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.
townshend-audio

Showing 9 responses by sthlm78

@miveraaudio let me explain my question; I have a Ncore 500 (not from Nord) and feed it by a tube pre amp , it has a analog input board but I want to try something more tubi. I got mine 2 years ago and read somewhere those board with this character tend to be dark and no accurate so I stop searching. Recently  I have seen in other post , one manufacturer in USA implemented tubes and I am wondering if It really works or just glowing lamp to attract customers bc as I know there are several layers of filtering in class D that makes it hard to produce warm sound as class A or tube amps.
@miveraaudio I have a question refer to analog input for class D amp, is it possible to design something that sounds like tube amps? 
Thx guys for help :)
Refer to the discussion, as a class D lover, I don’t have any knowledge to engage in technical facts! But give me some names in class A or A/B  that produce same amount of power as middle range class D amps in the same price range !
I had 2 famous class A amps and tested them against class D in the same set up that costs much much less and class D was a winner!
Refer to HIFI magazine reviews, sadly my experience always does not agree with them and I think they are not honest to the end consumers so try not to love/hate something base on their advertising pamphlets;)
In few years, class D will be the superior technology ( though it already being in HT) and people will read posts like this and applaud for pioneer fans and get cancer by comments written by unbelievers  :)
Just I noticed Hypex 1200 is coming with a reasonable price to the market. In the time I bought mine, there were available only in very high end of class D amps.
@miveraaudio 1200AS IcePower is the same module that W4S and Bell Canto use in their mono blocks ?
I checked Nord and Apollon websites and it seems they are very cheap compare to Ncore!

Agree! Ncore mades more profit but I am tempting to get one IcePower soon and compare to Ncore!
A silly question, why famous brands like NAD, Marantz, Thechnics,... invested on Ncore not IcePower?
@helomech you are spreading false statements base on ur feeling not facts! The Devialet as I remember is not a pure class D and has their own design! For higher power rates you must pay fortune but there are other class D with good specs and good sound quality that are affordable! Hypex UCD is older technology but still works perfect in HT and subwoofers!
about the brands, I can give you at least 10 models built base on class A or A/B that are gurbage but that doesn’t mean all class A or A/B are bad!
people here are very sensitive to brand names so I tried to not mention anyone in this discussion but you, class D haters, wouldn’t hesitate to share your bad experiences with specific details to win a argument!
When big brands start to use class D and spend millions and millions to advertise it, all you haters will vanish like vampires by sunshine;)

I don’t think being old make you regid for new changes! I saw in class D amps also, some users bashing new designs/models and show some strange zealous behavior toward specific models.
I guess most of class D amp designers are member here but scare to talk because of PC.
Btw I like your binary attitude toward amp design but most don’t, maybe because of your business interest!