Who tried Class D only to return to S/S or Tube

I think the main reason some folks dislike the "good" Class D of today who have actually tried it in their own systems is because they haven't let themselves adjust to hearing how a musical presentation sounds without audible distortion interfering. Yes, like it or not all that "creamy warmth" people talk about IS distortion that is not likely found on the original source material.

If there was a way to plug in a speaker or headphone directly into the CD Media itself with nothing else in the chain you will most likely arrive at the same sound today's modern Class D is capable of given an equally transparent Preamp,cabling and speaker. As an example, the noise floor on the Hypex modules lies almost as low as many of todays SOA D/A converters and way below the majority of PreAmps on the market. Going D/A direct or having a very good $$$ Pre is pretty much a requirement if you don't wish to hear those devices influence at the output.

I used to own some very popular Class A & A/B amps in the past and then one day decided to try Class D despite hearing all the negative impressions from folks who are heavily invested in tubes & classic Class A/A/AB amps. I will admit that it took me a while to get my mind and ears around what I was hearing. The presentation was VERY different with a modern Class D design (I have used Hypex NC400 & NC1200 exclusively). The stripped down and crystal clear output via the Class D amps can indeed be too much change for many people to bare.

The truth is, once you get past this sonic change in presentation and begin to hear your music thru a much cleaner lens it then opens the door to adding your Salt/Pepper seasoning in much smaller doses to suite your final taste.

In most cases this Salt and Pepper can be introduced via cabling & isolation tweaks instead of via a sledge hammer by way of using inherently "warm" components that add too much seasoning to the point of being so far from the sound of the original media that its not even funny. This is especially true when you consider the combined total of seasoning added by component, cabling, tweaks, speakers and what ever else you can imagine.

Personally I like having a totally neutral set of main components that remain true to the source and then add my flavoring via cables and isolation as needed. Understandably folks like myself are the minority in this hobby and in the end as long as we all enjoy what we are hearing it doesn't matter how you get there.