@niodari, other than the Class D amps I previously mentioned, as well as the Merrill amps, I have no other listening experiences I can share. I will say this, it is worth paying attention to some of the unique design aspects of the Atma-Sphere amps when compared to other GaN amps. As Ralph spoke to in his post they eliminate what is wrong with solid state amps in general (and too an extent tube amps as well), not just GaN amps. As a tube amp designer it was a revelation to him, and he has been doing this for nearly half a century.
Competitive class D amp suggestions
I have been Class D fun since a few years ago when i bought my first class D amp. I like the concept, in general, and all the attractive features of this class of amplifiers. I tried 4 different ones, currently i stayed with one of them that i consider to be the best among all four amps. I do enjoy and like it. At the same time, my 5 watts SET amplifier (with more than 100 times higher distortion according to the specs) gives more natural and (surprisingly) notably cleaner sound (THD of the class D amp is 0.001). The soundstage of the class D amp is not so bad but that of the tube one is still better.
I remain attracted by class D amps though.
Any fresh suggestions on reasonably priced class D amps (i mean excluding non-reasonably priced class D amps, e.g., Merrill amplifiers)?
Any comments on non-reasonably priced class D amps are also welcome (so far i was not able to audition many class D amps and am curious if there are some which could really compete with Class A).
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The supposed harshness in the Voyagers high frequencies: As a long time audiophile, I can tell you that vibration and isolation make a huge difference in sound quality. All my kit is currently resting on Nobsound Springs (see Amazon), which are very cost effective, and downright cheap considering what they do. FYI: there is a forum page about how to use them. As mentioned, I have a LSA Voyager and did not like the sound using the supplied feet. Ditto the supplied power cord. Other things that matter: my Emerald Physics 3.4s (no longer in production) have 12" woofers with 1" concentric polyster tweeters. If one's speakers have metal tweeters and low quality ICs/PCs the sound of any component will be compromised. Also, the source and its cabling, lack of good isolation/vibration will negatively affect the sound hth |
I have a pair of Bel Canto REF500M amps that I bought here, and love them. Lots of detail and plenty of power to drive my KEF LS50 Meta speakers, which are not very sensitive. I upgraded from some Rotel RB-850 class AB amps, so my setup was never expensive, more mid-fi, but I think the Bel Cantos are the biggest upgrade to sound that I’ve had in my modest system. Bel Canto also has more expensive gear in their Black EX and Black ranges that could be worth auditioning in person if possible. |
Don't overlook this, too; there have been very good reports on its sonics. https://www.dedicatedaudio.com/products/bel-canto-design-ref501s-stereo-amplifier |
@tweak1 , thanks for the suggestion. Is the vibration you mentioned caused by CD players and speakers (I understand that amplifiers cause no vibration)? |
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