Time to buy a class D amp?
Will some new class D amplifiers outperforming the current ones appear soon
(the newest ones i know were released a few years ago)?
Class D amps attract me as I consider them the most ecological ones with obvious non-auditionable benefits.
I have no doubts that they posses the maximum ratio performance/sound quality among the amplifiers of all classes.
At the same time, the sound quality the class D amplifiers that I have auditioned produce, although is quite good,
but not yet ideal (for my taste).
I use PS Audio Stellar S300 amp with PS audio Gain Cell pre/DAC with Thiel CS 3.6 speakers in one of my systems.
The sound is ok (deep bass, clear soundstage) but not perfect (a bit bright and somehow dry, lacking warmness which might be more or less ok for rock but not for jazz music).
I wonder if there are softer sounding class D amps with the same or better details and resolution. Considering two reasonable (as to the budget) choices for test, Red Dragon S500 and Digital Audio Company's
Cherry 2 (or Maraschino monoblocks), did anybody compare these two?
darkstar on his ATI amp:" The sound is high end. Huge stage, precise images and natural timbre. The sound reflects the front end. Changes in upstream equipment are easily audible. ATI uses a large linear power supply. No SMPS power. I listen about 12 hours a day. Every day. Jazz and classical primarily. No listener fatigue here." As an owner and user of D-Sonic M3-600-M monoblocks, I consider this a very good description of what to expect from the inclusion of a high quality class D amp or amps in one's system. I haven't yet had the opportunity to audition an ATI amp in my or any system, but darkstar's description of the ATI's performance characteristics closely resemble the performance characteristics that I've perceived in my amps over the past 4 plus years in my system on both 2-ch music and HT playback. I also read this Sound & Vision review on a couple of ATI amps that further supports their high quality: https://www.soundandvision.com/content/ati-at527nc-and-at524nc-amplifiers-review I 've read that many of the ATI amps utilize the newer and highly respected Hypex NCore500 class D power modules. These are likely an important contributor to the high quality sound performance. These ATI amps also utilize conventional toiroidal transformers as part of their power supplies. It seems like some believe the use of conventional toroidal transformers in the power supplies of class D amps results in superior performance when compared to the newer switch mode power supplies (SMPS) used in other high quality class D amps. All 3 of the class D amps I use in my system happen to have power supplies using conventional toroidal transformers but I've listened to many other class D amps utilizing SMPS. In my listening experiences, I've never perceived any noticeable sound quality advantage of either power supply types. Overall, I consider the ATI amps a very good high quality class D amp option that I also consider a bit overpriced. Tim |
As for ecological concerns, at low power levels, where most amps operate during most listening, even class D amps are inefficient.This statement is incorrect. The efficiency of a class D amp is such that at higher power levels its power draw is similar to conventional amps. But at lower power levels a class D amp draws considerably less power! |
Hello niodari, I've never listened to any Cherry, Nuprime or ATI amps, but I've read good reviews on all of them. I don't currently have any knowledge or experience that would lead me to think any one of them is the best. I know there are a lot of good quality class D amps, such as the ones you mentioned, as well as many others. My suggestion is to do as much research as you can on class D amps by reading audio forum discussions on class D amps as well as owner and professional reviews online. Start a list or spreadsheet of all possible candidates that lists Company, Model Number, Type(monoblock or stereo), Condition (new or used),Price and a Notes section for important related info. You can also do Google searches on particular brands/models to obtain more specific and even comparison info. I'll get you started by listing some good quality class D companies to consider and other thread readers, hopefully, will chime in with others to consider. Since I don't know your budget, I can't currently limit my suggestions by price but it's very useful if you could post your budget as well as primary usage (music, HT or both), number of desired channels (monoblock single channel, stereo 2-ch or multi-ch with ? channels). Here's my starter list: ATI Acoustic Imagery Anthem Arcam Atmasphere (first class D amp from this tube amp company. Release date TBD.) Bel Canto B&K Audio Cherry Channel Islands Class D Audio Classe Devialet D-Sonic Hypex (class D power module and power supply manufacturer for DIY amp kits) James Romeyn (Hypex NCore400 amp kit builder) Kii Audio Linn Lyndorf Marantz Merrill Audio Mola Mola NAD Nord Red Dragon (all new upgraded models coming late 2019.) Outlaw Peachtree Primare Purifi Rogue Audio Sunfire Theta Wyred 4 Sound Have fun, Tim |
