Class D is just Dandy!

Fremer's 2013 review was riddled with bias. He's no neutral observer.

What should you buy? Class A? Class D? I dunno. But don't come and tell me the best of each aren't very very good.

Best,

E

erik_squires OP2,223 posts06-24-2017 12:24pmFremer's 2013 review was riddled with bias. He's no neutral observer. 

Well John Atkinson also backed his "bias" after doing the measurements.

" The sound was initially very impressive. It had tremendous dynamic sweep, with superb control of the Wilsons' woofers, tremendous clarity, and nothing identifiably wrong. However, the more I listened, the more the overall sonic picture seemed flat and uninvolving. An enigma.—John Atkinson"
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/mark-levinson-no53-reference-monoblock-power-amplifier-measureme...

Cheers George

One biased reporter backing another doesn't convince me of a thing. Sorry.

Everyone should use their own ears and definitely not Fremer's or JA when evaluating modern class D amps.



Best,

E

I haven’t listened to Icepower so can’t comment.

The Levinson comment is a red herring. There are other companies, like Bel Canto, who were well known for their tube amps, but have ditched them in favor of class d in general, Hypex in particular.

From a performance standpoint, there are few amps in the world which can match the ncore for closeness to an ideal amplifier, i.e., a "wire with gain".

The last thing that would influence my purchase of any piece of audio gear is someone else's opinion of the sound. Reviewer or otherwise. Like someone telling me which wine or beer I should buy....

BTW, I have no particular opinion on ML amps, but the generalized claims Fremer made in the article were just not true anymore for Class D amps.

Whether any reader here likes a particular amp or not, well, OK, I can't argue with that. But the general issues with Class D amps of the 1980's were long solved by 2013, despite some people being unwilling to let go of the same old myths.

Best,

E