Will new Class D trump a vintage Class A/AB?

No, unless you only listen to frequencies under 80hz.

Jiohnnyb53,

Whats the rest of your system that the Onkyo will be synergizing with?

08-27-08: Mapman
What's the rest of your system that the Onkyo will be synergizing with?

Source is a Technics SL1210 M5G with KAB fluid damper, Oracle Groove Isolator sorbothane mat, and Audio-Technica AT150MLX MM cart mounted on an LPGear Zupreme headshell. Although the Onkyo has a well-reviewed phono section, I plan to continue to use my outboard Cambridge Audio 640P phono stage. Most interconnects are solid core AudioQuest PSC conductors. Speakers are bi-wired Mirage OMD-15 floorstanders.

Boy I tell you, right now, the current rig using an Outlaw 950 purely for its analog line stage feeding a 22-year-old Amber Series 70 power amp is going to be hard to beat. I don't know what happened but it seems like the current system has popped into focus in the last few days.

The more I listen to this humble little Amber, the more I wonder how that amp didn't end up re-defining the state of the art for affordable 70 wpc SS amplification. Its balance of linearity, neutrality, and musicality is extraordinary. It's so good it should influence one's choice of speakers instead of the other way around. Stereophile ranked the Outlaw RR150 as a class C integrated amp/receiver, and it doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Amber. If a new product at $1800 came out that sounded exactly like the Amber, I wonder where S'phile would rate it.

The Onkyo is going to have to be something else to beat it.

I think the result will come down to taste and preference more than anything else.

Isn't the thing still humming though?

The Onkyo Class D was a very savvy choice for trying to improve at reasonable cost though. In that the Mirages are larger floor standers and rated 6 ohm I believe ( a somewhat more difficult than average load to drive I would suspect), I think there is a very good chance the Onkyo will work out. The main difference I would predict would be in the low end in terms of perhaps providing a fuller and tight bottom end that adds meat to the sound and helps balance things out.

LEt us know.

Cheers!

Johnnyb53 - It is difficult to compare different amps without setting price range and even then it migh be not easy. Compare 2x200W class A design to my Rowland 102 (class D) I paid $1500 for. There is no such class A amps for $1500. Class D beats many class AB designs within the same price range.

I picked Rowland since it was $100 cheaper than Bel Canto S300 and had Rowland's reputation behind (no bad product in 20 years). I don't think Onkyo was available then.

Get Continuum 500 and don't worry about home equity. One can live without a home but not without great Audio Gear.