Good Class D amplification and Omega speakers are showing up to be a winning combo. The Crown Class D has been making inroads, and now the Temple audio Bantam Gold.
One of many things I love about Omega speakers is their ability to run really well on low wattage amps, many of them physically tiny which can make for a "disappearing front end", and with Louis' current crop of drivers, a wide variety of amp types work well.
I won't bore you with all the amps I've tried on various Omegas over the years, but there is is one type that never lit my fire, and that was (I say was) Class D. Admittedly, that was a few years ago and Class D has not been sitting still, but seen great improvements since I had mine.
Wind Chaser is the one who got me interested in decent Class D when I listened over at his place. I sought out what I believe to be one of the better "miniature" types and found the entirely made in the UK Temple Audio Bantam Gold stereo amp. Made with very high quality components and 25 w/ch into 4 ohms (15 into 8?). I was immediately impressed with the build quality. It has an Alps volume control, Neutrik chassis mounted 5 way binding posts, and chassis mounted gold plated RCA inputs.
The sound: I first ran it in a room system with a Herus+ DAC and Super 7 Monitor MK2 and was surprised at the clear un-grainy top end, natural midrange, and full bass - in four words, nothing out of balance. Very three dimensional with incredible speed. Attack on notes is razor sharp and the clarity and transparency are amazing without sounding cold or harsh. I'm currently using the brick switching power supply, but a battery or linear power supply like an Astron will be an upgrade in sound. The noise floor with the stock power supply is very low.
Next, I ran the Bantam Gold in my desktop system with Audio Sector DAC and Super 3is and the results were similar to the above with some of the best imaging I've heard on the desktop.
Does the Bantam Gold sound like a SET? No, nor does it try to. It's fun solid state with a whole different set of strengths. A different pleasure. If I could only own one amplifier it would be a SET. One place I would take this amp over a SET is in our sub tropical summers where the temperatures can reach well over 100 F. Class D has to be the coolest running amp type I've encountered. Yes we do have AC - can't live at the north end of the Sonoran desert without it.
Update: Did more listening on the desktop system and find the bass to be really "there" - quite deep and transparent, like there's a sub under the desk and the speakers aren't broken in yet. IMO sub not needed in this system.
Imaging is as good as I've ever experienced at the desktop. My Dell monitor just disappears in a gorgeous soundstage.
