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Class D is just Dandy!

I thought it was time we had a pro- Class D thread. There's plenty of threads about comparisons, or detractors of Class D.

That's fine, you don't have to like Class D amps, and if you don't please go participate on one of those threads.

For those of us who are very happy and excited about having musical, capable amps that we can afford to keep on 24/7 and don't require large spaces to put them in, this thread is for you.

Please share your experiences with class D amps!
erik_squires
darkstar
29 posts
 
Nice thread Erik.
I bought the ATI NC528 class D amp to replace an ATI 6012.
Needed more power for the new woofers in my Linkwitz Lab Orion speakers. The Orions need 8 channels of amp. One for each driver. The 528 has linear power supplies.
Someone asked about soundstage depth. My back wall is 20 feet behind the speakers and the soundstage can go well beyond that. The ATI sounds nuanced, has great dynamics and musical ease. Sounds as good as the front end components. Just bought a used phono-preamp. Asked the vendor who is going to sweep that giant soundstage? I used to own a First Watt SIT2. Class A Magic with the right loudspeakers. But the ATI class D with Orions is also magical.

K
hiendmmoe
206 posts
 
Another thought on class D and design. One must also consider longevity of parts used and future serviceability of current digital parts implemented in its design. Here today gone tomorrow world of digital parts and design would make me seriously think about putting serious money into a product that may have obsolete parts in the future that aren’t available. Unless a manufacturer stock piles enough parts for future service needs your probably looking at Something that’s worthless if it needs repair of digital parts that are unavailable. Even then there’s no guarantees that a manufacturer will still be around to service it.
erik_squires OP
16,416 posts
 
Here today gone tomorrow world of digital parts and design would make me seriously think about putting serious money into a product that may have obsolete parts in the future that aren’t available.


I have to say the modules I’ve seen were barely serviceable. I like the sound of the ICEpower modules, but having attempted to service several of them which arrived with broken off caps, it was a real challenge. They are packed tight and with little care for easy disassembly and re-work.

Every other amplifier I've worked on fell apart (in a good way) as soon as I realized where the screws were that were holding it together.
ricevs
1,543 posts
 

Class D is not digital and there are no "digital" parts in the amps.  Class D uses chips that are easily attainable and will be around as long as parts used in Class A amps.  Here is the rub......if your class D module breaks then it is usually replaced by another module.  They are designed to last years and years and they are inexpensive enough that they can be replaced relatively cheaply.  However, if you paid $2000 for a class D amp today and one of its modules died 10 years from now would you even have it replaced for $300 or would you rather get the latest $500 amp that sounds even better.....they will get better and better and cheaper and cheaper.  This is, of course, the same with class A/B amps.  Imagine buying a $20,000 class A/B amp today and it goes dead in 10 years.......by then you could probably get a $2000 amp that sounds better.....so just have the old amp fixed and try and sell it to someone.  We are reaching the end of the "You have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to get great sound game"

Now if you have an amp designed years ago by someone now dead and there are not any schematics for it (for instance Spectron Audio....makers of class D amps from 20 years ago)........then good luck trying to get it fixed.  So, just junk it and buy todays even better sounding class D or class A/B amp for less than what you paid for the Spectron......not really a big deal unless you are really cash tight.

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