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Which Class D Amplifier? PS Audio, Ghent, Nord, Merrill or other???

I’m looking for a new amp & want Class D.

I’ve seen various brands mentioned, such as PS Audio, Ghent, Nord, Merrel to name a few, but I’ve not heard any of them.

Which company is producing the best sounding Class D?
Which models should I be looking to demo?


Thanks



singintheblues
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I hope their use continues to trickle down to even more affordable amps as George predicted (good call). It seems they rather quickly went from only being used in the $50K Technics to these new AGD monos at $15K/pair. Still too steep for me but I can wait..


Yes EPC (who are the GaN developers) are looking for it to be used also in portable devices, if so that will cause a quite a  kerfuffle also.

Looking forward to how all this progresses

Cheers George
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,887 posts
 
FWIW I was considering SET several years back prior to trying Class D first.   So glad I did!  Never happened!  Will only get better!
singintheblues OP
96 posts
 
As much as I’m a big fan of Class D, I’m not oblivious to the shortcomings.

I recently owned a Devialet 250.  When I first got it, I thought it was the best thing I’d ever heard.   After a few months, it started to grate on me.

Having read about this GaN, I’m happy to wait for it to trickle down.

How long is it likely to be before GaN is in mid priced gear?
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
How long is it likely to be before GaN is in mid priced gear?
That Technics SU-G30 which is a server as well as an integrated is the cheapest so far at $3900, but it's only 50w into 8ohm and 100 into 4ohm so not for everyone. So if that was a poweramp only, you would have to say high 2's.
As I said I did contact EPC to find what and who are bringing them out, seems there are several more brands on top of what we now know.
 
Cheers George   
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 

Hi Singingtheblues, I have listened to Devialet several times at RMAF, including I believe the 250.... I am not surprised that eventually you found it to be grating.... The overall house sound is certainly open, but a little too treble-happy for my taste... Some small amounts of treble hardness may have been traces of intermodulation.


Regards, G.

 

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