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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
golfnutz
231 posts
 

@tweak1 

You must have mentioned the EVS amp 100 times in all your posts so far. For someone with 40+ years experience, you sure have a lot to say about something that you never heard. You accuse others of being trolls, and basically that's all I see that you are.

golfnutz
231 posts
 

@mapman

I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m only talking about my own personal experience, which matched what Georgehifi was saying. I’m sure it’s not just limited to the Icepower modules, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great class D amps (even for inefficient speakers).

I’m not sure the Icepower 1200as2 was even designed/intended for stereo/mono amps based on these comments: "Intended for PA speakers, line arrays and professional single or dual sub-woofers"

https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/analogue-linear-mixed-signal-ics/1200w-class-d-audio-amplifier-130db-snr-built-mains-psu-2018-04/

tweak1
3,645 posts
 
golfnuttz, 100 times? you tend to over exaggerate and are a bit misinformed; IcePowers' ability to drive difficult loads, oh, and FYI, the EVS consists of 2 1200AS1s’ which are mono modules
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,116 posts
 
golf, NP.

Can’t say for sure but what I was able to find about the Mivera amps referenced the Icepower site for specs, so likely its just that Icepower module in a nice box, which perhaps is just not up to the task of driving demanding "audiophile" speakers to their max all alone.

Most applications are surely not as demanding.

Ref1000m amps listed for $6k a pair originally. I bought mine used for half that price. Not cheap, but that was my best shot at driving my demanding home speakers to their max which worked out well. The input section on ref1000m also allows for good pairing with my higher output tube pre-amp. The input impedance of the stock Icepower module used was only 10Kohm, not good for use with tube pre-amp but fine if SS pre.

Devil in the details.....






golfnutz
231 posts
 
Seriously tweak? Do you really think 2 1200as1 are any different than 2 1200as2's? As for difficult loads, you'll only know if you have inefficient speakers. In my system, it was a flat wall of sound with no dynamics at all. How many times can a person mention the same thing over and over again (EVS amp) before you think they are trolling?
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