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Time to buy a class D amp?


Will some new class D amplifiers outperforming the current ones appear soon

(the newest ones i know were released a  few years ago)?

Class D amps attract me as I consider them the most ecological ones with obvious non-auditionable benefits.

I have no doubts that they posses the maximum ratio performance/sound quality among the amplifiers of all classes.

At the same time, the sound quality the class D amplifiers that I have auditioned produce, although is quite good,

but not yet ideal (for my taste).


I use PS Audio Stellar S300 amp with PS audio Gain Cell pre/DAC with Thiel CS 3.6 speakers in one of my systems.

The sound is ok (deep bass, clear soundstage) but not perfect (a bit bright and somehow dry, lacking warmness which might be more or less ok for rock but not for jazz music).

I wonder if there are softer sounding class D amps with the same or better details and resolution. Considering two reasonable (as to the budget) choices for test, Red Dragon S500 and Digital Audio Company's

Cherry  2 (or Maraschino monoblocks), did anybody compare these two?



128x128niodari

Showing 6 responses by mr_m

mr_m
1,900 posts
 
"Sorry for the blatant advertisement, but it is class D at it's best."                                                                                                                                      And quite possibly its most expensive.
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
Clearthink's attitude towards, indifference to, or hate of, all things class D seems obvious.  :-P
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
George. I own a class D integrated hybrid. I know from your past posts you are not a fan of class D. You say you hear somethings not quite right in the upper-mids and highs, and phase shift going on in those areas. Could you, respectfully, enlighten me as to what you are hearing? Please explain it to me, and I will try to understand what you are referring to.

I have owned various amps over the years, mostly A/B types, and my class D amp easily outperformed all of them.

Cheers,
Tim
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
I have been using a class D amp for over four years now with no damage to my speakers. I too, believe the damage was as Ralph said. A case of amp overload. This makes the most sense to me.
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
batman1971,
How can you say "It's not hifi yet" when there are class D amps out there that can beat other classes of amps that are considered high end???
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
No.
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