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The Truth about Modern Class D

All my amps right now are Class D. ICEpower in the living room, and NAD D 3020 in the bedroom.

I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."

Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.

I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.

The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.

You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.
erik_squires
cheapbob
49 posts
 
For my two cents worth, I am reviewing a new SPROUT100 from Scott McGowan at PS Audio. This is the second round of testing and reviewing. The first time I found the sound rather anemic, even with their Bass Boost employed. In the interim, I obtained the Infinity Intermezzo 1.2s subwoofer, and now everything sounds better. The sub doesn't require the SPROUT to try and make Bass, and it asppears to free up ther Mids and Top-end.
erik_squires OP
5,268 posts
 
@celander 

Thanks, bud. 

That was some of the most ridiculous and inappropriately placed piece of snake oil selling I've seen in a long while. 

Best,

E
celander's avatar
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celander
1,036 posts
 
@erik_squires
The Schroeder Method for parallel IC’s works, but strongly recommended against its use with class D amplifier topologies owing to the increased bandwidth of signal transmission of the IC’s into the realm of the switching frequencies of those designs. I think folks should (and do) evaluate all component changes in the context of their entire system with respect to SQ improvements.

Doug’s opinion (as shared by many, including me) is that the improvements in SQ afforded by parallel IC’s can be equivalent to exchanging a component elsewhere in the system. I’m not so certain that the use of parallel IC’s over single-run IC’s actually trumps exchanging a component, per se. But using a non-class D amplifier topology might enable some to improve the overall SQ of their system with use of a full loom of parallel IC’s from source to final amplification. 
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