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Competitive class D amp suggestions

I have been Class D fun since a few years ago when i bought my first class D amp. I like the concept, in general, and all the attractive features of this class of amplifiers. I tried 4 different ones, currently i  stayed with one of them that i consider to be the best among all four amps. I do enjoy and like it. At the same time,  my 5 watts SET amplifier (with more than 100 times higher distortion according to the specs) gives more natural and (surprisingly) notably cleaner sound (THD of the class D amp is 0.001). The soundstage  of the class D amp is not so bad but that of the tube one is still better.   

I remain attracted by class D amps though. 

Any fresh suggestions on reasonably priced class D amps (i mean excluding  non-reasonably priced class D amps, e.g., Merrill amplifiers)?

Any comments on non-reasonably priced class D amps are also welcome (so far i was not able to audition many class D amps and am curious if there are some which could really compete with Class A). 

128x128niodari
spenav
416 posts
 

@niodari 
What 4 class D amps have you tried and which one is your favorite?  What speakers are you currently using? What is your max budget? Without these basic information, how can anyone reasonably offer any recommendations to you?

smargo's avatar
smargo
50 posts
 
I have the "peachtree gan" and after 1 month i can honestly say that this amp is a high end amp. Very subtle - Not in your face at all - doesnt call attention to itself. Embracing - Good - Direct (In a nice way)
drewdawg999's avatar
drewdawg999
52 posts
 

Well I have a March Audio P502 and it is awesome, based on a Hypex module.  Much more clarity and resolution than my Class AB amps, with powerful driving bass.  It's since been discontinued as March has gone all Purifi, but you may not need that much power so the P262 might be good for you.  March have much better build quality than VTV.  

mitty9
5 posts
 

  I am very impressed by the Audiolab mono blocks. Output is 250 watts rms each.

You don`t have to push them and having one amp for each speaker gives remarkable stereo separation. Listening to Bon Jovi or Paul Simon is quite amazing as I cannot hear anything from the speaker not being used in stereo at the music swings from side to side. I also have a DENON amp and I have just tried Dali Spector 2 speakers and I am most impressed, ideal for my. bedroom. I do think you need a good DAC though for the Audiolabs,  Mono blocks. The Naim V1 are very good indeed in my opinion.

audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,017 posts
 

The only one that comes to mind is the hybrid Rogue Audio Sphinx v3. It gets positive reviews everywhere, well except audio science review, but of course. I will have one at some point, just to see what all the hype is about. Herb feels it will become known as a classic, in the same league as the famous NAD integrated. The fact it is all analog with no digital dac or inputs appeals to me. I’d want to keep it seperate. Plus I like that it provides a fixed pre-out to facilitate connecting my still in use cassette deck. It supposedly has a great phono section and dedicated headphone Amp which is said to be very good. The v3 was tweaked to allow more of that tube sound to come through. It also doubles the power into 4 ohms, at least the previous two iterations did. The specs don’t indicate this in the v3, buy I’d expect it is unchanged. Plus, it just looks so damn good. They have not changed its appearance one bit. 

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