2. amps-preamps
  3. 165827-20253

My NAD 3020 D proves your Class D tropes are wrong

I have a desktop integrated, the NAD 3020D which I use with custom near field monitors. It is being fed by Roon via a Squeezebox Touch and coaxial digital.

It is 5 years old and it sounds great. None of the standard myths of bad Class D sound exist here. It may lack the tube like liquid midrange of my Luxman, or the warmth of my prior Parasound but no one in this forum could hear it and go "aha, Class D!!" by itself, except maybe by the absolute lack of noise even when 3’ away from the speakers.

I’m not going to argue that this is the greatest amp ever, or that it is even a standout desktop integrated. All I am saying is that the stories about how bad Class D is compared to linear amps have been outdated for ages.

Great to see new development with GaN based Class D amps, great to see Technics using DSP feed-forward designs to overcome minor limitations in impedance matching and Atmasphere’s work on reducing measurable distortion as well but OMG stop with the "Class D was awful until just now" threads as it ignores about 30 years of steady research and innovation.
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,842 posts
 

Desk Top...😳 Uh, yeah..ok then 👍


Yeah, desktop, as in near field monitors. As in the most revealing place to put speakers. If you don’t hear Class D problems in near field you are not going to hear them in far field.  Desktop, as in: How many recording artists master their work.
erik_squires OP
16,842 posts
 
I just recently bit the bullet and ordered a Luxman 590AXII after listening to many different amps. I suppose that if you look hard you can find some poor sounding amps, but nothing I have heard across many typologies sounded bad. In fact, I am rather partial to some Bel Canto models. OTOH, the Luxman sounded sufficiently magical to my ears to spend more money than I should have and to sell off some other kit to pull off the deal. I was looking for a certain sound, not a certain amplifier type.


This is a very similar path to mine, but instead of Bel Cantos I was using ICEPower modules in custom cases.  I agree.  There was nothing wrong with my Class D amps, and a lot of linear amps did NOT best them at all. The Luxmans did and that's when I bought.  Again:  The Class D naysayers are prejudiced without cause.
desferous
29 posts
 
I have listened to a NAD M10 for over a year now and want to try to "improve" my system.  I tried the PASS INT-25.  Loved the huge sound stage, but felt like I was listening with earplugs in.  

I am a little worried that class D is what I am used to, and enjoy very much, but how do I get a larger sound stage? 

NAD M33? 


erik_squires OP
16,842 posts
 
I am a little worried that class D is what I am used to, and enjoy very much, but how do I get a larger sound stage?


Make sure to consider your room first. :) Your amp and speakers can’t overcome that.

However, you should listen to the M33 as well as some linear options, like Luxman or Ayre as well.
curlyhifi
159 posts
 
Audio Research LS 27, Audio Research DS450 and Wilson Sophia.
Sounds absolutely incredible.
Thanks to all the bad press about class D, I was able to purchase the DS450 from another Audiophile that is chasing the dream. That system is never leaving my house.
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