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What exactly is a digital amp?

I've started to hear a lot about digital amplifiers, but I am in the dark as to what makes them "digital". What distinguishes them from a non-digital amp?
Any thoughts on their pros/cons, appropriate applications? Who are the major players? Thanks, Jb3
jb3

Showing 2 responses by daltonlanny

daltonlanny
297 posts
 
TACT, PS Audio, Acoustic Reality, Spectron, Bel Canto, and maybe the Sunfire, are all examples of digital switching amps. Class D and Class T are Digital Amps.I don't know for sure about Class H amps.Class H amps are switching amps, but I don't know for sure if they would be classified as digital amps or not?
They are very efficient and run cool.Some don't even have heat-sinks at all! I have never heard one, but have read rave reviews on some of them, and heard good word-of-mouth on them.
daltonlanny
297 posts
 
Can they really surpass the sound qualities and sonic advantages of top Class A or Class A/AB amps with monster power supplies, huge storage capacitors, and BIG output stages, such as Krell, Levinson, Parasound, Pass, etc? Wouldn't their sustained bass output power, dynamics, and bass extension suffer in comparison to their Class A or even Class A/AB counterparts?
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