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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
16,021 posts
 
Good for you, the majority in hiend don’t,


Not what I'm seeing.

that will change with GaN Technology and that’s fact.


That is opinion based on absolutely nothing.

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Not what I’m seeing.
How could you, https://media2.giphy.com/media/s4FDIU5rGfOpy/giphy.gif

That is opinion based on absolutely nothing.
At least I’ve given the manufacturers technical reasons behind it, you’ve given zip technical info on why the old technology is as good as GaN Technology.

And you have an invitation here https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-amp-is-best-with-wilson-sasha-daw-speakers/post?postid=1...
tweak1
3,645 posts
 
In reference to gfis incessant GaN, GaN or no class D rants, I suppose IF one drove a regularly aspirated high performance vehicle, then hopped on the same vehicle/engine but upgraded with twin turbos or a blower. The reat news is that eventually the tech trickles down.

HOWEVER, for many of us, the many benefits and sound quality of recent class D offerings has/have already put grins on out faces.. Case in point and speaking for myself only, my Audio Alchemy DPA-1 is immensely satisfying compared to my previous W4S and, Emerald Physics 100.2SEs, but my room demands more spls just to flesh out the music, not to blow out my eardrums

NOW, speaking to the current non-GaN offerings: if RICs pixy dust takes the IcePower to a much higher level for a mere $2200 (can’t believe Im saying "a mere $2200), but it is relative, then we can wait for GaN to come down to our budgetary level, Alas, who will buy or used D should they stumble across Gfis negative comments: GaN or bust? .

The only reason why I still have my DPA-1 is no one was willing to pay $850 for a product that MSRPed at $1995 3 short years ago, and got rave reviews in TAS and elsewhere. My PS Audio M700s @ 350wpa sold fast, but to my ears were no better, though double the power did a much better job of fleshing out my room, and likely do not compare to RICs EVS 1200 with pixy dust., but even the M700s were plugged into my 1800 CorePower, and since then, I have upgraded ICs, digital and speaker cables, so...
toetapaudio
474 posts
 
It’s important to listen to different class D amps before commenting. As I have said before just because a design uses GaN it doesn’t make it automatically superior to other class D designs. Implementation is key, manufacturers can use the same class D module and the SQ will be quite different depending on how they are implemented. This will also determine the price of the product. From tests disclosed to us from a very reliable source, the current GaN amps are not currently THE best sounding class D amps, although still very good. They also tend to be much more expensive. Perhaps this might change in the future.
erik_squires OP
16,021 posts
 
At least I’ve given the manufacturers technical reasons behind it, you’ve given zip technical info on why the old technology is as good as GaN Technology.


You are the one who claims there are deficiencies which would be fixed. My point is and always has been:

  1. A measurement is not by itself audible
  2. I have encountered none of the audible claims you ascribe to Class D in general
  3. There’s no consensus on any of the technical items addressed in GaN amps being audible.


You are basing everything on literature, and very little on actual hearing and listening. Yes, I went from an old ICEpower module to Luxman, but hey, I would have gone from a Parasound A21 to a Luxman too. The idea that this proves all Class D are inferior or have a signature to all linear or GaN is just not in evidence. It's in your fandom.
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