Competitive class D amp suggestions

I run a pair of AGD Audions with a Rogue RP7 pre feeding Joseph Audio Perspectives.  Very happy with sound quality, lack of heat and size of monos.  

Orchard?
 

 

Wow!  Obvious omissions here are the Orchard amps and AGD.

Orchard, AGD, and Atmasphere is the point where really interesting class D begins.

 

I have PS Audio M1200's...really like them.

switched from a A/B Rotel MKII i think it was...I find the M1200's more to my liking

Rogue Audio Sphinx v3. It gets positive reviews everywhere, well except audio science review...

ASR totally dismissed the product. They saved a lot of time by not bothering to listen to it. It wouldn't matter though they only listen (when they do) using a singular little bookshelf in mono.  

I have the Rogue Sphinx 3 and with the stock tubes it was very thin sounding. I put in a pair of Mullards and it beefed everything up

Look at the D-Sonic line. I have one. very pleased.

I am 85 and have been fiddling with audio since the age of 10. I have owned quite a few good reasonably priced tube amps in my life. Because of the hastle of tube changing, I recently went in a simpler direction and bought a Rogue DragoN.(Hybrid class D).  After 3 months I have been very satisfied with this amp. In short it produces excellent sound referring to all critical aspects. I have not seen more than two reviews, but I, myself, recommend it.

I ran a Mullard Tube Rogue Pre and a PS Audio S300 (Ice Power) for several years. I thought is sounded really good.  S300 lightweight, ran cool as a cucumber and powerful.  Definitely sounded better the longer you left it on.  Just recently switched to A/B to give it a try. I still think a hybrid topology is viable high end SQ. Rogue, PS Audio, Wyred4Sound., Peachtree all big bang buck stuff IMO.

I’m surprised no one mentioned Ralph’s (Atmasphere) new class d amps. Give those a look. Good luck 

 

The only one that comes to mind is the hybrid Rogue Audio Sphinx v3. It gets positive reviews everywhere, well except audio science review, but of course. I will have one at some point, just to see what all the hype is about. Herb feels it will become known as a classic, in the same league as the famous NAD integrated. The fact it is all analog with no digital dac or inputs appeals to me. I’d want to keep it seperate. Plus I like that it provides a fixed pre-out to facilitate connecting my still in use cassette deck. It supposedly has a great phono section and dedicated headphone Amp which is said to be very good. The v3 was tweaked to allow more of that tube sound to come through. It also doubles the power into 4 ohms, at least the previous two iterations did. The specs don’t indicate this in the v3, buy I’d expect it is unchanged. Plus, it just looks so damn good. They have not changed its appearance one bit. 

  I am very impressed by the Audiolab mono blocks. Output is 250 watts rms each.

You don`t have to push them and having one amp for each speaker gives remarkable stereo separation. Listening to Bon Jovi or Paul Simon is quite amazing as I cannot hear anything from the speaker not being used in stereo at the music swings from side to side. I also have a DENON amp and I have just tried Dali Spector 2 speakers and I am most impressed, ideal for my. bedroom. I do think you need a good DAC though for the Audiolabs,  Mono blocks. The Naim V1 are very good indeed in my opinion.

Well I have a March Audio P502 and it is awesome, based on a Hypex module.  Much more clarity and resolution than my Class AB amps, with powerful driving bass.  It's since been discontinued as March has gone all Purifi, but you may not need that much power so the P262 might be good for you.  March have much better build quality than VTV.  

I have the "peachtree gan" and after 1 month i can honestly say that this amp is a high end amp. Very subtle - Not in your face at all - doesnt call attention to itself. Embracing - Good - Direct (In a nice way)

@niodari 
What 4 class D amps have you tried and which one is your favorite?  What speakers are you currently using? What is your max budget? Without these basic information, how can anyone reasonably offer any recommendations to you?

Primare makes good stuff, imo. I have the I32 driving GoldenEar Triton 2+ speakers and really like that combo. You can add on a module to enable streaming too.

Jerry, VTV Purifi might be a reasonable choice (for me). I did not try yet  a Purifi (or GAN) based class d amp. Could you help with more detail on auditioning this amp  (in particular compared to your SET amp)? 

A 5-6 watts SET integrated amplifier can give you enough power unless your listening are is extremely large and your speakers are too non-sensitive. Then there is no real need in hybrid setting. 

I have a SS preamp which gives very comparable soundstage to a tube one. I mean not necessarily a tube preamp will give you better results. I am inclined to think that power amplifier is more important. A preamplifier can give you an additional flavour and it's up to you if you like it or not. If you have an integrated amplifier then you "get rid" of such kind of care, at least you don't need to search for a best preamp for your setting trusting to the amplifier designer.  

Peachtree 400Gan. Very nice. 

I am currently auditioning (for fun, I don't need them) a friend's brand new VTV Purify monoblocks with swappable op amps (he has Sparkos) and they are very good for an SS amp.  I too prefer my 6 wpc SET.   but if you're a fan of ss amps, give them a consideration.  --Jerry

I really like the hybrid concept. Tube front end and class D for power. That seems to exploit the best of both designs although I don't have a recommendation for you. 

As I have mentioned  I am fond of class D, but so far I did not audition a class D amp that sounds as natural and as clean as set class a tube amp that I'm using.y

Which class d amplifier you consider sounds more natural and clean than SET class A ones?

I wish there was a Class A amp that could compete with Class D.  😂

 

Sorry, I just dislike that framing as it's not really true.  There are some Class D amps I like a LOT more than some Class A amps.