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.
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xtownshend-audio
Hello guys
Im not an expert on the field and only had 4 amps in my system:

-Marantz PM7005 SS integrated
-Yaqin MC13S EL34 tube integrated
-Line Magnetic LM-508IA class A 300B tube integrated that could also be used as power amp. A nice and very rewarded amp among audiophiles. 
-Nord NC500DM class D stereo amp with Rev D boards and Sparkos Op Amps. 

Well, I have to say that even the Nord is not yet fully burned, it betters all of my previous amps on every field, including the LM508, wich costs more than twice the Nord, weights 6 times more, consumes much more power, produces much more heat and needs valve replacement ($) from time to time. 

I havent heard multi thousands amps or systems, only once and sounded pretty bad (Bang and Olufsen), but then sound I get now from the Nord is great, and not harsh or lean at all. May be the LM508 sounded a tinny little bit more fulled bodied, but Im sure it was mostly noise as I did some test a few days ago because I founded hard to let the LM508 go, as it cost me pretty expensive for my budget and it was a real nightmare to importe it to my country (Argentina), but, after that test, it was clear to me that the sound was much cleaner, dynamic, holographic and toneful with the Nord. 

A tip to consider. Hulgich Audio, a small speaker factory from Australia, won the best sounding stand on 2017 Melbourne Hifi Show using Nord amps with Rev C boards, wich are worse than Rev D boards, and competing with multi thousand systems. 

Im not saying Nord amps are the best, only that good class D amps can be very good and may be more afordable than similar quality sound class A or AB amps. 

Pedro 

Did you compare it to his cheaper 1200AS based amp first? Or did you just assume it was better because of the higher cost? On Audioshark there’s a guy name Marty who has both the Nord NC-500 amp with new rev D buffer along with the Nord 1200AS based amp. He prefers his Nord 1200AS based amp. But he’s probably the only one who’s heard both in the same system.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=162114.msg1727311#msg1727311
This thread reminds me of every time someone told me that soccer would take over American sports because all the kids played soccer.

Class D has a place, a small place, and it is not over taking the other forms of amplification.

I am not speaking of mega bucks amps, I am looking at the entire hobby.

Show me exactly one dealer who uses Class D amps in conjunction with selling Magenapan speakers as the primary amplification.  I could have chosen another line, but that is the one I know best and follow.

Metric is also coming to America, LOL
Seems like the OP is talking about gear thay doesn't actually exist yet. It's all speculation.