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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
jetter
1,035 posts
 
Honestly, we get the message you new A’gon class D proponents have chosen to try to beat into our heads over the last couple of weeks.

Here is what you should know. We really do have a group of participants on A’gon that have interacted, for better and for worse, for a long time. And you all have not been part of it. So let me tell you directly that if Ralph (Atmasphere) told us that he thinks he has a new class D implementation that is better than anything else, a whole lot of us would sit up and want to try it. Other than that, we will all try class D when and if we feel like it.
cleeds
2,065 posts
 
Beware the audio guru.
miveraaudio
111 posts
 
I don't think anyone's posting about class D here to convert the luddites. The vocal luddites around here probably only consist of 5% of the thread viewers. But for some reason they feel they matter the most. 
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
1,105 posts
 
“Have you heard any class D amplifiers in 2019 ?”

@select-hifi,

What so groundbreaking about Class D in 2019? Your enthusiasm seems to be driven by the low cost of Class D amps. How is your $2K amp stack against Mola Mola Kaluga amp? Did you compare your current amp with any other Class D amp?

Class D offers decent low cost alternative but it will never overtake or replace SS VT/Valves amps. I am happy to see Class D co-exist with SS and Valve amps and continues to improve in years to come.

miveraaudio
111 posts
 
I know that one of my $1000 Icepower 1200AS based amps replaced a pair of Mola Mola Kaluga's. I'd post a picture my client sent me but you can't post pictures here. 
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