Class D amps that are superior to all or most?

i have not pursued sampling all purported good class d amps, by a long shot

best i have heard in my system is devialet, which is some sort of hybrid

ej sarmento at wyred 4 sound was an early mover in employing ice modules in his st series amp, with his nice discrete input stage driving the modules... his amps are as described below... laid back (even a little too smooth) with excellent bass

except for the devialet units whose sound i love (lively, saturated, plenty of body yet transparent), the failing of the others i have heard is on proper decay of notes and ’air’ in sound staging

there is something to the notion that many class d stages are a little too clean ... once again, sympathetic distortions can help our ears hear sounds we perceive as more natural, and in the proper space of a performance venue

@atmasphere

when are you releasing your class d amps, ralph...?

surely many devotees here want to hear what the longstanding otl tube amp legend here with almost 10,000 forum posts believes sound right with class d modules in tow !!!

@atmasphere

ralph good luck in your work to launch the amps

in the event you want some consumer testing/trial, i'd be happy to help

i don’t have torture-chamber speakers to drive (mostly british monitor types - harbeths, proacs bigger and smaller, spendor, also spatial m3s, vandy 3a sigs, fritz monitors and of course old stand by esl63’s), then have quite a few traditional ss and tube amps to compare, ranging from several arc, lta zotl40, air tight, carver 275, pass/fw, hegel, devialet and w4s class d...

said it before, will say again

class d is a technology... a designer can use and harness a technology towards a certain end, the designer can make a class d amp sound dull, bright, lively, smooth, sizzly or bottom heavy -- just like designers of class a or ab solid state amps have voiced their amps to their tastes for years and years

each technology has its strengths and challenges (eg, tube amps’ bass, ss a/b amps’ imaging depth, class d’s decay and harmonics) which set some broad sonic parameters, but there is wide wide latitude in the sound of the finished product, and a good designer can overcome the shortcomings

specificity matters here for class d units, like anything else...

-- w4s st series is voiced warm and smooth as silk, maybe even a little dull, by ej sarmento
-- devialet amps have flat extended frequency response up top, with a bit of spotlit richness in the midrange and mid bass
-- nad’s amps are leaner and sounds quick and boppy but not much body nor saturation
-- agd (just got a pair of audions, now listening) is extended, clear, yet has body and weight where needed - they are truly excellent btw, won’t belabour that here

just like a parasound sounds different from a hegel from a belles from a naim from a mccormack from a pass

just because you tried one class d amp recently or some time ago and came away with an impression does not qualify you to make blanket pronouncements on all of them out there

it is just ridiculous to see all this continuing pollution on these threads, juvenile personal attacks and responses... worse than a grade school bathroom tiff

can we just grow up, boys and girls??  

🙏