Class D Technology

Today it's become a surefire tell of sad ignorance.

This statement is false.

Just because you heard a class D amp sound better than a tube amp in a particular situation does not mean that all class D amps sound better than all tube amps, or even that the particular class D amp sounds better than all tube amps. It just means that in that situation you heard something better that you liked between the two involved.

Heck, even in our lineup we've managed to make improvements in the last several years. I encounter people that think that just because they heard our amps 12 years ago on a certain speaker that they have a complete understanding of how our amps perform today on different speakers (or even the same speaker they heard 12 years ago....). They don't.

It just doesn't work that way!!! I regard this comment (taken out of context of course so simply as quoted) as being outrageously inaccurate.

Sebollo 001,

Who makes the latest generation of Class-D? The best class-d I heard, Hypex has been on the market for a long time. I wonder how good the latest generation class-D is compared to Hypex.

The black background many listeners can hear with Class D indeed suggests the heavy filtering is in some way affecting the audible sound.

Myself I would not describe it as a "black background".
But rather a "harmonic black hole".

Cheers George

I will state just the opposite.  Violin sounds like violin without scratchy glazed harmonics of class AB amp.  Same goes for the cymbals that sound brassy and meaty instead of bright and splashy.  Cello sounds deep and resonant.  Transients are incredible while amps keep composure under heavy current demands (orchestra forte), most likely due to regulated power supply.  The other thing I noticed is low level performance.  When I listen soft at night - highs and lows are still there.  Imaging is even better, but it might be due to reduced reflections.

Somebody described sound of Hypex as a sound of very good class AB amp while  Icepower was described as more of a tube amp sound (half bridge vs full bridge output).  Icepower is very good in spite of some negative opinions here.  Now we have more choices, Pascal being one of them.  

Speed of Mosfets improves every single year, but now new switching devices are coming - like Enhanced Mode Gallium Nitride Fets (eGaN Fet) that switches many times faster without overshoot or ringing due to ultra low capacitance and inductance.  The best days of class D are ahead of us, but I enjoy it immensely already.  

So if its not obvious by now the question has been answered repeatedly in some cases.

Some like it already and some not so much.

I’m on the like it side with Kijanki.

So its pretty much on par with everything else audio these days. Some like it and some not so much.

its nice to have choices.

The difference is Class D will only continue to get even better.

Someday soon everyone may agree.

Or not.....

Cheers!