A great article on Class D/switching amps

TJ, what is in your opinion the biggest flaws regarding the sound of class-D amps? Lack of harmonic structure? Do they sound too "artificial"? And why? In my opinion the sound of class-D amps (and in my case, the ICEpower based Acoustic Reality Figaro's) is very clean and smooth, very "neutral" and accurate with awesome bass. I hear none of the typical signatures of solid state (some kind of "haze" and coloration).
PS: I'm only trying to find out what distracts people in case of class-D amplification.

Chris

Right on, Dazzdax

If I may answer Dazzdax's question, I have found Class D artificial sounding. I once described it like a Stepford wife: incredibly beautiful and mostly well mannered, but lacking emotion.

Also, I have seen a few pairs of H20 amps for sale during the past couple of months, Vince. It appears they are satisfying some, but they aren’t satisfying everyone…as can be said for most audiophile gear.

Why is it necessary for one design to be The Right One? Is there not room for different tastes and opinions? The more I follow this hobby the more obviously polarized are it's practitioners. It's quite fascinating, but it's also a disheartening metaphor for human nature.

IMO.

Chris, you asked a great question, so let me answer it in three ways:

1) As a reference point I'm not a fan of amps like Krell or Halcro or speakers like Wilson because I find them to have certain qualities (details, dynamics, transparency) but for me I found them "sterile/cold" sounding which I do believe has much to do with their way of presenting timbres and harmonics in their overall sonic presentation.

2) Another example would be the Pass Labs X series, that I found quite dynamic, detailed, with great extension, but not very "musical" to my ears. However, when Nelson Pass came out with the XA and X.5 series, it kept the dynamics but also returned the timbres/harmonics of his Aleph design.

3) So, when I have listened to a few of the switching/D amps they offer great clarity, dynamics, and a silky presentation, but not the realistic timbres I hear in the best of class A linear amps.

I believe that many of the class D amps are very good bargains for their price range, but do not yet compete with the reference class a/b amps quite yet in their development. I'm quite aware that at this level of gear we are really talking about personnal taste and system synergy, so there is no "right" or "wrong" answer to what are the best amps or designs in the world.

I think the latest issue of TAS has a good summary of prevalent opinions on class D amps and why they differ.

Thus far I have heard some class D amps that I find sound good and some that I don't. I have had no opportunity to compare these with other linear amps. I owned some class D amps in the past and not been very impressed. The ICE modules, however, seem to be a substantial improvement.