Who tried Class D only to return to S/S or Tube

[quote]Atmasphere made no big logical mistake - his assumption is valid, though the result of the technological evolution is by no means guaranteed. In other words, class D amps might get a little better and then exhaust their potential, or they might keep improving more and more with no end in sight.[/quote]

Exactly.

One can assume that since there is a 3rd gen out there, that there will be a 4th gen sometime too. This thread and others like it exist as proof that class D is still not a mature technology as the improvements that have appeared in just the last few years are made out on those threads and this one to be pretty profound. If the technology were mature, the improvements would be incremental, possibly taking a decade or more before the improvements accrued really meant something important.

Mature or not, it has arrived, and is already making major inroads in the amp market. Many, as mentioned, have replaced their big name tube and ss amps with class d. It’s here, it’s thriving, and it can only get better, which is scary to think about...especially for those invested in tube and ss tech...

Kijanki,

The choke needs to be of "critical inductance" at minimum, for this type of supply to work properly.

Lcrit = V(dc) / I(mA)

So higher voltage and/or lower current require a bigger choke. This type of supply was often used decades ago when capacitance was expensive compared to chokes; once capacitance became cheaper it fell out of favor in the mass market, but it retains its unique advantages to this day.

Happy reading!

Not sure what others have said...but I've really like the Peachtree 220 and Rotel 15 series  class D amps.  Those 2 are very musical...and no reason to go back to A/B amps unless the configuration of a specific piece is something that you like.  Personally...I found older Bel Canto and Channel Islands to be a bit cooler sounding...some folks might call them a little "clinical" I'd guess.

kuribo, it appears that we need some common language here.  Saying "technology is mature" is a polite way of saying "It hit dead end" - therefore don't expect major improvements and place your order today. There are many technologies still improving in exponential rate HDTV, Phones, Computers, DSP processing etc. that most likely will keep improving, but it doesn't mean they are inferior to such mature technologies like B&W analog TVs.  The fact that effect is achieved by switching instead of steady value doesn't mean it is worse.  Plasma HDTV operates on class D principle and to many people it looks more natural (colors, motion etc) than LCD/LED HDTV.  Modulator used in class D amps resembles Delta-Sigma A/D converters that already went thru many years of improvements (PWM is a byproduct of Delta-Sigma processing) and in my opinion will keep improving for a long time.  It is not even a question what class amps are the best, but rather how good is the amp I can afford.  Many class D amps offer a lot for the money.