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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,772 posts
 
I am confident I am not alone in saying GaN is well beyond my budget,
@tweak1   FWIW these days GaN devices do not cost any more than regular MOSFET switching power transistors and in some cases are cheaper. Their implementation in a class D circuit does not cost any more either. Armed with this knowledge it might be interesting to ask a manufacturer of a GaN-based class D amp why their amp is so much more expensive.
erik_squires OP
16,021 posts
 
The words of a man who has personal experience in a subject is called expertise.

The words of a man who quotes others is called opinion.



tweak1
3,645 posts
 
could this be what George is hearing? 

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/09/15/channel-d-presents-the-seta-buffer/

viber6, I think Ric Schultz said he could make theVan Alstines' sound much better. That's what I was referring to, though I failed to include it in my post
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cleeds
5,933 posts
 
erik_squires
The words of a man who has personal experience in a subject is called expertise.
Not necessarily. Many an idiot has experience and their observations of it are not necessarily expert.

The words of a man who quotes others is called opinion.
Not necessarily. It is certainly possible to quote facts presented by others.
tweak1
3,645 posts
 
Ralph, not meant to be insulting, but couldn't you sell your products for a lot less? Nothing there that's cutting edge, though I do understand that highest quality parts cost significantly more

And wouldn't the GaN input buffers need to be a lot more exotic= $$$?
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