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I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Class D. I have lived with ICEPower 250AS based amps for a couple of years. Before that I lived with a pair of Parasound A21s (for HT) and now I’m listening to a Luxman 507ux.


I have some thoughts after long term listening:
  • The tropes of Class D having particularly bad, noticeable Class D qualities are all wrong and have been for years.
  • No one has ever heard my Class D amps and gone: "Oh, wow, Class D, that’s why I hate it."
  • The Luxman is a better amp than my ICEPower modules, which are already pretty old.

I found the Class D a touch warm, powerful, noise free. Blindfolded I cannot tell them apart from the Parasound A21s which are completely linear, and run a touch warm due to high Class A operation, and VERY similar in power output.


The Luxman 507 beats them both, but no amp stands out as nasty sounding or lacking in the ability to be musical and involving.


What the Luxman 507 does better is in the midrange and ends of the spectrum. It is less dark, sweeter in the midrange, and sounds more powerful, almost "louder" in the sense of having more treble and bass. It IS a better amplifier than I had before. Imaging is about the same.


There was one significant operational difference, which others have confirmed. I don't know why this is true, but the Class D amps needed 2-4 days to warm up. The Luxman needs no time at all. I have no rational, engineering explanation for this. After leaving the ICEPower amps off for a weekend, they sounded pretty low fi. Took 2 days to come back. I can come home after work and turn the Luxman on and it sounds great from the first moment.


Please keep this in mind when evaluating.


Best,

E
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,021 posts
 
Good luck with that one Eric.



Thanks George. I've had very good luck given the positive responses on this thread and my previous ones.

You are vastly outnumbered, and when cornered admit you won't actually listen to Class D.  Hah.

Best,

E


erik_squires OP
16,021 posts
 
A few years ago I did a local sale on a Conrad Johnson tube preamp which was connected to a Class D amp. When the buyer came over for a listen his first question was, what kind of amp is that? He then went on to point out how impressive the two sounded together and yes he did purchased the preamp.



This is one of my classic combinations!! CJ pre with solid state amp. I haven't tried Class D with ESLs, but in the past I loved that combo.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
While it’s true that the tubes do nothing, they are pure marketing genius.
People that get sucked in buy this "pure marketing genius" are what I call a "glitz queen" and this is the reason he has a $15k odd price tag on them.
When what’s inside amounts to a few hundred dollars. How could he then charge $15k odd for a small grey box.

It’s not marketing genius, this is feeding on the gullible.

Even he said in an interview, it’s bulls**t, and just there to amuse the tube freaks.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
You are vastly outnumbered,
Supertramp Eric their song was written for you. You are dreaming, at best Class-D has a 40-50% share over linear, and that’s mainly for low to mid fi and subs, in the hi end it favors linear much more  
darcman's avatar
darcman
35 posts
 
@georgehifi 

You have to put down the axe and stop grinding it!!!

I was participating in a class D thread maybe 6 months ago or more and you were dumping on class D then too. If anyone does a class D search going back 10 years, you were there dumping on class D then.

Remember what I said to you last time??? I think its pathetic that you cant let anyone enjoy class D. You did the same thing in this thread. I love my Red Dragon Pascal S500s. You said they are made in China by this sangia or whatever it is last time too. I don't care where Pascal manufactures their amps. 

Like someone else said, you can keep crusading your anti class D agenda, but no one cares what you think. You aren't converting anyone, you aren't making anyone a class D hater like yourself.

I am not saying my RD S500s are the best, but they are pretty dam good especially for the money. There was a review of the S500s vs some 30K Luxman monos. The reviewer said his Luxman were better, but not by much. When you consider 30k vs 4k (2K on sale) I don't feel short changed at all. There are some mighty fine class D amps out there such as the D Sonic, Nord Acoustic, Red Dragon, Apollon, and a whole bunch more.

Nobody is saying your class A/AB aren't any good and by all means enjoy your gear George. Let others enjoy class D. I would encourage anyone to try class D. You might love it, you might hate it, you might prefer your class A/AB. My point is don't let a anti class D crusader stop you from trying anything.

I sold a pair of speakers a couple years ago and I was using a ClassD Audio SDS470 to power them. This diehard tube amp guy came to buy the speakers. He asked what amp are you using? I said its a class D and hes looking at me with this priceless bewildered look on his face. I think he even said it twice...this is class D...this is class D. At any rate he thought it sounded pretty good.

One thing I do like about my class D over my former class AB is they do run a lot cooler and are waaaay more fuel eficient. I leave my S500s powered up all the time because they only use a few watts idling.

Cheers,

darcman

  
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