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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.
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miveraaudio
111 posts
 
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
lhasaguy's avatar
lhasaguy
95 posts
 
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
gregdude
25 posts
 
Hey,  I just trust my ears. 
gregdude
25 posts
 
Seems like the OP is talking about gear thay doesn't actually exist yet. It's all speculation. 
miveraaudio
111 posts
 
The real small place is the land of the old school audiophile. And this market is getting smaller and smaller by the year. In the real world class D amps are almost in everything already today. And moving forward, everyone is going to need to go to class D if they want to stay in business. We are very close to the point where the average music lover is going to have better sounding gear than the old school audiophile. Because the old school audiophile won't let their separates go due to nostalgic reasons. 
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