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The Truth about Modern Class D

All my amps right now are Class D. ICEpower in the living room, and NAD D 3020 in the bedroom.

I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."

Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.

I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.

The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.

You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.
erik_squires
ricevs
1,543 posts
 

The "truth" about class D is that it is all over the place.......just like all the other classes. They all have strengths and weaknesses......and all classes have gotten better with time. Every single thing you do to an amp module or wiring or casing or whatever makes a sonic difference. Every amp using the same stock module will even sound different as different wires, solder, connectors, damping, feet, etc. are used.

The latest and best? Class D (the Merrilll $36,000 Element 118 and the $8000 Nuprime Evolution 1) may have sound that will compete with anything. All amps based on OEM modules (modified on not) are probably not as good as these. The brand new 12000AS1/2 modules from Icepower (brand new ICEedge technology) are really refined and low distortion and tweaked out can give some serious sound and high power (600 watts into 8) for little money. I will have a $1000 amp out soon with the stereo module and also a dual mono stereo unit for $1900, as well. I expect these will beat all the older Hypex modules but will not be as good as these latest expensive tweako things mentioned above.

Everything keeps getting better. If you have not heard a class D amp for awhile, you might want to check out the very latest offerings. I will be selling my amps with a 30 days in house money back audition period and also will have one of each my amps out on tour. I have been tweaking audio since the late 70s and these amps will have 40 years of listening tweaking in their design. This is way more than a stock module in a box....way more!

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,641 posts
 
@ricevs says.....

“The "truth" about class D is that it is all over the place.......just like all the other classes.”

Perfectly stated as the universe of Class D or any class of amps is far too big for over generalizations to apply. Experience has shown me that tube amp sound is all over the board as well as Class A/B etc...
The power supply employed in a Class D design can all by itself dramatically change the sound. So many other aspects can change the sound of a Class D amp such as design, build and parts quality differences.

We should also throw in pure digital powered dacs as they offer tremendous sound quality with the added option of room correction and SOTA volume control. We have so many great choices today.  


atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,131 posts
 
We should also throw in pure digital powered dacs
Just to be clear: all forms of class D are analog devices. I know, switching this, digital input that and on and on but class D is still analog. Just so there's no confusion :)
mdeblanc's avatar
mdeblanc
62 posts
 
I’ve had my Class D Cherry Amplifiers for a yr now and I’m extremely happy. I don’t ’hear’ anything that sounds like a bad-purchase, and I listen Friday / Saturday nights from like 8P to 2 or 3AM. Will I trade them some day? Probably, like I trade cars. But I do believe Class D’s time has not just ’come’ but is here to stay. My Cherries were preceded by a First Watt J2 which was preceded by a Yamamoto A-08S which was preceded by a long list of amps. For reference, my system to-date is as follows PS Audio DirectStream Memory Transport> PS Audio DirectStream DAC > Cherry Amp DTM 60V > Reference 3A MM de Capo BE.
timlub
2,043 posts
 
I have built some mono amps from Abletec modules.  They were actually quite good.  I don't know if they were "World Class" or not, but you know what, they played music and they sounded like music.  I did sell them, but not because I didn't like them.  I simply had an old Audiophile buddy that had his amp go down beg to get them from me.  
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