2. amps-preamps
  3. 165466-4741

Class D for a Tube Lover

First, I'm sure this has been asked many times but searching the subject wasn't too helpful to me.

So apologies in advance.

I enjoy tubed electronics and class A amps, which tend to be a bit warm.  My current Cary 805s warm my small (12x16) music room even in the cool/cold of winter.  I've got other amps that don't produce much heat, but am looking for something that produces no heat.  Living in a home with no central AC the room gets uncomfortably hot during the summer months.

So...I'd like to try some Class D amps.  Stereo or mono is just fine.  And my speakers aren't difficult to drive so I don't need a thousand watts.  But if that thousand watt amp sounds great, I'm not adverse to that, either.

I'd like to keep the price under 2k used.  

Please help.

Thanks.


128x128audiodwebe

Showing 3 responses by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
4,575 posts
 
I also wanted to try some warmish Class D amps. So I was led to try this one. It was shipped on Saturday and I will try it on a 30 day trial.

Stereo | D Sonic (d-sonic.com)

yyzsantabarbara
4,575 posts
 
I do not have a great frame of reference for this but I added my new D-Sonic amp to my RAAL SR1a headphone system yesterday. The system is composed of the following gear, AudioMirror Tubadour III SE tube DAC | Benchmark HPA4 preamp | D-Sonic m3a-800s.

https://www.d-sonic.com/product/m3a-800s-stereo-amplifier/

I do not plan on using the D-Sonic on my floor standers since I do not have speaker wire that is long enough for a stereo amp (need monos).

However, with the SR1a, which is something that needs taming on the top end. The D-Sonic performed way better than my reference Benchmark AHB2 amp with the SR1a. If 100/100 means 0 fatigue, the AHB2 had 50/100 in the fatigue factor with the gear mentioned above, the D-Sonic was about 90/100. I am very impressed by this amp.

The D-Sonic is definitely a little warmer than the AHB2 which is what I wanted. The power and detail retrieval were exemplary, especially the power provided to the SR1a. On some albums with prominent percussion I thought the sound was more powerful than I have ever heard before on these albums (Signals and Distant Early Warning by RUSH)

For the SR1a system, I will be replacing the HPA4 with the warmer yet CODA 07x preamp and I think that will be the winning combo. The Benchmark gear stays with the floor stander, no fatigue with that speaker and the Benchmark.
yyzsantabarbara
4,575 posts
 
I decided to sell my KRELL K-300i integrated today so that freed up the long speaker cables I need to test out my new Class D stereo amp.

https://www.d-sonic.com/product/m3a-800s-stereo-amplifier/

It is now connected to my difficult to drive Thiel CS3.7 floor stander. I first tried my new Gustard X26 Pro (an incredible DAC) into my Benchmark HPA4 preamp and then to the D-Sonic amp. It was more powerful, detailed and a touch warmer than my regular Benchmark AHB2 monos (my reference). However, there was a little edge to the sound that I noticed that is not there in the all Benchmark stack.

I then removed the preamp and went direct to the D-Sonic amp. That edge or hardness was reduced, almost eliminated. I always prefer the volume control on the HPA4 preamp but the Gustard DAC was not bad as a preamp. The D-Sonic benefited with HPA4 removed removed. The Benchmark and D-Sonic do not seem to mix well.

So I now have a $1500 amp with a $1500 DAC and the sound is almost as good as the $9000 of Benchmark gear + $1500 for Gustard  I had before. I think the D-Sonic amp is better served on the Thiel’s than the AHB2 which are not officially rated for 2 Ohm speakers in mono.

I have a SET based preamp coming next week (I hope) that should be great with the D-Sonic. Anyways, this amp has given me confidence to move my great Benchmark stack to my living room system with a speaker that maybe is a better match for the AHB2 specs.

As I mentioned in a prior post the D-Sonic was bought to be used with RAAL SR1a headphones which needs a warm amp to tame that beast. It did do that and now I tested it on the floor stander which was also a winner.
More to discover