You really need to o pay attention to peak output with many class D amps. Often it’s very low and not much higher than the rated RMS. So while a N50 at 25w can swing 200w you may find a 60w class D can only swing 80w on transients which makes speaker pairing totally different than what you expect for a 60w amp. Almost putting you in tube amp territory for suitable speakers.
This isn’t so much a feature of class D itself as much as a feature of designers often matching class D with small power supplies. Obviously some class D amps buck this trend like the Nova PE which has a massive power supply.
So when buying on a punt, I suggest looking carefully at peak output as much as rated output. Or the result may be lackluster with the speakers you have in mind.
If an amp such as mentioned by the OP is sufficiently cheap, there is not much to be lost taking a punt and buying to try. Everyone’s ears and preferences are different, and if liked then carry on. I would have thought that an application like a yacht (or motorhome or holiday pad or shed etc) would be less critical an environment than a home hifi room, so something that doesn’t do the job at home may be perfectly adequate in once of these environments, especially where size and power consumption may be critical factors.
I’ve watched too many TV shows where eccentric characters live on yacht/boats. To the point I assume anyone with a boat who doesn’t have a Bently lives on it full time; drinks beers at night watching the stars; solves crimes by day.
And of course there are yachts and yachts - from superyachts costing millions to small sailing boats which if they have a cabin it is tiny. My brotger bought one of the latter when he retired, just as I bought a campervan, and he spends a few summer months cruising around Britain and the north sea. The comparison with a campervan is a good one, yes nominally 4 berths, but even with 2 people there is only space for on person at a time to be moving around, and no space whatsoever for speakers other than typical built-in car stereo type. He falls close to your latter type… one observation my brother has made is that the bigger and more expensive the yacht the greater the age difference between the male owner and female companion(s). His wife is omly some 15 years his junior…
Hello, new on the forum. I am French and sorry for my bad English. I have owned Naim Audio for many years. Currently a NAC 282 - PS - NAP 250.2 -ATC SCM 50 PSL. I listen mostly at low volume. The NAP 250.2 works well with ATCs but I wanted to try something more powerful. I have had an audiophonics lpa-s450et for 3 months. This power amplifier is fantastic. Very transparent. The PRAT is preserved. At low noise levels, ATCs make music with bass. No hardness. Classical music is very powerful with audiophonics. With the NAP 250.2 it’s more timid and less impact.
Some of the companies you mention (Buckeye, BoXem) must be giving Naim some uneasy nights. The class D amps in question have both very high power (200 Watts seems to be the low end) and very low distortion or noise. They also cost less than half that of the well known advertised and less powerful class AB amps out there. The companies seem to be lead by young men with new ideas and excellent (and different) designs. You don’t see them in What Hi Fi or other reviews, because they don’t advertise. They deal directly with customers, answering the emails etc. and have very low overheads. Are they the Julian Verekers of the 21st. Century?
I would be inclined to look at BoXem and Apollon first. I know this is heresy around here, but I would suggest buying on specs and appearance. In the unlikely event you don’t like what you get, you can send it back, but there is nothing to indicate that is likely to happen.
There’s a huge variation in performance between how two manufacturers both using the same Hypex or Purify boards sound. It’s just part of the amplifier. Implementations vary wildly.
In the case of a few, the boards are modified to their own spec. And in some cases like Naim, there are no boards at all. They license the circuit diagram from Purify and integrate the class D amp stage directly on their own main PCB.
Because of this, care should be taken not to assume the any two Purify or Hypex amps will sound the same. They almost certainly won’t, any more than two amps using the same model orlf transistor would sound the same or two DACs using the same chip from Ti.
And while something may measure well on a static load or slope, performance into a reactive load with music is another matter entirely.
