1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 147124-123701

Class D is affordable and sounds as good or better the SS/Valve why buy anything else ?

I have spent a fair amount of my hard earned money on big ticket brand new SS and VT/Valve amplifiers over the years without hesitation, with state of the art 2019 class D amplifiers becoming cheaper and sounding better, i wouldn't join in again.

For older technology amplifiers SS VT/Valve to compete with State of the art class D, Their prices are going up and up.

One example is Pilium Audio from Greece or Bulgaria their Divine Line the prices are all over £100,000 for their pre amps and power amps, I know the UK importer he said they sound OK,

Another example FM Acoustics again up to and over £100,000 for pre and power amps. i have owned FM Acoustics pre and power again their OK,

I am not saying they do not sound good, i am saying why spend this much when state of the art class D probably sounds as good now and can only improve with the GaN capacitors and is nearly up to 100 times cheaper.

Is there still a market for multi thousand £$s SS or VT/Valve amplifiers ?

When class D finally overtakes SS VT/Valves what will people do with their multi thousand £$ amplifiers, keep them knowing there is something better ? Or will we see the market flood with exotic used amplifiers ?

Digital technology is rapidly growing pace and becoming cheaper, with GaN capacitors being introduced the sound is going to get better and better and will slowly or quickly become even more affordable.

If you had 50,000 to spend on an Amplifier, would you buy a high ticket SS amplifier and hope for the best ?

Would you stay safe and go with high ticket valve amp, class D can never match good valves right ?

Or would you sit tight and see how the GaN capacitors can further improve the performance of state of the art class D ?

Please feel free to join in, everybody is welcome, i think its a very delicate/touchy discussion for some people with big bucks invested in older type amplifiers.
townshend-audio
miveraaudio
111 posts
 
@mahgister:

This is an issue few audiophile get. They often look for amps that hide the true sound of their source gear. When they should be getting better source gear instead. They chase their tails for years trying to fix problems. But unless you know the source of the problem, it’s hard to fix. They’ll mix a bright component with a soft component to to get that perfect "synergy". When they should just have good sounding source gear, and amps that transparently amplify. As a manufacturer, the more variables that can be taken out of a system, the higher the probability is of the end user achieving the best sound. DSP is the modern way of voicing to speakers, taste and room acoustics. It’s also free when it comes standard with the gear. and it has no limits in flexibility. 
seanheis1
359 posts
 
seriously guys,  below is the mic 🎤 drop from Bruno Putzey, the creator of Hypex Ncore.

miveraaudio, why don’t we see Class D preamps in hifi? 😂 

S&V: Generally speaking, what are the key benefits of Class D versus the traditional Class AB and Class A designs that have long been favored by audiophiles? 
BP: Efficiency and therefore the ability to construct amps that are powerful for their size. Only that. Modern Class D amps, in particular mine—ahem—sound good not because they’re Class D, but in spite of it. I can’t repeat that often enough. Left to its own devices, a switching power stage tries to do just about anything except amplify audio. You choose Class D to save energy but it’s all elbow grease after that.
Read more at https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bruno-putzeys-head-class-d#GOIePB6wrxqXZEAj.99

There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

miveraaudio
111 posts
 
Yes as I said before, buy a $55000 Soulution, and you can achieve a similar result to a $1000 Icepower 1200AS based amp. With a substantial gain of weight and heat.

The small amount of gain required in preamps don’t require class d technology. Opamps the size of a couple grains of rice can already achieve enough gain for preamp use.
seanheis1
359 posts
 

The small amount of gain required in preamps don’t require class d technology. Opamps the size of a couple grains of rice can already achieve enough gain for preamp use.

Class D is a trade off to gain efficiency, which isn’t needed in lower power situations. Only a moron would buy a Class D hifi preamp.

The first watt is what counts most and that is where Class D cant compete with solid state Class A. 

Adding lots of feedback, crossover distortion, switching noise, output filtering, transistor distortion (even trace amounts) destroys the first watt. 
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
4,637 posts
 
Big Amen to your comment.....

”DSP is the modern way of voicing to speakers, taste and room acoustics. It’s also free when it comes standard with the gear. and it has no limits in flexibility.”

My background is in innovation and the change that has already come will be hard for many to embrace and believe...... for a season. 

More to discover