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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
 
I mean, we can’t even get George to accept Class D even at its simplest face value! :)

I do accept it, but not in competition to hiend audio yet, they make great bass/upper bass amps so far.

And I’ve said it all along I’ll be the first to dump my stinking hot, heavy, inefficient, boat anchors. When they’ve got rid of their problem/s, that Technics with the $30k SE-R1 have semi addressed with their 1.5mHz switching speed power amp, 3 x times higher than what’s around at present, then the (switching noise) output filter can do it’s job properly without effecting the audio bands upper mids and highs that so many hear, and owners can't!.

I see threads like this "looking for the truth" started as a "reach out for confirmation" from owners who know their Class-D’s are not quite right, but can’t bring himself to go back to linear, almost like begging for forgiveness, for what they have done and everything will hopefully be fine.

Cheers George
abasia
16 posts
 
Do you have any recommended class D amps at certain price points or maybe at what price point do class D amps start to be better than other amps at the same price range?

For example, NAD 368 is better than Marantz PM7005 at the 1k-800usd price point. 
toetapaudio
474 posts
 
@taww, Mola Mola Kaluga’s. If you are in the U.K. we can arrange for you to try.
gryphongryph
395 posts
 
The new Primare I35 gets a glowing review in the latest Hi-Fi + mag, the reviewer asks if one needs a better amp than this, as it is that good, and he normally tests the big and expensive amps for living, but of course he is a professional reviewer for good, and maybe bad ;-)
tweak1
3,685 posts
 
Many here know I replaced 2 Emerald Physics 100.2SEs with an Audio Alchemy DPA 1 HYBRID stereo amp, but at the time I was using a Hattor XLR passive pre that George pointed out was also a impedance mismatch. But when I replaced the Hattor with the Audio Alchemy DDP-1 DAC/Pre that the music came together in amazing ways (sonically neutral and 3D) . It was only AFTER listening to them that I was made aware of  The Absolute Sound review in March of 2016, comparing them to the SOULution amp/pre. This combo revealed abilities in my Emerald Physics KCIIs, tht allowed me to eliminate my 2 SVS powered subs!

The AA combo MSRP is $4K. I am still writing on the external power supply
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