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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
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
bigkidz,

     The Merrill Veritas mono-blocks at about $10K/pair are one of the best class D monos currently available.  They also just introduced some even more expensive monos that use the very fast switching and new GaN transistors instead of the traditional FETs.  These are the Element 114, 116 and 118 models that are starting to get rave reviews but are expensive, with the Element 114 priced at $15K/pair.
     I don't consider these reasonably priced but I'm not sure of your budget.
     If you'd like some very good class D amps reasonably priced, I'd suggest considering amps from D-Sonic.  They offer very good stereo and mono-block amps with even their top models priced well under $3K.  I've owned their older model M3-600-M monos for about 4yrs and they are extremely good powering my Magnepans.  The latest model of these are the M3a-600-M priced at $2,150/pair and the top of the line monos are the M3a-1500-M priced at $2,750/pair. They also offer stereo amps for even less.  Here's their website:
://www.d-sonic.com/amplifiers
     I'd suggest calling and discussing with the owner, Dennis Deacon, which amps would be the best fit for your Vandersteen 5As. A 30-day trial period is offered on all their amps.



     
jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
994 posts
 
I have supported a certain type of database technology for most of my career.  Good product.  But about 25 years ago they came out with a very bad version of the product  and then a bit slow to rectify the situation along with a few other issues.  There were some very large companies that this impacted greatly. The software company quickly got things lined out but the bad press took many many years to overcome and in some ways was really never completely shed.
Can't argue though that stereotyping is a real time saver.
I like my little PS Audio S 300.  And I agree, I think it do sound better after being left powered on.
snapsc
681 posts
 
mijostyn

What are your loudspeakers that are so difficult to drive?
snapsc
681 posts
 
@bigkidz

not sure if this is a reasonable price...size....or weight....but the 2Cherry with added rail capacitance...standard faceplate....standard gold binding posts....is going to be 14"w x 10" deep x4" high, weigh about 16lbs and cost you about $2700...give or take...with a 30 day trial period...easy decision for me....I didn't send it back.   

https://www.cherryamp.com/5-channel-amp

more spec info, etc. here

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=162524.0
bigkidz
3,397 posts
 
@snapsc - thank you for the follow-up.  I know Tommy pretty well.  He came to our audio group many times.  I guess I should reach out to him and get a pair to audition.  Thanks.
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