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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
Post removed 
rikirk
1 posts
 
I do respect everybody else experience and I believe it's system dependent. I can see a very front image Persona or similar as a great match for Class D. 

Being a recent and proud owner of SF Memento, which I like better than the one in above and few others including recent SF as well, I had to look for a replacement for my beloved Karan Acoustics integrated amp in the need for more power at lower impedance.

My local dealer kindly let me test at home and at his place Luxman 900, 700, 590, Krell and AR ( I skipped Mc all together and $oulution) and then Bel Canto m600 and Black.

To my not so young anymore ears Bel Canto Class D do sound very good and again might work very well with many systems.

Musically speaking ... well I am very happy were I landed with a 625s2...


ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
Left to its own devices, a switching power stage tries to do just about anything except amplify audio.
As point of reference NuPrime ST-10 uses linear PSU:

New linear power supply with a high-efficiency toroidal transformer. Reduced high frequency noise and strengthened low-frequency performance.

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Musically speaking ... well I am very happy were I landed with a 625s2...
Yours and the 725 mono seem to be the last linear Class-A/B amps JR make, and seem to be a worthy choice.

Cheers George
ikecarumba
11 posts
 
My speaker system is DIY, assembled from various sources:

Bullet tweeters + 300 Hz conical-horns with field-coil modified B&C DCM50 compression drivers + (2) 15" Acoustic Elements DiPole 15" woofers in (2) U-frame cabinets per side.

Each driver is powered by a modified/upgraded NuForce Ref 9V3 amp.
The midrange horns are driven by Ref 9 monoblocks, the other drivers are powered by 6 channels of a 7-channel NuForce HT amp, with the same modules as the mono amps (also modified/upgraded).

If I switched to eight Class A or Class A/B amps - either tube or solid state - the listening room would be far too hot and my electric bills would go through the roof. Class D is the only practical way to go for me. I am not wealthy.

My stereo can go toe-to-toe with any system out there. 

Like any ultra-accurate system it is brutally revealing of bad source material.

But great recordings shine like the sun.


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