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Digital, Low Mass, ClassD, Less expensive, Let it happen!

Well here we are! Not that you can't go back and buy boat anchors, but now we know sound is better with low mass designs. Digital source? Yep, the tide has turned. ClassD amplification is also here to stay. Lower mass speakers, on their way back too. The audiophile hobby is getting less expensive and better sounding.

I guess we can debate this, but it's happening anyway. The hobby is simply growing up and becoming more aware of how to get great sound, and get it smart. There has been a lot of myths passed down when we only had paperback magazines, mostly for marketing, but the internet has finally caught up with audio reality. Instead of $20,000.00 components we have $20,000.00 whole systems (including all the trimming). Shoot, there are $5,000.00 systems that excel. The Trade Shows are changing, the market is changing and we are changing. Want to stay old school? No problem, there will always be old school and plenty of used gear (at least for our lifetimes). There will also be smaller niche companies that spring up to tempt us.

The hobby is entering a new era for the extreme listener. It will be a hobby of doing and exploring Electrical, Mechanical and Acoustical as equals. Components will be much smaller and more flexible, and more time will be spent on playing our whole music collection, and not just a few recordings. Many HEA debates will be making their way to the archives as the hobby grows closer to mainstream. Mainstream as in higher quality audiophile mainstream.

Are you ready? I sure am!

Michael Green


http://www.michaelgreenaudio.net/

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Showing 1 response by atmasphere

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atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
In 1974 the FMI 80 was a very good low-priced speaker, better than many much more expensive models from other companies.
I went from Altec horns to FMI 80s (Fulton was here in Minnesota). Eventually I had a set of Js and then Premiers, before going in a different direction.

But that set of 80s I had are still alive- doing background music duty at a coffee shop in NE Minneapolis.

In the 90s we sought out some SET amps, since they were a sort of rising star back then, to see if there was anything we needed to be worried about. There wasn't. Class D- same thing, until just very recently. I've been of the opinion that class D was the rising star in amplification for some time, but that they just weren't fully realized.
All technologies follow a price/performance curve, with lots of investment initially with little performance gain. As the technology gets sorted out, big gains are made with little money so the tech improves rapidly during that time. When its mature, only small gains are made and with significant investment.

IMO only, we are somewhere in the middle to top of that curve; I don't think that class D technology is all that mature yet. The reason is that relatively small players like Merrill are able to make contributions that advance the art. Heck, we've even been able to do that. So I have to assume its still got a ways to go. At any rate, recent Class D amps are sounding a lot better than even just 5 years ago.
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