1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 196092-91258

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

meiatflask
taww's avatar
taww
137 posts
 

I’ve been happy with the ICEpower based Legacy iV2, and recently got the Mola Mola Perca. While I haven’t compared the Perca to the Legacy yet, it’s holding up pretty well against my Gryphon Essence. I still prefer the Essence, but the Mola Mola is extremely impressive, and not fully run in yet. 

norge0517
11 posts
 

So suggest a modded Dynaco ST-70.   Does it matter the environment?

 Nope!

carousel's avatar
carousel
31 posts
 

Does anyone with experience using custom op amps with Class D amps have views on using such buffer boards just for the woofers? I have a three-way active system with Benchmarks for the mid-ranges and tweeters. For the 10-inch Purifi woofers, I have a bog-standard Hypex NCx500 using the Hypex input buffers. The crossover is 4th order at 200Hz. So there is still signal to the woofers up to 1000Hz. When I looked through the buffer board options on, for example, the VTV site, I got too confused too quickly. And then I considered that this is for the woofers, which I assumed to be less critical than for the mids, and I kept it simple. Another option would be to get new other amps for the woofers and reuse the NCx500 poolside outdoors. Or maybe just do nothing. Since it is not like I am unhappy.

liquidsound's avatar
liquidsound
205 posts
 

I have had the LAiV GANM Monobloc's for 4 months now and they are really good driving my 4-ohm Final-Audio Model 12+ planar electrostatic speakers.  Plenty of power and run cool even under demanding load.  Well within your price range and they're well-built.  Good reviews and praises from several reviewers.  They also have selectable range VU-meters, ability to easily install firmware upgrades, and other selectable parameters.  They also have a small footprint.  Highly recommended !  

yzfr1mike's avatar
yzfr1mike
18 posts
 

I have the PS Audio M1200 mono's running my passive subwoofers and the bass panels on my MG20 Magnepans, but I still run my heavily modified Sonic Frontiers Power 2 tube amps on the mid/high freq. panels. The M1200,s sounded wonderful when I used them to drive my Magnepan MG1.7i speakers. I have been a customer for PS Audio for several years. The M12's have a tube input section with the Class D output. Highly recommended!

More to discover