The Truth about Modern Class D

It’s closing in on sixteen years since Stereophile first stirred the pot when they gave the $1700. PS Audio HCA-2 their Solid State A list recommendation.

And the beat goes on...

@mdeblanc 
Your Cherries replaced a J2? That says something. And you are “just” using the Desktop 60v amp Version. 

I have an Ultra Cherry coming to me soon. For those who may not know, The Ultra is a hybrid SS/CLASS D amp with an 1800w toroidal transformer for extra headroom and transients. SNR is still 116.

Built by Tommy O’Brien of the Digital Amp Co in PA. He is the quintessential independent owner/engineer/designer that sells only via word of mouth and his own thread on AudioCircle, no adverts. He does some custom jobs too. 

@phomchick
all good points. But I would argue 2 things, that although built in DACs with Built-in DAC with built-in amps-in-speakers May very well @be the future”. But that will be more of a commercial product in the future than an audiophile product. 

Mand the Kefs entwined are good, but not great cans same for all the Dynaudio all in one speakers I’ve heard. Severely limited in many respects. Sound. Precision. Pray. Musicality. Power. Nuance. 

And my 2nd point? Well, there is no damn fun if the system and speaker do everything for you. Again, that is a commercial product, not an audiophile product. If DSP is going to do everything for you, then you don’t learn anything about how the sound waves and sound effects can be managed in your room with your own knowledge and know-how.   Boring. 

I suspect one reason for the vastly different takes on Class D is a matter of physiology. People's HF perception vary dramatically, and something irritating to one person may not register much for another. This is particularly true w.r.t. gender - women tend to have superior HF acuity, and my wife can spot treble issues almost instantly. Faults that take me a while to pick up will drive her out of the room in a heartbeat. (She can't pick up on bass notes for her life though!)

I haven't heard much of the latest SOTA Class D, but I did get a brief listen to the Devialet 250 recently. I thought it sounded quite good, smooth and full with killer bass. There's something about the way Class D does low frequencies - not only the power, control and definition of bass notes, but also the evenness of response. Traditional amps sound lumpy by comparison, though this might be more a function of the switching supply than the actual amplification circuit. (Chord amps are Class AB but with a switching supply, and have a similar evenness of response.) I still have the nagging feeling that the Devialet doesn't quite have the air, openness and dimensionality of the best linear amps, but I'd need a more careful audition to ascertain that.

In any case, I'm going to seek out some Class D for review - I have my eyes on an nCore implementation, and will look for something based on ICEPower 1200AS2. Recommendations appreciated.

Cheers,
TAWW
taww.co

Loved your “Lumpy” description above as that eally rings true in my experience. Well said. I am only commenting on bass and not the overall sound of Class D vs conventional SS amps.