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My NAD 3020 D proves your Class D tropes are wrong

I have a desktop integrated, the NAD 3020D which I use with custom near field monitors. It is being fed by Roon via a Squeezebox Touch and coaxial digital.

It is 5 years old and it sounds great. None of the standard myths of bad Class D sound exist here. It may lack the tube like liquid midrange of my Luxman, or the warmth of my prior Parasound but no one in this forum could hear it and go "aha, Class D!!" by itself, except maybe by the absolute lack of noise even when 3’ away from the speakers.

I’m not going to argue that this is the greatest amp ever, or that it is even a standout desktop integrated. All I am saying is that the stories about how bad Class D is compared to linear amps have been outdated for ages.

Great to see new development with GaN based Class D amps, great to see Technics using DSP feed-forward designs to overcome minor limitations in impedance matching and Atmasphere’s work on reducing measurable distortion as well but OMG stop with the "Class D was awful until just now" threads as it ignores about 30 years of steady research and innovation.
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,389 posts
 
hi @atmasphere

You are totally right in calling me out here:

@erik_squires I missed this earlier. This is not true of all class D amps.

I meant to say, I’ve heard it from several ICEPower amp owners as well as my own experience that these amps get cold for days after being turned off. THey are fine being switched on/off daily for HT use but for 2 channel use and stereo the can be glaring until warmed.

I find myself less willing to type with the same precision and care that I used to.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,953 posts
 
I find myself less willing to type with the same precision and care that I used to.
I get accused of being overly specific more than I used to...

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,025 posts
 
The NAIM Atom is one heck off a LiL Mulekicker, sounds better warm...

I agree, some topology and combinations of components just need warm up... The Ayre VX-r a great case in point,, Ontrak semiconductor version took days...leave it on ! The twenty w Diamond circuit was golden after a few minutes....twenty.

D shows promise,IF people have an open mind....ears, perhaps both


tyray
676 posts
 

I didn’t even know what a class D amp was and as it turns out I had already owned 2, for years. I owned 2 ICE amps that powered my power sound audio subs designed and built and sold by Tom Vodhanel of PSA.

Funny thing, he sells a ton these ICE powered subs and the owners of his subs are amazed by the voicing or tuning of his subs and quite a few have expressed that they sound better than the SVS line of subs with MOSFET
amps.

What I’ve found out is that it’s the design skills of the designer that matter the most in designing gear no matter what he or she decides to use. Many designers go about in many different ways to get the best sound they can get. The quality of sound coming from a component is not based on the fact alone that it is a class A or A/B amp. It’s the designer. There are good amps made in every configuration and bad amps made by bad designers.
markw1951
52 posts
 
I'm using one of these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50ASX2-2-Channel-Power-Amplifier-Module-2x50W-HiFi-Power-Amplifier-For-ICEP...

Sounds perfectly good to me.  
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