"D" amps, general discussion who's 1 and why?

Geph0007,

I have a NAD 7020 I use as a spare in my systems when needed.

Its a very gutsy little beast indeed, and it has served well in a reserve role when called on over the years, but the sound is quite rough around the edges compared to most newer and even a number of older amps that I have had opportunity to compare it to over the years.

Dev,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that each case that appealed to you involved tube amplification. Also, you liked the Rowland Class D amp with the ARC tube pre.

I suspect that the "toe tapping" sound you like is more a result of the tubes, even if just in the pre, more so than as a result of using a Class D power amp.

Maybe a tube pre-amp and Class D power amp is the way to go, particularly with certain speakers that present more difficult loads to drive where Class D's that double down to 4 and even 2 ohms hold a distinct advantage over tubes for maintaining tonal balance with the low end.

I recently added the ARC sp-16 tube pre to my system running a well regarded SS amp needed to drive my difficult large Ohm Walsh 5 speaks and the toe tapping factor increased significantly.

I would consider a good Class D in my current setup in a heartbeat if I felt I really needed more power than the 120w/ch Musical Fidelity A3CR amp I currently use.