High end Class D amps?

@noble100      "From what I've read, Luxman amps are generally regarded as sounding well controlled, smooth, sweet but also detailed. Do you perceive your Luxman integrated as having these sonic traits?
     If so, and along with your comment about "wanting more punch or something", I'm thinking the combination of your amp and both of your high quality pairs of speakers may be too controlled, refined,smooth and polite for your preferences or tastes."
Tim---you nailed it! I think that's what I'm missing---don't get me wrong, I love the sound from my 505 but I often wonder if the extra "punch" and bass could be added with a class D. From what I've seen on here, the class Ds could add some extra bass due to the higher damping factor. I may try the D-Sonic 800 amp and see what happens. Thanks for the recommendation. Question: if I connect the D-Sonic to the Luxman, will I lose the gorgeous blue VU meters? :)
Thx

Class D is for subwoofer boxes. It should be illegal to push that junk on people. OP should leave this thread and never look back.

"curious to hear your characterization of the sound quality difference between the pass and stellar

pls advise your speakers and source"

My source is either Qobuz through a Schitt Gungir Dac or from my turntable. I've recently spent a lot of time getting the turntable and arm correct. Tonearm is a Dynavector DV 505 with a Denon 103 R moving coil cartridge.  The tone arm has been rewired with Anticables level 6.2 interconnects. (I ditched the DIN connector and wire which made a very audible difference.) All interconnects are Anticables level 6.2 single ended or balanced using the same wire. Line stage preamp is a PS Stellar Gain Cell. The S-300 is connected via balanced Anticable interconnects.  All power cords by Anticable. (You could say I'm an Anticables fan.)  The speakers are Fuselier 2.5, subwoofer is a REL T-5 i connected to the speaker terminals of the power amp via Speakon cable. 

Before using the S-300 I used a Manley Stereo 120 or a Threshold 400A.

The Pass XA-25  is in a different small system driving Kef LS 50's and a REL T-5i. 

I like both amplifiers and did not expect to like the Stellar as much as I do. It very clean, quiet, and uncolored without being cold or "etched sounding" like I'd always thought of Class D amps.  The Pass is a little warmer sounding and better. But heck it's almost 3 times the price.

I have owned a lot of amps over my years in this hobby and found the class of the amp is not always an indicator of how it's going to sound.  A lot has to do with how the designer voices it.  
 
As always your mileage may vary..

Good luck listening,

bluorion:
" Tim---you nailed it! I think that’s what I’m missing---don’t get me wrong, I love the sound from my 505 but I often wonder if the extra "punch" and bass could be added with a class D. From what I’ve seen on here, the class Ds could add some extra bass due to the higher damping factor. I may try the D-Sonic 800 amp and see what happens. Thanks for the recommendation. Question: if I connect the D-Sonic to the Luxman, will I lose the gorgeous blue VU meters? :)"

Hello bluorion,

     I agree, since we know your Luxman integrated has a very good preamp section, no guarantee but why not give a good quality class D amp or amps a try? However, I believe you won’t lose the blue meters but I doubt they’ll be active when using the pre-outs. Sorry.
     But there is an alternative solution for incorporating more punch, impact and dynamic range into your system you may want to consider, at least for the bass frequencies, is to add at least a pair of good quality subs to your system if you have the room.
     Your S40s only have a rated bass extension down to 41 Hz and your Lore References only down to 37 Hz, so you’re not hearing or feeling all the bass on your source recordings that typically contain bass down to the audible limit of 20 Hz. That’s a lot of bass and bass impact to give up.
     My main speakers, a pair of Magnepan 3.7i, only have a rated bass extension down to 35 Hz, so my system was also initially lacking the impact created by full bass extension down to 20 Hz along with powerful bass dynamics. I was able to incorporate this missing bass and bass dynamics seamlessly into my system, however, by installing an Audio Kinesis 4-sub Swarm distributed bass array (DBA) system into my room that worked incredibly well.
     Now, I’d need to know more about your room dimensions and budget, but this $3,200 complete kit system may just be the ideal solution for your system, too. Here’s a link of an Absolute Sound review of it that provides a very accurate description of what to expect it to provide:
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audiokinesis-swarm-subwoofer-system/

Here’s a link to the Audio Kinesis website:
http://www.audiokinesis.com/the-swarm-subwoofer-system-1.html

I have no affiliation or association with Audio Kinesis, I’m just a big fan of the company and the 4-sub DBA concept because it works so well. I bought and installed this system in my room about 6 years ago and I honestly consider it the best upgrade I’ve ever made to my combination 2-ch music and 5.1-ch home theater system. I think you’ll probably think so, too, though even using a less expensive solution of a pair of good quality subs could produce similar results.  But I’ll wait until you post a reply before continuing our discussion.

Later,
Tim