In a word: Very Good!
Class D amplifiers. What's the future look like?
I have a number of amplifiers: Luxman C900U, Bryston 4BSST2, Audio Research VSI 60 Integrated, NAD C298 and some other less noteworthy units. As I swap them in and out of my main system, I've come to the conclusion my very modest NAD C298 is about all I really need. Granted if I had extremely hard to drive speakers, I might be better with the Bryston or Luxman, but driving my Harbeth 40.2 speakers, the NAD is just fine.
I thought a while ago that class D would quickly overtake amplifier design type mainly due to profit margin which I think would be much greater than A/B and tube. I'm not saying the other design styles would go away, just that D would be the most common style.
Clearly my prediction is not panning out, at least in the mid and high-end audio world and I'm wondering why? It seems companies such as Bryston, Luxman, McIntosh, Hegel and so many others are sticking by A/B. I'm no "golden ears" guy, but is the perceived sound issue(weather real or imaginary) still holding D back? Maybe my assumption of profit margin is not correct? Maybe the amplifier manufacturers are experimenting with D, but keeping tight lipped until release? Perhaps brand loyalists don't want change similar to what happened with "new coke". What else am I missing?
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Checkout the review on @atmasphere Class D amps, If I ever desire more power or shopping for amps, will definitely consider them. |
I may buy his MP-3 tube pre when i make up my mind about dealing with tubes again. It lseems like a nice piece in the price range of what i’m willing to pay for w.r.t tube preamps (to try pairing with my Technics SU-R1000 and flavor it up a bit)... http://www.atma-sphere.com/en/mp-3.html (Not interested in the greatness of Class D-iddly that has apparently put every Class A and AB under 100k in the dust these days!!) If he can beat my Class triple D SU-R1000 one day on innovative engg (umpteenth level out the wazoo), i ’ll give it a listen....But, when i just look at his D with the chassis open, it ain’t looking like much to me. May the GAN flow like the Niagara however and make y’all blissful.
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GAN miracle vs Technics, it just ain’t adding up on what you’re getting for the price! Funny enough, even that ~10k honestly priced engineering extravaganza Technics gets hammered by a whole lot of simpler Class A designs and no Class D-iddly under 100k i know of got crack engineered as good as the Technics (to nullify the cons of Class D-iddly).
Class A vs the rest - A interesting discussion by the grand Schiit Lords at Schiit Audio... |
Class D, done properly, is never going to look like much. Its very different from a tube amp in that regard!! The biggest issue class D has to contend with is noise generation; to that end the module has to be as small as possible to minimize parasitics caused by stray inductance (and at the frequencies involved, a lead of a part easily causes problems...). Because we are using GaNFETs, which don't require large heatsinks, the heatsinks (which are machined to 1 mil tolerances) are beneath the module and serve also as its mounting. So ya, not looking like much 😉
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