Good Class D amps ??

[emcdade]

I had a NAD M12/M22 combo that I bought kind of on a whim after seeing lots of nice reviews and it measured very well.  They also had a ton of current delivery into a low ohm load so seemed to be a good match for Martin Logans.  They were OK with my ML Montis speakers but I soon tired of the panel speakers aversion to rock music:  dreadful.

 

I listened to Sopra 2's at a dealers very listening room that is pretty heavily damped and a real microscope for gear and speakers.  I loved their overall sound and they are just a very well made and great "all rounder" of a speaker.  I was sold.  I was listening to them on a pretty decent AVM integrated (class AB) and the Pass XA 30.8.

 

Next day I was very excited to bring my NAD combo in and see how they sounded with the Sopras.  It was not good.  Dry, sterile, clinical, boring, etc. etc. etc.  Now it could've been partly to blame on the room being pretty damped, but the Sopras are pretty truthful to the electronics behind them and this just wasn't going well despite my hopes.  I was really disappointed, time to eat thousands in loss on the used market!  The minute we switched back to Class A/B amps the sound improved.  Depth, width, height, tone, everything just became more natural and enjoyable with the NAD out of the picture.  The dealer even said "that is one of the best class D amps I've heard in here, but yeah, lifeless."

 

I now have a Perla Audio Signature 50 driving the Sopra 2's and couldn't be happier.

[emcdade]

38 minutes ago, Ron Scubadiver said:

There are several long threads about the XLS series amps in some AV forum.  Many users got great results on all kinds of speakers including fussy Magneplanars.  These amps (now the XLS2 series) are widely used by home theater installers in expensive elaborate systems.  You are entitled to your opinion, but these amps are working great for too many folks to dismiss.

 

I strongly recommend heading down to some place which caters to musicians like Guitar Center and trying one out.  It can always be returned for a refund, unlike some high end stuff.

 

Great results by people who re-watch Transformers 4 times a week and need to reproduce the sound of breaking glass and robots, not real instruments.

 

Same people who will tell you that the Crown and Pass amps sound identical because someone somewhere failed a double blind test once.

[emcdade]

Whenever someone tells you a piece of gear requires hundreds of hours of break-in that usually means it will still sound like a freeze dried turd.  That’s been my experience anyway.