The Truth about Modern Class D

Does that make me a horrible person because I don’t like them? I enjoy the lush romantic sound I get from Mac and since I am spending my money on it, what I like counts (to me).

Absolutely not. But the specifics help everyone understand where you are coming from and what you are comparing to, and give a lot more insight to your story.

My NAD D 3020 is hooked up to a pair of Monitor Audio, which are much more laid back, which may explain the difference in appreciation for it. :)

As I myself have noted, if I had all the $$$ and space I’d buy some CJ which are going to be even more euphonic than your Macs. I still like my ICEpower monoblocks though. I certainly could not point to them and say "look, Class D sound!" 

Thanks for sharing,


Erik

@erik_squires...……………….

Thank you.

Which do you think would sound better:

• a really excellent class A/B amp hooked up with super expensive speaker cables to a classic speaker with a passive crossover network or,
• three very good class D amps hooked directly to three excellent drivers and being fed from a DSP crossover with included room correction?

The first choice is the Audio System of the Dinosaurs, and the second choice is the Audio System of the Future.

The continued development of quality class D amplifiers has opened up the possibility of dedicating an amplifier to each driver in a speaker. The continued development of DSP and associated software has opened up a way to tailor crossovers, equalization, and phase response to specific drivers and speakers and the room they are playing in.

CD transports, DACs, preamps, interconnects, separate amplifiers and speaker cables will all be obsolete in five years. They are the Dinosaurs of Audio left over from 1958 technology.

The future of Audio is visible in the KEF LS50 Wireless, which does away with everything but an active speaker with a DAC and connectivity. Make the speaker bigger, with better bass, and add DSP room correction software, and you have the audiophile system of the future.

One of the most difficult problems of speaker design is the crossover. DSP and active speaker technology is affordable and solves that problem. The biggest problem for today’s audiophile is speaker/room integration. DSP room correction solves that problem.

Will you encase your Dinosaur audio technology in amber and stride confidently towards the future, or will you wrap yourself in $10,000 speaker cables and yell "Over my dead body!!"?

@phomchick - well it's a good suggestion, and the cost of Class D can make it possible to create a separate amp for each driver and use an active crossover.  But you're still forgetting the challenge of Class D to reproduce the ultra high frequency "air" that a good Class AB amp will do.  I am in the same camp as stereo5 in that I have not heard a Class D amp that really "sings".  Granted, they are so extremely clean that it's insane (I have actually been told that sound engineers like to use them because they can hear individual instruments when doing the mix for a record), but every Class D I have heard leaves me wanting more.  It just doesn't have that extra edge of "life" that Class AB gives you.

It does not come down to like or dislike as much IMO as it comes down to the system and comparisons.  I have a friend of mine who has Class-D amps and fells like many that they compete in the market for sound quality and price.  He has told me that same thing about many other components he has owned.  It is only when he finally hears something that presents a difference in his system that he recognizes the sound differences and why. Until he hears that, he feels he has something that is very good.  I guess I need to get him the Class A amp my partner built recently to see if he hears any difference.  Until then we both won't really know if he is correct or not.

Happy Listening.