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I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Class D. I have lived with ICEPower 250AS based amps for a couple of years. Before that I lived with a pair of Parasound A21s (for HT) and now I’m listening to a Luxman 507ux.


I have some thoughts after long term listening:
  • The tropes of Class D having particularly bad, noticeable Class D qualities are all wrong and have been for years.
  • No one has ever heard my Class D amps and gone: "Oh, wow, Class D, that’s why I hate it."
  • The Luxman is a better amp than my ICEPower modules, which are already pretty old.

I found the Class D a touch warm, powerful, noise free. Blindfolded I cannot tell them apart from the Parasound A21s which are completely linear, and run a touch warm due to high Class A operation, and VERY similar in power output.


The Luxman 507 beats them both, but no amp stands out as nasty sounding or lacking in the ability to be musical and involving.


What the Luxman 507 does better is in the midrange and ends of the spectrum. It is less dark, sweeter in the midrange, and sounds more powerful, almost "louder" in the sense of having more treble and bass. It IS a better amplifier than I had before. Imaging is about the same.


There was one significant operational difference, which others have confirmed. I don't know why this is true, but the Class D amps needed 2-4 days to warm up. The Luxman needs no time at all. I have no rational, engineering explanation for this. After leaving the ICEPower amps off for a weekend, they sounded pretty low fi. Took 2 days to come back. I can come home after work and turn the Luxman on and it sounds great from the first moment.


Please keep this in mind when evaluating.


Best,

E
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,898 posts
 
Hey @mapman

I bought raw ICEPower modules and put them in cases as specified. Speakers were customs with data available here:
https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2017/12/snr-1-two-way-high-end-diy-monitor.html
Yes, indeed, amps sound different. My point was not that Class D was always worse than Luxman, or Luxman better than Benchmark.

My point to the entire post was that we have to move beyond talking about Class D as being inferior and treat them like we would any other amp.

Erik




erik_squires OP
16,898 posts
 
@firstnot

What we talk about are personal experiences, which scientifically we'd call case studies. If you buy solely on scientific studies and discount case studies, including your own experience, you are definitely in the wrong hobby. That's like buying wine based on Ph factor alone.


I didn't say I did a test blindfolded. I said if I were blindfolded I could not tell the difference, meaning, with my eyes wide open, I was unable to perceive a difference between the specific ICEPower modules and a well known linear amplifier, even knowing they were different.


The quality of sound from gear made by Sanders / Coda is not the point of this thread, but I have strong opinions on the matter and would be happy to debate you elsewhere.

To repeat, the point of this thread is not "my amp sounds better than yours." It is that we need to stop using 1990's Class D sound to describe modern Class D. Treat modern Class D amps as you would any other amp and decide what to buy or not based on your own ears.


Best,

E

dougsat
374 posts
 
Right on.

Class D amps are not going away. I think they are here to stay and are only getting better.

DS
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,973 posts
 
Yes lots of good amp designs with various pros and cons out there these days and Class D is now a very strong contender.  
lukaszwk
63 posts
 
Audioman mentioned that Jeff Rowland top amps use modified Pascal modules. The only other amps, at least that i know about that use Pascal modules (also modified) are D-sonic amps which I happen to own and can attest that these things are pretty remarkable. Very few people have heard them but after owning these, i see no real reason to go back to AB class. 
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