...
analytical type - digital is pretty damn good
relaxed without being overly 'warm' - the AKSA sound great
seriously laid back - tube power is your only choice
I too have listened to Bel Canto, Acoustic Reality, Flying Moles, modded T-amp and built a class-D flea amp and my AKSA 55N remains the reference for the moment.
However, what is very attractive about the Tripath amp I'm working on (using a 41hz kit) is neither the detail / analytical power, nor the efficiency (nice to have, but not a huge factor). It's the sound.
It's certainly not bright; musical lines are beautifully reproduced; sound is very fluid; balance is exceptional from top to bottom; imaging is fanstastic; bass is great. Funny enough, the list is very, very similar to what I've commented about my 55N (actually midway betw an N and N+, imo). Many of the minor tweaks I applied to my 55N were used on the 41hz kit. Others were quite different, bearing in mind that the Tripath has dramatically different demands on power supply compared to the AKSA.
The point I'm making is that the characterisation of class-D being bright and analytical is well-deserved, thanks to some commercial realisations and the T-amp, but there's potential for very good (even warm and relaxed
) sound.
I may eventually get down to conducting a serious A/B of my 55N v. the 41hz Amp3. Within its power limitation, the Amp3 will probably do quite well.
