I had been using a Parasound A51 A/AB amp which has been a very nice amplifier. However I was very interested in Class D amps and was considering picking up something in this area as I love the idea of low energy consumption when at idle, higher efficiency and lower operational temperatures. I was sent one of the new Parasound Zonemaster amps, granted its not being marketed as a high end piece, but at least I could try it against the A51. I was impressed with all aspects of its performance except for the high frequencies which I found to be somewhat harsh and that is the common complaint with Class D amps which use the off the shelf ICE modules which this amp is. But for a cheap and easy to pick up amp, it's really quite good and an excellent choice for a kid in college who doesn't want to lug around a beast and get a lot of power for not much money.
Fast forward: I was further piqued now about Class D and wanted to get into something much more advanced, so I picked up a pair of Anthem Statement M1 Class D mono blocks which run around $7K for the pair. These babies put out 2000 watts per channel at 4 ohms (my speakers) and all I can say is; holy moly I was blown away at how much better they play than the Class A/AB amp I have been using! Far more dynamic range, better soundstage and imaging, no high frequency harshness at all, just super clean floor shaking output. The finals in the amps are liquid cooled via copper heat pipe convection to the cooling fins on the side of the amps and the temperature under full load is never much warmer than ambient room temperature. They only draw 33 watts at idle and there is no noise at all. These are super clean sounding and I just love them. There is no comparison to the Parasound A51 Halo amp, these M1's blow it away in all aspects. But then again, they are almost twice the price; but I will add well worth it.
Fast forward: I was further piqued now about Class D and wanted to get into something much more advanced, so I picked up a pair of Anthem Statement M1 Class D mono blocks which run around $7K for the pair. These babies put out 2000 watts per channel at 4 ohms (my speakers) and all I can say is; holy moly I was blown away at how much better they play than the Class A/AB amp I have been using! Far more dynamic range, better soundstage and imaging, no high frequency harshness at all, just super clean floor shaking output. The finals in the amps are liquid cooled via copper heat pipe convection to the cooling fins on the side of the amps and the temperature under full load is never much warmer than ambient room temperature. They only draw 33 watts at idle and there is no noise at all. These are super clean sounding and I just love them. There is no comparison to the Parasound A51 Halo amp, these M1's blow it away in all aspects. But then again, they are almost twice the price; but I will add well worth it.
