Class A or Class D solid-state amplifiers (modern designs)


Hey guys.

 

Class A is supposedly superior. Something to do with a conduction angle of 360 degrees...so the entire signal gets processed in one go without crossover distortion.

But in terms of sound quality (subjective enjoyment) is there a benefit to Class A? Can class D provide the same level of enjoyment?

 

The dealer I’m talking to says that really nice Class A amplifiers are designed for "reference quality" meaning completely true to the real life performance.

 

Let’s compare and contrast. Which one is technically better?

 

In other words, could you have equal technical performance and quality in a Class D amp?

 

- Jack.

jackhifiguy

+1 for the LSA Voyager GaN 350.

It is very chameleon like. Lovely oldies like Ella and Louie, Leonard Cohen sound full bodied rich and in the room. Lessor recordings sound, well, Lessor. Great value MSRP $3000, a veritable bargain compared to many class A or A/B amps whose MSRP are multiples

 

Sound improved considerably by replacing stock footers with Nobsound springs @ ~ $35/4. Now under all my kit, including speakers

My previous amps were all class A mono blocks from Krell and BAT, then I switched to PS Audio M1200 and couldn’t be happier. They sounded great and are cheaper than my previous amps. 

another +1 for the LSA Voyager GaN 350

My friend asked for a recommendation to replace his Cambridge amplifier, traded it in for the LSA Voyager and thank goodness it was so much better.

I'll most likely go to GaN myself, just going to let designers play with it some more. I read with interest on the Atmosphere monos but my speakers are a little thirsty, and I'm running 2 x 400watt (not that I run them at 100%) at the mo.