Class D is just Dandy!

When I was trying to the latest class D experiment, Nord was on my short list. I ended up going with D-Sonic because the latest Pascal modules are supposed have technology that lowers switching noise to levels lower than previously possible and they receive universally positive reviews (so do the nCores as a matter of fact).

Another factor, I hear claims that the NC1200 is subjectively greatly superior to the lower end modules, and if that's the case it would be like robbing from myself to go with less. Unfortunately, NC1200 products are in the 10k+ range...

But here's the thing, the D-Sonics crushed my soundstage and seemed to lend themselves to listener fatigue. Do they need class A preamping or a tube stage?

he can’t trust his own ears.

I do very much so Eric , maybe it’s you that needs an bi-aural Exostosis operation.

As I said before the only one of new breed of Class-D’s that I had any time for, was the latest BelCanto 600 monoblocks to which BC from what I understood by the presenter has done their own switching noise filtering, from what is standard from NCore.

But they had to be driving a benign 6ohm load, of a top line Raven tweeter’ed two way bookshelf, to get me to like them, on the other speakers they too didn’t sound very good.

Cheers George

Jtsnead,
I have been following the evolution of the Nord since the inception of them,Rollable op amps,very cool.Colin North has quite a following on audio shark forum.

The Bhk preamp looks like a good fit for me and there is several used up for sale.Thanks for the info.


Madavid,

You may want to try a warmer sounding solid state or tube preamp with your d-Sonics.
Let us know the details of your current system and what kind of musical presentation or flavor that you are looking for.

Kenny.

George,

Were can a mate get a bi-aural Exostosis operation?
Can it be accomplished in the states or would I have to go down under.

Kenny.

I have three Crown ITech 5000HD stereo amps (6 x 1250 watts) with incorporated active dsp crossover controlling 2 JBL M2 Master Reference Monitors and a JBL Sub18 (2500 watts bridged amp).  These are called class I by Crown and are a variation of class D.  Dynamic range, transient response, and headroom, are well beyond the traditional average "audiophile" system.  These characteristics are, in fact, staggering when compared to my conventional Classe/B&W 801N system.  No doubt, this is due in part to the extreme high wattage and active crossover of the  Crown amplifiers, something not easily obtained with conventional amps.  I don't sense any particular harshness with the Crowns, and, in fact, the system sounds pretty sweet, but I do constantly wonder if upper frequency refinement would improve if the Crowns were other than class I.   The totally outrageous slam and bass response of the JBL/Crown system, however, is quite fun.