Class D amps that are superior to all or most?


Recently, I have heard about some Class D amps that may be close to the best there is regardless of class. Certainly, this technology has been in development for decades. The main issue has always been the switching power supply. In this regard, I have taken notice of AGD. They have created a whole new power supply that “switches” at a frequency 100 times the normal silicon based MOSFET. The designer uses a gallium nitride based PS. Interesting, it is enclosed in the KT88 glass envelope that sits on top of his amps. I am aware of two more pricey amps that seem to be also at the top- the Solution and the Merrill. There must be others that compete for the title. After my thread, “Is there a SS amp that can satisfy a SET guy?”, I am still on the quest.
Don’t want to spend $50K!
mglik
I think you might have a misconception here! Its true that the output filter is affected by the load. But it won't change the FR significantly because of two factors. First, the load affects the Q of the filter. What this means is with lower impedances the filter broadens a bit and is less effective- so you might see bit more of the residual (sine wave at the switching frequency). The second is that in a self oscillating amplifier there is so much feedback that phase shift and the audio passband FR are unaffected. Quite literally there's enough feedback to correct for issues that might arise if the filter is operating at a lower Q.
Methinks not.

Class D Output filters are load dependent.
From TI:
The LC filter response also varies with speaker load impedance. The load impedance determines the damping ratio of the output LC filter and is classified as overdamped, critically damped, or underdamped. It is also important to understand the speaker load impedance variations for the application and select the L and C values that suit the expected load variations. Ideally, the LC filter value is selected for a critically damped, flat passband, and phase response. Two considerations when selecting components for the second-order low-pass filter is the cutoff frequency and Q factor or damping ratio.

The variations can be small, but they will vary with every load presented. Hence, the perceived sound of the amplifier can vary with each speaker.

This Stereophile image of PS Audio's Stellar M-1200 shows it well damped and relatively immune to load variations. https://www.stereophile.com/images/1220PS1200fig01.jpg

Ditto this Schiit Aegir https://www.stereophile.com/images/919SchAegirfig01.jpg

Not so much this new Mytek Brooklyn AMP+ https://www.stereophile.com/images/421Mytekfig01.jpg

Making a purchasing decision based on the written word is folly. Doubly so for fan-boy recommendations.

I'm not knocking Class D. I have one driving the woofers in my tri-amp system.
Lots of class D amps sound "good" but if one is looking for not good but excellent sound you have to listen to most of what is out there. Cheap watts are exactly that cheap watts. Just as with class A, A/B there is a huge difference between class D amps.  If someone is looking for just good there is plenty to choose from if looking for excellent it comes down to a handful and how easily your satisfied. If you strive for excellence listen to AGD or Mola Mola.
+1 to jjss49’s comment about Wyred 4 Sound. I have the ST-500 in my desktop system, and it has worked with synergy and real impact powering some excellent 2-ways (Aerial Acoustics 5Bs; ATC SCM12 Pro’s; and now the vintage/beautiful-sounding KEF 103.2’s).

I do all listening in the nearfield position with the Violectric V281 (very nice sound) as preamp. There is nowhere for a bad-sounding amp to hide in this setup: it either works or fails audibly. The ST-500 works extremely well here. And it does something subtle that tells me it’s an above average amp: whatever its inherent sound is, it takes a back seat to the inherent sound of the speakers. This quality of being self-effacing, in service of the chain, is one I value highly.

My impression of the inherent sound of the ST-500 is top-to-bottom smoothness, power, music-first. Not a flash-bang, in-your-face sound at all. Never bright. But when a crescendo comes along, get ready for G forces (very powerful amp). All in all, it’s a consistently suave, relaxed "take" on SS sound.

ieales
The variations can be small, but they will vary with every load presented. Hence, the perceived sound of the amplifier can vary with each speaker.

This Stereophile image of PS Audio’s Stellar M-1200 shows it well damped and relatively immune to load variations. https://www.stereophile.com/images/1220PS1200fig01.jpg

Ditto this Schiit Aegir https://www.stereophile.com/images/919SchAegirfig01.jpg

Not so much this new Mytek Brooklyn AMP+ https://www.stereophile.com/images/421Mytekfig01.jpg

Making a purchasing decision based on the written word is folly. Doubly so for fan-boy recommendations.

I’m not knocking Class D. I have one driving the woofers in my tri-amp system.



Yes and you have to remember all those measurements are made using Stereophile AP Aux-0025 low pass filter

Stereophile:
All measurements are made AUX-0025 passive low-pass filter between the amp and the analyzer.
The Audio Precisions Aux-0025 is a very steep low pass low power filter filter between amp and analyzer which makes things look even better than what they really are. Used in all the Stereophile measurements in the last 10 years.
Without it before (Stereophile got the filter) things looked much worse, but showed was what was "really coming out of the speakers terminal" they looked like this, (same amp) what you get is the 1st picture when buying the amp. (switching frequency noise evident)
https://www.stereophile.com/images/1212AM1fig02.jpg

When the Stereophile AUX-0025 filter was put in place they look like this
(switching noise filtered out by Stereophile’s test filter)
https://www.stereophile.com/images/1212AM1fig03.jpg not what you get when buying the amp.

Solution to rid the switching noise in the audio band, and it’s by product phase shift:
Raise the switching frequency 3 x so to the amps output filter, then the switching noise will also be reduced by 3 times , so to the unacceptable hf phase shift, like this Icepower 1200as2 in red https://ibb.co/kMZd9bF
Like Technics do with their SE-R1 Class-D and some say the SU-R1000 integrated also.

Cheers George
@jeales     Your statement about frequency response varies by load on class D amps is not necessarily true.  I have now built 11 different Class D amplifiers.  3 of them are very good and 2 of them, I was able to modify or add  PFFB circuitry.  It is similar to an impedance correction circuit.  On my 2 amps that I've added this, frequency response does not vary with load.... I'm not sure how widely this is used, but it is definitely out there.