The Future of Audio Amplification

I have heard both the ARC monoblock 450 wpc and stereo class D amps (225 wpc )with a REF5 , source was TT , Ayre CD player, AQ cables and Vandersteen 7 at HiFi buys ( at that time 2013 Audio Alternative)
other amps auditioned that day over a 9 hour period:
Aesthetix Atlas - Stereo
Ayre MXR
ARC Ref150
ARC HD220

while the ARC class D amps finished last ( I ended up buying an Ayre VXR, they put up a good account of themselves. Not the last word in refinement, smoothness, etc....they are relatively inexpensive and don’t require a long term care contract with a chiropractor

i suspect ARC and others will keep pushing the quality and refinement for obvious reasons.....as they should...just as the best more traditional circuit designers will also keep pushing, as they should.....

somebody said

without suffering, God is an abstraction

so it must be with Class A

and for the agnostic there is class D

Amplifiers are going class D. That's just a fact. I've owned 3 and none have impressed me until the Lyngdorf 2170 and impress me it does. Better than any separates or tube equipment I have owned. Nothing class D sounding about it. Smooth as silk with great dynamics when called for.
In the years to come they will get better, cheaper, and lighter. It will come to a point where only a fool or someone nostalgic will buy a heavy power sucking class A amp. IMO of course. 

@mapman 

What does anything I said have to do with what I've heard? I was just roughly explaining the technology to a guy who asked a question. 

I'll go listen to a pair of horns and give my honest opinion. I'm not going to waste my time on class D. Unless you've got priorities more important than listening to music, why would you want to reduce the signal to garbage, inject it with ungodly amounts of noise and distortion, then try to filter out something that sorta resembles what you started with? I'm not even remotely interested in that process. You'll never catch me bragging about how efficient my stereo is either. The best class D could ever hope to be is almost as good as class A. Some would say that about class AB too. 

Until recently, I've been a long time stick in the mud stalwart for class A, AB, tube or solid state guy, but recently, due to some downsizing and restructuring of my listening space, I decided to take the plunge and try PS Audio's Stellar Gain Cell DAC preamp and M700 monoblocks, connected by balanced cables. After a solid week of "break in" around 200 hours (which I am skeptical about), even at the lowest volume as recommended by the folks at the company, I can say that they are as smooth, sweet, musical, warm and deep sounding as any amp I've owned and listened extensively to previously, and, perhaps even a bit more dynamic, especially at low <70 dB SPL volumes. Other amps I've also owned and enjoyed including Manley Stingray, Snapper, and NEO 250 monoblocks, Krell 400cx and intergrateds, CJ tube and solid state integrateds, Musical Fidelity, Bryston 7BST monoblocks, Bryston 4BST stereo amp, Parasound stereo amps (200 WPC and 75 WPC) and two different NAD integrateds.

I conclude that Class D, when done well at the input and output stages (in this case augmenting ICEPower modules with their proprietary Gain Cell mosfet input stage) can rival any other class of amplification. And they run totally cool, use very little wall juice (leave em on all the time!) and have micro and macro dynamics, even at low volume that reveals the source material better than any I've experienced previously. I know that's saying alot, but I have decided to keep them. Call me converted.