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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
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Cyrill Hammer (Souloution)
"if you want to have your product performing at the cutting edge it is not possible with today’s known switching technologies. In order to come close to the performance of the best linear design we would need high-current semiconductors that provide switching frequencies of several MHz or even GHz."

This is the one, that I believe hits the nail on the head, and why to some that hear it Class-D sound in the upper ranges hasn’t come of age yet.

Only Technics with their unobtainable $30k SE-R1 comes close with a 1.5mHz switching frequency instead of what all the other are using today 400-600kHz. But as Cyrill Hammer states it should be even higher.

Cheers George
toetapaudio
474 posts
 
Somebody who really knows a lot about class D, Bruno Putzeys, designer of Hypex, Mola Mola and Kii, talking about the subject:

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bruno-putzeys-head-class-d

We know somebody who moved away from a Soulution 710 to Mola Mola Kaluga’s. And consider they are one fifth of the cost. They drive difficult loads with ease, are very natural sounding on live recordings for example, they have a very natural deep and controlled bass and loads of power. They are also compact and don’t consume much electricity. The more you improve mains quality with better power cables, connectors, dedicated mains, balanced power, mains calming devices, the more these amps shine. In my opinion they are one of the finest amplifiers available today regardless of cost.
lukaske
307 posts
 
Mola Mola Kalunga is a Belgian-Dutch product,Made and designed in Belgium. They worked together with the University of Leuven and Brussels. Greath stuff !!! And put them on one of the world’s best speakers: “Ilumnia magister” (Belgium). And you are in the clouds...
most of the Class D amplifiers (Devialet,...), you can find them on é-bay or 2-hands, there is a reason for. For me is Class A,AB, still the best. And bass must sound natural,not “boom,boom”,otherwise, it displaces the other Instruments and holographic listening is excluded.
inna
7,453 posts
 
No quote by Flemming Rasmussen of Gryphon, though I am sure he has made quite a few remarks.
infection's avatar
infection
808 posts
 
I have to concur with Erik - I currently use Wyred 4 Sound SX-1000R monos (upgraded fuses) & they sound great.
I used to have GamuT M250i monos & I don't miss them.
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