purifi 1ET9040BA monoblocks with the Sparkos designed vacuum tube buffer with Weiss op amps. I can vouch for this combination delivering analog-like character and a bit of vacuum tube imaging, but without softened transients or being syrupy. I don't see how anyone could audibly distinguish this from a class AB amp. The same configuration is available for the smaller stereo 1ET6525SA, which is relatively economical. For tube lovers, I believe combining this configuration with a good tube preamp would certainly be worth a listen. |
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