Discussion of Class D Amps Application & Experiences

I have had amplifiers from Class D Audio, D-Sonic, Mivera, and Peachtree.  The Mivera was most disappointing.  Total lack of detail and depth.  I popped the top and discovered that there was nothing in the box but the IceEdge board and the on-board power supply.  The D-sonic M3-1200S is an exceptionally fine amp, a real bargain on the price/performance scale.  Like most everything in this addiction, er hobby, it is totally subjective, but the D-Sonic amp is wonderful to my ears, and will drive any complex load without complaint.  The Class D Audio 470C also is a very good performer with very good sound.  Both amps have absolutely no background noise.  There are a lot of excellent, and not so excellent brands out there, but the search is both fun, and enjoyable.  I really don't care about an amp's design topology, class A, AB, or D.  All I go by is how it sounds to my ears.  Good luck in your pursuit.     

I am in high anticipation of receiving LSA Voyager GaN amp 100wpc $2500 (sold through Emerald Physics)



In the mean time I love my Ric Shultz EVS 1200, which is a 600wpc dual mono IceEdge 1200AS2 class D modules plus lots of Rics pixie dust < $2500

I see the class D crowd is alive and well, GOOD. I’ve have Ice units
Wyred 4 Sound SX1000 and Rs, Powerful but really lack the luster of the Hypex units. Though when coupled with a lively valve preamp it does help a lot.

The stock Hypex boards came with options that Ice boards didn’t have at the time without mods.

Hypex NC500/1200 and NC2k have buffer boards that come from the factory with standard op amps and voltage regulators,
Nord and VTV, BOTH offer bufferboard upgrades on their unit.
It is night and day with discrete class a op amps and discrete voltage regulators. The upgrades are 175-425.00 depending on the op amps you choose per monoblock unit.
It also gives you the option to customise your units with op amps rolls.
Sparco, Sonic Imagery, VTV, and a few more. Usually 150-350 for a pair of tricked out, op amps. If you already have the socketed boards

I had both with and without, the board upgrades. All of my units now have
the rev. C or D from Nord. The revision D from Nord or VTV (VTV have a gain select option) have dual sockets
(2 different footprints) for more versatility.

I only look at who made the boards, who made the case (do you like the design and case options, trigger, XLR and RCA, binding post) and do they have optional bufferboard. If they don’t, it’s simple, don’t buy them.

I opened 4-6 of the better known brands, all have either soldered in a different (not always better) opamp or bought buffer boards from, (LOL)
Nord or VTV.  Normally at 2 to 3 times the price, TO YOU..

A Hypex MB should be from 850.00-1500.00 depending on wattage, option on the bufferboards, and case options.

A shinny case alone can cost you 2000.00 more, and get a whole lot
LESS under the hood so to speak.

The boards are the same...Make sure you get the largest PS options too, it’s only a few buck and a few of the big names squeeze there, LOOK make sure..

Your budget will get you a long way into a great system, with valves included. A pre with valves or a combo of both. Tube front end sure sweetens the mix for sure. I love um’ ZERO floor noise.

Enjoy

So, based on your response would you say this a 10% improvement? 20%?

Hard to say in that regard! If properly engineered, its probably not that big a deal, as MOSFETs have gotten faster in the last few years since the GaNFETs were introduced. @arion  makes extremely good points in his post; this reflects my own experience. Some class D amps are extremely boring, some are bass shy (usually older units) and others sound extremely musical (mostly newer units).

Some class D amps are extremely boring, some are bass shy (usually older units) and others sound extremely musical (mostly newer units).

Of course the same could be said about any amp design type in general.

That’s why it’s best to not generalize. No two amps of any particular type are created equal. They all run the gamut.

Point is Class D CAN compete. That’s all.

Also I agree newer in general is better than older as is the case always with any newer and still more evolving technology. Also cost is NOT necessarily the best determining factor as usual. Even my tiny $75 Fosi Class D amp (about the size of a pack of cigarettes) with its tiny Texas Instruments Class D chip competes very well with anything else I have heard ever up for up to a few hundred dollars and will beat most vintage amps that sold for 2-5X more 40 years ago in a package 1/10th the size and the Bluetooth even works well enough for most if not the most critical 2-channel applications.

That’s how technology and progress works!

Can you believe we still use the same primitive disk-groove-based-like-riding-a-roller-coaster approach for records and playing them that was first invented well over 100 years ago? What’s up with that?

Try singing or playing a violin while riding a roller coaster sometime.