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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
 

weak1657 posts09-07-2018 11:57pmGeorge I clicked on the GaN link you provided, Alas, it does not account for XLR


This one has balanced.
http://epc-co.com/epc/Portals/0/epc/documents/guides/EPC9106_qsg.pdf

Cheers George
tfats
15 posts
 
I agree...current class D is just fine. I have owned all kinds of brands...mcintosh...rotel...krell...nad...exposure...muse....channel islands...cairn...peachtree. I currently own red dragon pascal-based class d amps and they are great. Plenty of folks find McIntosh TOO lush....almost syrupy. 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Too funny George
You love to dish it out but cannot handle a little bit of criticism yourself.
Says more than my original post ever could tbh

you have a great day now .
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,408 posts
 
I agree Class D is just fine. Competes just as fine as any other design tube or SS. Class A is also very fine but problem there is size weight and overall cost of ownership especially if many watts called for. Class D these days easily competes and offers unique benefit in these areas that matter practically to many.

George talks like no Class D amp can compete with any other kind whereas we all know quality and cost varies greatly with all kinds of amps.

Now if one wants to compare a specific class D amp to some other then there may be something worth talking about.

That's the truth.  ☝️
adam8179
71 posts
 
I am quite new to the audiophile world but I am a professional musician so I have quite a bit of experience with music and how I think it should sound.  In my opinion, there will always be something artificial about electronic equipment trying to capture what the human ear (and brain) experiences in a live situation.  Let's not forget the pro audio side of the equation i.e. what kind of mics, pre-amps, mixing board were used, mic placement and then, what kind of limiting and compression.  And then on the hi-fi side, you go through a bunch of equipment again, trying at the very best, to reproduce what has been recorded.  I'm seeing some comments about the lack of naturalness of class D but too me, everything in audio reproduction is somewhat unnatural.  That's not to say it doesn't sound good, it's just not as sophisticated as what we experience when we listen to music live.  I recently was at a hi-fi store and listened to 2 comparably priced and well-regarded integrated amps.  One was class A/B and the other class D.  Both sounded really good but emphasized different elements of the musical experience.  The class D sounded more detailed and clearer but leaner and some would say clinical.  The class A/B sounded more liquid and richer but some would say less detailed and congested.  I think it just comes down to personal preference.  Recordings are never going to sound like the "real thing"so you might as well just go for the sound that is pleasing to you.  Maybe with my modest budget I have as yet to hear a system that captures everything that a live performance offers but I have a feeling that its a very very hard thing to do.  BTW I preferred the class D amp but I thought they were both very very nice
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