I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

tweak1,
The latest TONE Audio review of Van Alstine SET 400 suggests it is somewhat tubey and forgiving.  Since the SET 600 is merely a bridged version of the 400, the sound quality should be similar, although more powerful.  The AVA site also describes the SQ of these amps as forgiving.  There are plenty of amps with forgiving SQ, so even at $2K for the 400, this is nothing special.  I seek accuracy, so I am with Ric Schultz who believes that for comparable money, accuracy can be achieved.  

jetter,
Also, tweak1 likes his Audio Alchemy DPA1 stereo amp, which is class D.  I agree that he may be eagerly anticipating the EVS 1200, but when he gets it his ears will tell the truth.  

klh007,
Can we hear about sound quality of the Mivera vs EVS 1200 amps, rather than concentrating on dynamics only?  For me, purity and clarity at moderate SPL is far more important than loud, lower quality sound.  If an amp has lesser clarity at moderate levels, I don't want to hear the mediocrity at loud levels.

ricevs,
What amp have you heard side by side with your EVS 1200 that makes it "better" or SOTA, whatever that means?  I am not impressed by high  retail prices on hyped big brand names.  I heard an Audionet that was warmer and rolled off compared to the Mola Mola Kaluga.  D'agnostino amps are euphonic and rolled off, according to a few posters on various threads and a dealer I know.  The Audionet Heisenberg and D'ag Relentless may have high power, but there is no indication to make me think that for accuracy they are SOTA.

ricevs,
Many interesting topics for discussion.  As you know, specs don't tell the full story of how an amp sounds in a system.  While I am not as technically knowledgeable as you or other manufacturers, I have learned that most of those specs are static measurements.  But music is all about dynamic transient responses, so static specs may be of little use.  Maybe square wave response is more relevant.  The rise and fall of the step requires an infinite bandwidth for perfect reproduction.  Slew rate, or any other transient impulse related measures?  Maybe designers know things which they keep proprietary, and confuse the public with these static specs.  The Merrills have distortion of as much as 0.08%, much worse than the D'ag Relentless, but I would bet the $15,000 price of the 114 that the 114 has better transient clarity than the Relentless.  Dan D'ag personally likes rounded full, bass heavy loud sound, whereas Merrill's goal is fast, clear, immediate sound in the 5th row of the concert hall.  In the end, the designer has a general sound preference which is expressed in all of his products, despite his specs which confuse the public.  The brass binding posts are a softer metal which contributes to warm, loose sound.  I used to listen to steel vs brass screws in the head shell of my tonearm.  I liked the tighter, clearer sound of steel.  So I would guess that the Relentless is still a softer sound than it could be with your tweaks.  Finally, when someone says that something is better, you have to know his values to decipher what that means.  If he likes warm, fuzzy tube sound, I know to go for the opposite of what he likes.

ricevs,
Also, very high power amps are large and heavy, with long circuit paths and lots of circuitry with plenty of opportunity for mismatch of transistors, etc.  As you say, remove what isn't necessary.  So the D'ag Relentless is probably not pure SOTA sound.  Why can't a $2200 amp with short signal paths and circuitry be SOTA?