Welcome!
My last 3 amps have been Class D.
Like NRD, not so much Danny. I invest in company's with deep R&D resources, in-house manufacturing, and a long history. So my last three purchases have been from Dynaudio, JBL, and NAD.
In 20 years;
- Speakers have gotten tighter and more detailed (what we used to call a European sound). Consumers have finally started to catch on to the design and sonic advantages of active speakers (one channel of amplification feeding each driver) that studio professionals have used for decades. The latest development is controlled directivity design, so the speaker interacts less with the room and sounds more alike room to room. But around here lots of interest in dipole/open baffle which takes speaker design in the opposite direction.
- Digitally we've gone from CD players to separate digital analog converters (DAC) that can handle the variety of high resolution (hi-res) formats that are available. Those formats are available as downloads. Alternatively, CD quality internet streaming of millions of albums is available via monthly fees. Most systems nowadays require a streamer (often dedicated computer), digital cables (usually USB), and specialized software. NAD one-box gear using BlueSound operating system is one exception. Most of these systems can be wirelessly controlled from laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Old CD's that can't be found via streaming services can be ripped to hard/flash drive(s) and accessed via computer/etc.
- Thanks to Floyd Toole we're learning more about how speakers behave in-room. Suggest reading his "Sound Reproduction" 3rd edition. He pushes the use of non-square rooms and multiple subwoofers to address the inherent huge in-room bass peaks/dips. Digital room correction (recommend use of a calibrated microphone to measure the speaker/room) can be another very useful tool. Room Eq Wizard (REW) or Dirac Live are two such digital signal processing (DSP) packages. Audiophiles are also waking up to the value of effective room treatments (see GIK here at Audio Circle).
- Overall, once you get up to speed, you should find that there's never been a better time to find high value, good sounding, and convenient audio.
