D-Sonic M3a-600M Mono Amplifier Preview

See the complete review for the D-Sonic M3a-600M Mono Amplifier.

Mechanical engineer Dennis Deacon designs and builds Class D mono and stereo amplifiers that can produce prodigious amounts of power.

They are all relatively small, run cool, and produce an amount of power that belies their size. There are no fans, no heat sinks, and not much else to get in the way of the sound.

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For example, the D-Sonic M3a-3000S stereo amplifier can produce 2,100 watts into a 4-ohm load. That’s two thousand and one hundred watts. With a THD+N of 0.003%. From a box that weighs only 24 pounds. These are not the dormitory refrigerator-sized amplifiers we’re used to seeing when that much power is needed. What is this magic that Dennis Deacon weaves with his amplifiers?

For this review, I am listening to a pair of his M3a-600M mono amplifiers. Each M3a-600M amplifier sells for $1,075 and weighs only 10 pounds. They can produce up to 800 watts with an 8-ohm load. That is a very tall order for a black box that’s 15 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 4 inches tall.

I will replace some vintage tube and solid-state amplifiers in my system with these D-Sonic amps and see how they compare. I will also see just how well my Spatial M4 Triode Master speakers get along with this new amount of Class D power. Will I get fatigued by the dreaded Digititis Syndrome? Will I run back to the warm, buttery tone of my tubes? Or will I become addicted to having amazing amounts of power available to my speakers?

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So many questions for someone accustomed to vintage sound! I’m eager to review these D-Sonic amplifiers, and I hope you’ll tune in for my full review soon.

See the complete review for the D-Sonic M3a-600M Mono Amplifier.

Gene Hopstetter

Gene Hopstetter has been collecting records since 1981, when he walked into a record store and spent all of his allowance money on every AC/DC album he could find. In the mid-1980s he worked as a stock-boy in a neighborhood hi-fi emporium, which is when his obsession with sound quality began. He has always had a record player and vinyl in his life. Gene was born and raised in New Orleans, where music and food were invented. In the 1980s and 1990s he was active with two university radio stations, KLSU in Baton Rouge, and WTUL in New Orleans, where he got involved with local music promotion and album production. He earned degrees in Creative Writing and Journalism from LSU, which he somehow manages to use in his current career as an IT professional. When he is not listening to music, reviewing components, or updating his collection on Discogs, Gene enjoys restoring vintage Garrard turntables and cleaning LPs with his ultrasonic cleaner. His most prized vintage hi-fi components are a pair of McIntosh MC30 tube amps, a Garrard 301 cream grease bearing turntable with two tonearms, and a Thorens TD124 turntable. Gene is also interested in contemporary developments in hi-fi, such as Raspberry Pi DACs and streamers, amplifiers with Gallium Nitride transistors, and phono preamplifiers with digital output.