Do ClassDAudio Amps Have Proper Decay Of Notes?


I'm interested in the ClassDAudio kits. Has anyone tried them? I had a tripath amp once and it had a liquid, detailed quality that I liked but it was too fast with the decay so ultimately sounded a bit fake, even with a tube pre. Full-bodied, lush, but too fast. I've heard the Hypex modules from Holland have nailed the decay issue but they're miles out of my price range. Just wondering if the ClassDAudio kits are close in terms of decay.
uberdine

Showing 3 responses by uberdine

As far as I can hear, proper decay is the only issue that class d has. Every other box is ticked, and then some. I'm not shilling for anyone, just hoping I can get a power amp for $600 that is orders of magnitude cheaper than a PassLabs and 90% of its excellence. In my experience power amps are significantly less important to the sound than speakers, preamps and cartridges, yet are insanely expensive.
Thanks for your replies everyone. On reflection I think my decay observation was probably wrong judging by reviews I've subsequently read, but there was something weird about my tripath amp that I couldn't put my finger on. Buggered if I know what it was. I'm just hoping the classDAudio amps don't have this quality, since they seem like a good solution for my budget. 
Thanks for your input gentlemen, sorry I haven't replied for so long, I haven't been on this site. Just to clarify, I absolutely don't discount that the power amp is crucial to the sound. My throwaway comment was more to do with how insanely expensive they are compared to other components when you're on a budget, and don't alter the sound as much as a line stage or cartridge. But yeah, crucial.
Atmasphere, my speakers are an easy 8 ohm load @ 90db. They sound great with my current 3.5w tube power amp, but I listen to so much alt rock that I miss the filled out bass I had with my previous solid state monster, which I only got rid of because it went out to 200khz and I had oscillation problems with my preamp. The ClassDAudio goes out to 35khz, do you think this is far enough to avoid the ringing issues that switching amps have? I haven't read a bad word about ClassDAudio amps (other than that you can do better if you spend $5000 etc) so I'm guessing the guy has nailed it, although some people thought the top end was recessed, but who knows. The only other thing I'm worried about is the gain at 30db might be overkill for my speakers. My preamp only puts out 0.775 though. Mmm. Thoughts welcome.