Class D is affordable and sounds as good or better the SS/Valve why buy anything else ?


I have spent a fair amount of my hard earned money on big ticket brand new SS and VT/Valve amplifiers over the years without hesitation, with state of the art 2019 class D amplifiers becoming cheaper and sounding better, i wouldn't join in again.

For older technology amplifiers SS VT/Valve to compete with State of the art class D, Their prices are going up and up.

One example is Pilium Audio from Greece or Bulgaria their Divine Line the prices are all over £100,000 for their pre amps and power amps, I know the UK importer he said they sound OK,

Another example FM Acoustics again up to and over £100,000 for pre and power amps. i have owned FM Acoustics pre and power again their OK,

I am not saying they do not sound good, i am saying why spend this much when state of the art class D probably sounds as good now and can only improve with the GaN capacitors and is nearly up to 100 times cheaper.

Is there still a market for multi thousand £$s SS or VT/Valve amplifiers ?

When class D finally overtakes SS VT/Valves what will people do with their multi thousand £$ amplifiers, keep them knowing there is something better ? Or will we see the market flood with exotic used amplifiers ?

Digital technology is rapidly growing pace and becoming cheaper, with GaN capacitors being introduced the sound is going to get better and better and will slowly or quickly become even more affordable.

If you had 50,000 to spend on an Amplifier, would you buy a high ticket SS amplifier and hope for the best ?

Would you stay safe and go with high ticket valve amp, class D can never match good valves right ?

Or would you sit tight and see how the GaN capacitors can further improve the performance of state of the art class D ?

Please feel free to join in, everybody is welcome, i think its a very delicate/touchy discussion for some people with big bucks invested in older type amplifiers.
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Showing 6 responses by tweak1

March 2016 The Absolute Sound compared the Audio Alchemy DPA-1 and DDP-1 to the Soulution very very favorably. Both were designed by Peter Madrick 
I owned a hi-end retail company in decades past. I owned a lot of amps (SS & Valve; even a Gain Cell amp) but I looked into the future and started getting on board the class D train, first with W4S monos, then stereo, then their multi-channel, followed by Emerald Physics 100.2SEs + upgraded fuses (IMO they lacked midrange warmth). Next up was Audio Alchemy DPA-1 stereo amp (it is a terrific amp, but not powerful enough for my extra large room) I now have PS Audio M700s (MSRP $3995 the pair!). These are the best amps I have had with the possible exception of a Kinergetics KBA 75 (> 10 years ago), which made the electric meter spin at high rpm. Clearly class A or A/B consume a ton of power and probably internal parts

I have no doubt GaN will bring more to the hobby, but for <$4K Im more than happy wth the PSA M700s
 mivera, I don't doubt your knowledge of the PS Audio Ice modules age, but the sound is amazing, especially at its price point (music processed through th PSA Stellar GC dac). Wires and cabling mid level WireWorld and a Core Power 1800 PC: and as I stated above, I have owned considerable kit

This past weekend I had a friend over who previously heard my system with an Audio Alchemy DPA-1/DDP-1 (sans PS 5) - an excellent class D amp, but underpowered in my very large room, OR, it was unable to grab my Emerald Physics KC IIs (95dB) by the balls, or...?

Anyway, we had a rock concert night spinning SRV (Stevie Raye Vaughn), Peter Gabriel Live, and The Pointer Sisters Greatest Hits, all at very high levels. He was amazed at how well the system sounded, and I was blown away. I do not recall ever having such a complete experience

Does this mean the M700s are my final class D purchase. Hardly, but, they are an outstanding value 

FYI, I went to what I thought was your site, but only saw a dac. where are your amps? 
chris Not a single solid state or class d amp has sounded anywhere close to my Rogue m180 dark mono blocks in my system, not even close.

Well, hopefully that means Rogue finally started using higher quality transformers. My M150s with cryoed tubes, run balanced through an all tube front end, lacked speed of the initial attack

As hs been mentioned several times, what’s in front of the class D amp/s is often suspect. Case in point:

I have an Oppo 105 that I was using with a quality WireWorld toslink int a Parasound P5 (several preamps ago). I upgraded the 105s input IEC and silver wire to the power supply and later I replaced the OEM power supply with a Linear Power Module, but was not happy with the sound, so I bought a Marantz HD CD 1 to use as a transport. When I finally replaced the toslink with a TOL WireWorld Coax the Marantz took a giant step forward, BUT....

I finally got around to hooking my Oppo 105 back up, this time with the Coax. The addition of the coax and a superior XLR between pre and my class D amps is hard to comprehend, unless you heard it, and even then ...

Unless people are willing to do what is necessary to ge the best from class D they will likely poo-poo it. That’s a shame

Hey, did you see Rogue has class D amp too? Maybe they'll let you demo one

plga, I use WireWorld; cables ICs and PCs.

 He is internationally sold and highly reviewed.

Series 8 is their newest, but you might get a deal on series 7

Call them. I think they have an in-home trial

hth
@eliz, I appreciate your apprehension regarding class D, as there are so many versions ones head spins meaning mistakes are likely to be made, That, and maggies are current/power hungry speakers

About 5 years ago I had  Maggie 3.5Rs. Never getting what I thought they were capable of, I decided to biamp  with a W4S MC 250/500 (multichannel amp @ 250/500wpc). These were older modules that never floated my boat, so I bought a Parasound A 23 for the ribbons, butit ran so hot even at idle that I knew eventually parts would break down, and it added ~ $30/mo to my electric bill. No bueno! 

My room is very large requiring a lot of power. I finally sold the MC 250/500, the A23 and the maggies after blowing 4 ribbons and tiring of their room dominating size which blocked my 7 x 13 front window view of my front yard

I replaced the maggies with 95dB Emerald Physics KC IIs, which are also open baffle, but less than 4ft tall, yet they throw a similar sound stage, but unlike the 3.5s the crossover to the tweeter is seamless

I bought 2 EP 100.2SEs class D amps with hq fuses .These amps didn’t do it for me, but in retrospect, it is quite possible it was an IC issue.

Next up was the Audio Alchemy DPA-1 stereo amp, which is/was a an excellent amp, but not enough power in my room. I replaced it with 2 PS Audio M700s and am very very happy. They offer an in home trial

hth