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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
ahofer
225 posts
 
This conversation turns a lot of my Audiogon impressions on their head. People who, I think, believe that great sound qualities can’t be measured are at the same time suggesting that because of inherent measurable design challenges of class D, that no class D amp can sound good. It also seems that more measurement-oriented folks may be coming out against class D because...I don’t know. The latest designs (NCore and purifi) seem to have dampened the IM distortion well into inaudible range. 

Nothing to do but listen to the new designs as they come out and try to get rid of our preconceptions. I have a cheap NCore design on order and I’m looking forward to possibly hearing the difference. Given that it is, effectively, a weak AM transmitter, I’m going to move it away from my sources, as that *could* be a source of problems. 
gillatgh's avatar
gillatgh
381 posts
 
@georgehifi, I stand corrected, you are correct. For whatever reason I was under the impression that it was a class D amp. It is not. Well that's ok, but now I'm really curious about class D, George Hifi you got a loaner I can try?
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Earlier, George gave a list of well respected manufactures of high end components. They all said how class D was inferior and it wasn’t as good as their stuff and yada, yada.

Did anyone stop to think that these other high-end manufacturers are purposely downplaying class D because then no one would buy their overpriced components?

People see two amplifiers in front of them. One is a class A/B that costs $40,000 and the other is a class D that costs $4,000. People will automatically assume that the $40,000 amplifier must be better because the price difference.

High-end manufacturers know people are gullible and listen with their wallets.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
@georgehifi, I stand corrected, you are correct. For whatever reason I was under the impression that it was a class D amp. It is not. Well that's ok, but now I'm really curious about class D, George Hifi you got a loaner I can try?
Sure a couple you can choose from, you can pick up (i won't post) from North Manly 2100 Sydney, where are you coming from.

Cheers George
tweak1
3,655 posts
 
toetap,

Fortunately (for those of us who are in the market for a new class D), ric is not governed by the budget constraints of manufacturers who are not interested in going the extra mile, but will spend said monies on a prettier face plate. 

Ill bet his speaker binding post bypass ALONE is revelatory
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