Most resolving, transparent amps.

My H2O Signature monos, which have kept pace with cap and module upgrades are fully transparent, detailed, and equal in decay properties of the finest tube amps. No amp can do that alone. The H2O is a slave to upstream components. All the beauty, depth, and naturalness can be attributed to the AN DAC I use.

Newbee, I can only speak for my system. I mentioned the source. Somebody also brought out the importance of the preamp, if any. I would add that with class D amps, the cabling is critical as well. I have found only three that work well, Shunyata, Anti-cable, and Cerious. There are no doubt more, but they will not be box or hose cables.

Marco is right. That is why I stressed system synergy. The fact is, however, their is no getting all the, " Dead quiet, black background, dimensional, layered, imaging, open, extended top end...," without an amp that can disappear with the best wires, front end, and speakers.

I have heard top dollar OTL systems, built for synergy. I love them. It takes a whole lot more power to bring out the best of my speakers, more akin to electrostats. The way I have, I prefer mine.

Tubegroover, I am a very happy owner of two pairs of Apogee Scintillas, the hardest speakers to drive in the world.

I have class D monos servicing these babies, and I can't imagine any SS amp approaching these class D amps in bringing the real out of 16 bits.

Since I got my second pair of Scintillas rebuilt by Richard Murry, the resolution has become so complete, I am finding CDs that need chucking. The worst of the lot are newer popular CDs.

That's Ok, because the other CDs sound sublime.

The trick with class D amps you have to know how to match them to other components. I have found naked is better in wires. Power cords must be shielded. The preamp has to be pristine. My Fire is. Most of all, the source must be vinyl, or a real good non-oversampling DAC. All oversampling CDPs and DACs sound terribly contrived and simpleton.

Tvad, poor sounding CDs are few and far between in my experience. It is nothing to sweat about. What I love is when listeners come in and say, "Let's see what this really bad disc sounds like on this system. When it sounds more horrible than they imagined they blame it on the system, instead of finally tossing the crummy thing.

To answer your question, Bubul57, absolutely great recordings sound better on highly resolving systems.

PHD, since I changed my SCs to very short ribbons, I have had to toss out a few more. With few exceptions, all my CDs are fairly new. I entered the Audio race just eight years ago. Older CDs I bought have been largely terrible.