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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
abasia
5 posts
 
Do you have any recommended class D amps at certain price points or maybe at what price point do class D amps start to be better than other amps at the same price range?

For example, NAD 368 is better than Marantz PM7005 at the 1k-800usd price point. 
toetapaudio
200 posts
 
@taww, Mola Mola Kaluga’s. If you are in the U.K. we can arrange for you to try.
gryphongryph
85 posts
 
The new Primare I35 gets a glowing review in the latest Hi-Fi + mag, the reviewer asks if one needs a better amp than this, as it is that good, and he normally tests the big and expensive amps for living, but of course he is a professional reviewer for good, and maybe bad ;-)
tweak1
870 posts
 
Many here know I replaced 2 Emerald Physics 100.2SEs with an Audio Alchemy DPA 1 HYBRID stereo amp, but at the time I was using a Hattor XLR passive pre that George pointed out was also a impedance mismatch. But when I replaced the Hattor with the Audio Alchemy DDP-1 DAC/Pre that the music came together in amazing ways (sonically neutral and 3D) . It was only AFTER listening to them that I was made aware of  The Absolute Sound review in March of 2016, comparing them to the SOULution amp/pre. This combo revealed abilities in my Emerald Physics KCIIs, tht allowed me to eliminate my 2 SVS powered subs!

The AA combo MSRP is $4K. I am still writing on the external power supply
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
"

I see threads like this "looking for the truth" started as a "reach out for confirmation" from owners who know their Class-D’s are not quite right, but
can’t bring himself to go back to linear, almost like begging for forgiveness, for what they have done and everything will hopefully be fine."


Hello George, have you perhaps caught a sudden chill? I, like Erik and several others use our ears.... We need nor seek confirmation for the devices and the music we love. Let alone seek "forgiveness" for our anathema... Man, you do need an icepack on your brow today... Or would it be an ICEpower pack *Smiles!*


On the contrary, as mentioned so many times, I invite you to get "out of the house" just a bit.... The musical air is amazingly refreshing today... You might even catch a lovely class D breeze. To the contrary of the trite urban legends circulating in old and stuffy audiophilic houses, There are some class D amps that make wonderful music.... Provided one cares taking a good open minded listen to them. In addition to the ones that Erik and I already mentioned on other threads, I recommend a good audition to the newest Merrills Element 118, 116, and 114. 


BTW, I remember no more than one year ago you advocating that the day of class D would come once designers adopted Gallium Nitrite transistors switching at 1.5Mhz.... But now that appears to be a moving target... As the new Merrills are using such technology, you are changing your dirge already.... And just to make sure you can lament for a few years more, while remaining a staunch paper-bound audiophile,your latest goal is a onetousand-fold Ghz range... Once that boundary is finally crossed, I am confident that you wil pine for a brand new 1K-fold switching frequency leap into the Terahertz range... Meantime, you will still be suffering from never-ending "Princess and the class D pea" syndrome, whilst pouring smilingly over that ever-reassuring old PDF by Martin collom from the 2008 munich Show, where the old trombone from HiFi Critic had not even noticed that he had already missed the train *Grins!


G.

       


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