2. amps-preamps
  3. 137918-20253

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
ebm
9,311 posts
 
It WILL NEVER be as good as tubes,class a or good a/b NEVER!!!
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
ebm,
Please give us your insight as to why class D will NEVER be as good.
erik_squires OP
16,315 posts
 
It WILL NEVER be as good as tubes,class a or good a/b NEVER!!!
Disco is NOT dead! Disco is life!! - Tony P., Mystery Men
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
The only experience I have wth full range Class D amps was in an sudio shop listening to a Rotel Class D amp driving Vandersteens. They sounded nice, but I wasn't there long enough to really discern their sonic features. The Class D amps in my subs sound great, however, so at least, for me, they well serve a limited bandwidth duty cycle.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,909 posts
 
It WILL NEVER be as good as tubes,class a or good a/b NEVER!!!
As a tube amplifier manufacturer I have to disagree with this comment.
We are a tube amplifier manufacturer that is also developing a class D amp.

Our tube amps have gotten excellent reviews and numerous awards in the high end audio press; in particular they are known for their transparency and musical nature. So I'm not making this statement lightly.
No-one knows the future but we do know that people make innovations. We made one and its why we have a patent application filed on our class D amp; I am of the opinion that class D has a lot to offer in the transistors vs tubes debate. IOW, I wouldn't say 'NEVER'...
There is a thing called a 'technology/performance' or 'innovation' curve. Its generally the shape of an S. At the beginning, when the technology first appears, a lot of time and money goes into its development, with small increases in performance. As the tech gets sorted out, with small amounts of time and money much larger performance increases occur; then as the tech is mature (think transistors and tubes here) then larger amounts of time and money yield incremental improvements.
Class D is in the middle of the curve, so its still possible that smaller companies like mine are able to make big improvements. There are a lot of players in class D so 'never' seems dubious to me.
More to discover