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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
 
There are 3 ready made diy EVAL BOARD modules from EPC using the GAN transistors. Just add an smp, bung them in a box and away you go.
http://epc-co.com/epc/Applications/ClassDAudio.aspx

One the lowest power one available through Mouser for $1,388 usd each.
https://www.digikey.com/products/en?%20WT.z_cid=sp_917_0110_buynow&site=us&lang=en&mpart...

And the other higher power modules available "maybe"? through Elegant Audio Solutions of Austin Texas.
http://epc-co.com/epc/Portals/0/epc/documents/thirdparty/EAS_eGaN_2.0-Channel_EvalKit-010116.pdf

http://epc-co.com/epc/Portals/0/epc/documents/thirdparty/eGaNAMP2016_Consumer-123115.pdf

Cheers George.
erik_squires OP
16,592 posts
 
I think both switching speeds and dead time have yet to be shown to lend any particular character to any particular amplifier.

Prove either is audible and unpleasant first. Then you might get me to care about either. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Prove either is audible and unpleasant first. Then you might get me to care about either.
Just like climate change?
https://cdn1.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/05/10/ostrich-head-in-sand-vector-2090510.jpg

Cheers George
mr_bill
349 posts
 
This thread has gone AWOL. 
ricevs
1,543 posts
 

As my friend used to say "it all comes out in the wash"......meaning....it will be shown with time and experimentation which things do what as far as sound quality.  We have George repeating over and over and over and over and over and over.....he he..... about phase shift due to filter effects....trouble is, he is guessing about its sonic effect.  He knows nothing because he has not heard anything......he is just talking.  He likes to repeat himself, repeat himself, repeat himself.  But he has no actual information based on listening tests (the only thing real in audio). 

We have Merrill who has made an amp with low dead time and the amp will show us something about what he says.  George will show us nothing about what he says.  Hey, I think GANs, zero dead time and higher frequency switching (and lots of other things too) COULD make better sound. But only those who actually experiment and listen will know.  We are at the beginning of a new stage in Class D.  As these things get implemented by more companies it will show/prove what is really valuable.  I believe that before long even the Merrill amps will be boat anchors.  This game never ends.  IcePower, Pascal, UCD (come on Bruno, let's see some GANs in your amps!), DAC, Nuprime (already switching at 700K), etc. will make amp modules with GANs, higher speed switching, etc......and these modules/amps will be very affordable.  Viva La Revolution!  I just talked to the IcePower distributor today and he is going to talk to the engineers at IcePower about what is being said here.  All technology has a very short window of opportunity (as it keeps improving and changing).  Merrill is riding the first wave of GAN madness.  I bet there are many more waves coming. This ride is fun!  We have a lot to look forward to......better sound, smaller amps, less power consumption and less cost.  A win for everyone.

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