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The Hifi Trajectory Of Class D Amplifiers

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I bought my first digital SLR camera back in 2005. Film SLR cameras were still king back then. Longtime film camera hobbyists and pros thumbed their noses at digital. Ten years later, film cameras have been surpassed by digital cameras and are nearly extinct. Millions of people use cameras. The market was already in place for anyone that would advance the technology of digital photography.

With Class D amps, you don't have a marketplace the size of the camera marketplace. There doesn't seem to be enough economic incentive to spend the necessary research dollars to advance the technology to get the same sort of improvement trajectory that digital photography has enjoyed.

Anyone care to speculate how long it will take for Class D amps to consistently rival the best tube, Class A and Class A/B across the board....and do it without resorting to the stratospheric prices that current non-Class D amps are priced at.
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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,182 posts
 
Kijanki, agree.

Neutral liquid midrange is a good thing.

I have insufficient data points to say all class d sounds that way but ice power does seem to.
markalarsen's avatar
markalarsen
651 posts
 
I disagree with the premise that class d has not yet arrived.
statman's avatar
statman
285 posts
 
I also disagree. Class D amps have arrived. I was a skeptic until I borrowed a pair and used them in my system for a week. I am very happy with my system's overall presentation now. Fantastic low end, dynamics, and smooth articulate midrange. Not to forget a silky smooth and extended high end with such a low noise floor, it makes the music sound that much better. The issue is more being able to admit that fact and hanging onto past prejudices to satiate the ego. The digital camera comparison is a great analogy.
bcgator's avatar
bcgator
355 posts
 
I have two integrateds, one a Peachtree Grand X-1 (class D) and an Audio Research VSi55 running KT120 tubes. Through first Proac D2, then Wilson Benesch Arcs, now BMC PureVOX speakers, I can't tell the two apart other than that the Peachtree is more powerful and will play louder. At volume-matched levels, I cannot distinguish between the two. The only time they sound different is if I engage the tube buffer (running two upgraded Cifte 12AU7) on the Peachtree, then it's actually a little warmer than the Audio Research. But with the tube buffer off, it's apples vs apples. It's my opinion that the ARC VSi55 puts out more than acceptable sound quality, ergo Class D has officially arrived, at least in my house.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 

I'm not sure why you even
brought up the case of 500W class D not being able to keep
up with 400W tube amp, since it is irrelevant to our
discussion and refers to particular design and the way power
was specified (only 6.7% difference in perceived loudness
between 400W and 500W). In addition, in last decades bass
amplification in larger venues got into PA system, making
raw power of the bass amp relevant only for small theaters.

A smaller theater was exactly were my example occurred. It was not the overall power that was the issue- it was that the Orange lacked the bass impact and the player had grown used to that. Not all bass amps are cheaply made BTW- in order to sound right the demands are exactly the same as in a good home audio power amplifier. **That** is why I brought it up.
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