one more vote for PS Audio Stellar S300. I was a bit critical with that amp in the earlier thread ("Time to buy a class D amp?"). This was my first class D amp, and I switched from pure tube setting. More importantly, I used it with PS Audio Gain Cell pre/DAC, and none of the units, as it turned out, had enough burn-in time. Both units (Gain cell especially) needed almost 400 hours to perform at their best. Now I think that the combination is quite good, not only S300 is a good amp, but Gain Cell is a decent preamplifier, especially relative to their prices. As part of my secondary audio system, I am quite pleased also with the pre. It has a characteristic that do no posses top level pres, it sounds good on old (relatively poor jazz) recordings, that I really like for my secondary system. Its DAC is not as good, it remained a bit harsh and rough, I use an external DAC with it.
Having auditioned a number of class D amplifiers since the earlier thread, my general opinion on class D has been changed. For me, it is clear that this is the future of the amplification, and there is not much one can objectively complain about them, in general. I like also tube amplifiers, just like I like some old car designs, but I think this is more a matter of teste, there is not much of objectivity there.
You have much better price, less energy consumption, less weight, less hit, and better sound. Would you be willing to spend 10 times more to get something that is "apparently" a bit better only in some aspects and worse in the rest?
Having auditioned a number of class D amplifiers since the earlier thread, my general opinion on class D has been changed. For me, it is clear that this is the future of the amplification, and there is not much one can objectively complain about them, in general. I like also tube amplifiers, just like I like some old car designs, but I think this is more a matter of teste, there is not much of objectivity there.
You have much better price, less energy consumption, less weight, less hit, and better sound. Would you be willing to spend 10 times more to get something that is "apparently" a bit better only in some aspects and worse in the rest?