2. amps-preamps
  3. 161911-76532

Honest Amp Reviews: Impossible?

So, I’ve noticed a flood of class D junk hitting the market over the last several years. They come from many different brand names from people you’ve never heard of before like "VTV", to popular Internet-in-the-know brands like PS Audio to famous names like Marantz. One thing they ALL have in common: the complete inability to find honest reviews online for these products.

For example, let’s take for instance the Stellar series from PS Audio. Class D junk with the usual attempt to improve euphonics with some kind of input stage. They call this scheme class AD, I guess to differentiate all the other brands that do something similar. However, you’ll never see a review site point this out; they’ll comment briefly on the design and then dutifully call it class AD afterwards as if it isn’t just a class D amp like many others.

Next, the reviewer will invariably lie about the sound. This lying usually takes the form of lying by omission. They’ll gush about how beefy and controlled it is, how neutral it is, how wide and natural the soundstage is, etc. What they WON’T mention is how lifeless, flat, boring and ultimately fatiguing they ALL are. The buyer who doesn’t know any better has to find that out for themselves while he slowly grows to distrust anything a reviewer has to say about anything. So, the only way to actually get value out of a review is to see if a certain amp has the positive attributes you are looking for while trying to painstakingly research any problems it might have because the reviewer won’t mention them.

In addition to the lies of omission, there’s the usual con of giving certain gear to certain reviewers who will appreciate / like the piece. That Stellar will NEVER be put up against a Dan D’agostino or a Pass for example. This could be valuable to the buyer to see how a lesser amp stacks up against a high end one, but it’s not, apparently, useful to the reviewers. Why? Why is telling the whole truth about amps -- all gear really -- taboo?
madavid0
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 

Sounds like a Trumpeteer denying reality, believing alternative facts and just pathetically confused.  Why don't you give your leader a call and ask him?  He clearly doesn't know much about anything but he seems to have a lot of time on his hands.  If he doesn't answer your call, try the golf course.  Lately, he's been playing and cheating there daily.  

Tim
madavid0 OP
214 posts
 
Alright. For the class D believers please describe your systems. I bet not one of you has anything approaching high-end and you've all been successfully marketed to by the "affordable" audiophile scam. I also bet that none of you have ever compared your class D to a good linear amp on a long term basis, you just got wow'd immediately by the tight bass and high resolution and are in the throes of desperately pretending you like the sound even though you find yourself not listening to it much anymore.
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
I’ve never owned anything Class D and don’t know that I ever will.      BUT, if Ralph Karsten is exploring and experimenting with the technology; there has to be some potential, for a, "High-End" outcome.       It’s been my experience; if you input an accurate musical signal, to something with, ’Atma-Sphere’ on it, you’re going to get some beautiful music (ie: realism/ambience) out.      Don’t throw the baby out, with the old, funky bathwater (YET).
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,109 posts
 
There is a member her whose name escapes me right now. He owns the top tier Jeff Rowland class D amplifiers and is very happy with them. I believe that he is an audiophile with long experience, and he can obviously afford whatever he wants.
I myself heard early Jeff Rowland class D (small 201 monos I think), and I thought that they were pretty good, but it wasn't a long audition. I've also heard very bad class D from Crown. 
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,550 posts
 
Sounds like a Class D conspiracy theory. What’s one more conspiracy theory?
Bad reviewers! Where’s the bile?

I have 4 Class D amps in my house and listen to them for hours all the time for years.

I’ve been an audio hound for >40 years. Heard it all including the “best” at shows.

Just saying.

Class D is like everything else. You get what you pay for. You will likely get more off it per $$$$ though with Class D. That’s what happens with technological breakthroughs. The rest is all opinion like with many things high end audio.
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