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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
tweak1
3,643 posts
 
toetap,

Fortunately (for those of us who are in the market for a new class D), ric is not governed by the budget constraints of manufacturers who are not interested in going the extra mile, but will spend said monies on a prettier face plate. 

Ill bet his speaker binding post bypass ALONE is revelatory
jetter
3,026 posts
 
Other than George's post by manufacturers who would be expected to praise the virtues of their amps, the common post by those who support class D is that the rest of us are class D haters.

In fact, on A'gon, there are 10 class D posts calling us class D haters as there are posts by class D haters.  IMHO, most of us just don't think about it that much.

Tweak, I was excited to hear your evaluation of your new amp as I was considering purchasing one, but now that you are already posting like a loyal supporter before even receiving your amp (or hearing one?), I will take your evaluation with a grain of salt.  
tweak1
3,643 posts
 
Jetter

Whether you are interested in my reports is up to you

Do not confuse me with the facts

I have been an audiophile for 40+ years and even owned a retail company, and have read a ton of magazine reviews that left me perplexed as I had owned a fair amount of the kit in those reviews and did not have the same glowing experiences

As to actually hearing mine; it’s been over a month since plunking down my $2200, and still nothing from ric, which IMHO is not good business, so I am not a happy camper.

If it doesn’t significantly outperform my AA DPA-1 it will be returned for a refund
viber6
2,444 posts
 
jetter,
Also, tweak1 likes his Audio Alchemy DPA1 stereo amp, which is class D.  I agree that he may be eagerly anticipating the EVS 1200, but when he gets it his ears will tell the truth.  
toetapaudio
474 posts
 
 @georgehifi there are different types of audio dealers, most are not very knowledgeable I find and haven’t heard or bothered to hear a wide range of equipment, they sell whatever they have. They don’t even know about things like the importance of seismic isolation for example or their approach to this may be totally wrong and inadequate. Then there are others that are more thorough, test out different brands and only represent a few that are value for money. They also have the knowledge about setting up equipment properly and know about important aspects like seismic isolation, cabling and mains quality. I like to think we fit into the second category.

Anyhow, back on topic. The performance of class D varies enormously, there is good and bad. Even a manufacturer using the same class D modules will sound different depending on the implementation used. So just because a brand uses a Hypex NC something module, for example, doesn’t mean they will all sound the same.

And, as I have said before, just because an amp employs GaN it doesn’t mean that it will automatically sound better than other class D amplifiers that cost a lot less.
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