Impressions Channel Islands Audio D-100 monoblocks

Category: Amplifiers



As stated, this is going to be just a few observations and a side by side comparison with a very popular amp of the new "CIA" D-100 monoblock 100w into 8 ohm 175w into 4 ohm amplifiers.
A brief intro:
I've known Dusty at CIA for almost a decade and there are very few people as kind, capable and truly gifted at the Art/Science balancing act of creating electronics in the high end audio world.
Cutting to the quick...
Frankly speaking his first monoblock amplifier of a couple of years ago was a good sounding amplifier @ only 40 watts but was a little soft on top for me and although it had tremendous lateral staging and very solid image focus the overall sound field was more upfront but very respectable for a 1 kilo buck amp. Wanting a deeper soundstage and needing more power it didn't quite fill the bill for me.

Jumping to this weekend:

After receiving a pair of D-100's from Dusty to audition for the weekend I drove up to a friends house who purchased the DK Design at my suggestion a few months ago.
The comparison between the two goes like this.
They were powering a pair of $3200 (model 2268) loudspeakers from SourceTechnology. An 8 ohm speaker that sounds excellent. With only a total of twenty or so hours on the D-100's they had an inner detail and clarity along with a lateral soundstage that went way beyond what the DK amp was doing. In fact the DK sounded fogging in comparison. I was amazed because with my prior listening of DK only a slight softening/euphony were noticeable. Now it seemed down-right merky. They did not extend the sound field much beyond the speakers laterally and by comparison the D-100 sound field didn't seem to start or stop at the boxes at all. This type of portrayal of actual atmospheric density/reality with air, air, air is really surprising to ever hear and especially from a $1600 amp. Bass impact and control are above average at this price point and the uneditorialized, detailed midrange without any irritation is to me a feat equal to climbing Everest. My friend and I were noticing far more subtleties and nuances that were completely absent with the DK. I have actually been a big fan of the DK Designs VK-150 mark III in my brief experience with it, 3 or 4 months. But the transparency, authority, ease, refinement, detail, harmonic density, control, aliveness, clarity, dynamics and serious depth and extension just literally left the DK in the dust.
The DK has its own magic and still sounds special but it has become apparent next to D-100's that this is more of a very good balancing act between a slightly colored tube stage for "presence" and a very capable ss powerhouse. A side note, my friend has used several different tube options in the DK and it’s clear that they designed it around the cheap tube that it comes with. Tube changes have not proven to be very satisfactory. And he has tried ALL the recommended choices and some very expensive choices of his own.
I cannot state here the other amps that the D-100'2 monoblocks have bettered but I can tell that one very well known speaker company who have used the Spectron amp for there reference have unequivocally chosen these over the latest version. That is an absolute fact! And now I understand why.
These amps still have some breaking in to do but if this was it I'd say Dusty Has done something extremely remarkable sonically and positively frightening for the $.
I'd hate to be making an 8 thousand dollar amp right now with these things on the horizon.

Happy listening!