D amps

I've tried a few of the Class D modules. The earlier Ucd, Hypex Ncore, the older Purifi 1ET400 pretty recently. The only audio brand/designer type I've tried was an Elac Alchemy DPA-2 a few years ago. Actually the Elac was the first "real" class D I tried. It had a warmer tone, black background, & wasn't too bad. It opened my eyes to that Class D was heading in the right direction. 

It was like a $1700 amp that I got for about a grand. There were no reviews about it & I took a chance. It was decent but the top end was lacking vs a  good AB. No extension or sparkle. But it had other qualities that were better than similarly priced AB amps. I didn't use it very long though. 

All the other Class D modules were ok. They have some good qualities. I think they are perfect for home theater. For music, if being real picky, they can be a little 2 dimensional. Lack reverb, decay. Somewhat hard edges to the notes. For the money though I still think they are good. Ultra quiet, transparent as all get out, speed, & the Purifi had great bass. I'd match them with simple circuit no feedback tube preamps for some color. Never kept any of the amps long term. 3 months tops probably. I listen for hours everyday though. 

I honestly bought & tried them just to see if/how they were improving. I haven't tried the new Hypex NcX or the new beastly Purifi's but bought the Hypex Nilai DIY500 a few months ago. Best Class D I've tried yet. Took about 2 weeks before I really started enjoying it. I think it sounds best when I keep it on 24/7. I say it's the best I've had but I haven't tried any class D from popular designers or builders.  The Nilai for the money is great imo. It's not 2 dimensional. It's smoother sounding..less hard edges. Has decay to plucks & cymbals. It just sounds like a proper amplifier to me. Doesn't have the sweetest top end compared to more expensive amps I've had but it's better than any class D I've tried. I like it. 

I've actually been using it daily for the last few months in a streaming system with an Icon Audio LA4 MKiii upgraded tube preamp. I soldered some ODAM caps throughout & use NOS tubes. Beautiful vocals with the Nilai.Black space & depth between instruments. I feel that the Nilai is stupid good for the money.

When I try a Class D amp I have no bias though. I don't go into it thinking it already sucks or try to critically find everything wrong with it. If there is something amiss with the sound I let it come naturally. Most people whom buy amps in these price ranges probably wouldn't even know it's class D if you didn't tell them. 

I heard the new Orchard amp at the Florida show. It sounded like a great amp to me. The Nilai was cheaper & available at the time. The Alpha Audio reviews were pretty positive on the Nilai as well. 

I think Class D will just continue to get better. Especially when more brilliant designers keep working with them. I'd really like to try a few of the ones already out there. Going with a well known & respected class AB amp is still a safer bet though. I guess that depends on your budget. I also think we have people that will never accept or welcome class D. No matter how many other people say they love it.

Very happy with my Atma-Sphere Ganfet monoblocs, currently driving some JA Pulsar 2’s.  They are closer to the Pass labs xa30.8 than to typical Class D’s.  

I own 2 class D amps and love the sound of both with either my Harbeth 30.1s or vintage KEF 103.2s (desktop system):

-- Wyred 4 Sound ST-500 stereo amp (250 WPC). I bought a used one based on a couple positive reviews and a number of positive user comments. I sounded great from the first note, at least as good as any trad SS amps I've had

-- More recently, I picked up a gently used pair of Bel Canto 600M monoblocks. Again, they sounded wonderful from note-1, even a bit more refined than the W4S.

Neither amp has any of that treble hardness people talk about. They both sound exactly right to me, tonally and dynamically.

BTW, I didn't have to deal with burn-in with either amp. But if I bought a new class D amp, I'd burn it in at least 400 -500 hours. Class D amps & DACs are often described as needing epic burn-ins (I certainly found that to be true of DACs).

bernal737 don't guess, try a great class D amp. Orchard Audio is running an amp tour. Join the list on their website. Listen 7 days and and pay shipping to next person on the list. Then post a small review. After doing this I bought an Orchard Audio v1.0 StarKrimson Stereo Ultra DMC amp. The amp uses Orchard Audio's proprietary ganfet modules.

Thanks,

aldnorab

I haven’t heard any on B&W, but I’m an authorized Vivid Audio dealer, and their founder, Laurence Dickie, designed the B&W Nautilus speaker and all of the tapered tube “tweeter on top” speakers in their heyday before starting Vivid. The sound signatures are quite close. 

I’ve paired the Vivid G1 Spirits with Aurender’s AP20 integrated amplifier, which uses dual mono Purifi Eigentakt modules, similar to what is used in the Mola Mola, and it sounds really good. I actually reviewer the Aurender AP20 with these speakers on this forum:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/aurender-ap20-impressions

The sound is very transparent and engaging, and there’s enough drive to properly control the speakers. I’ve also used AGD Gran Vivace on these speakers which also do quite well. Both amplifiers are very linear, so if any added warmth, harmonics, or bloom is desired, this can be achieved elsewhere in the chain.