2. amps-preamps
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Class D amplifiers. What's the future look like?

I have a number of amplifiers: Luxman C900U, Bryston 4BSST2, Audio Research VSI 60 Integrated, NAD C298 and some other less noteworthy units. As I swap them in and out of my main system, I've come to the conclusion my very modest NAD C298 is about all I really need. Granted if I had extremely hard to drive speakers, I might be better with the Bryston or Luxman, but driving my Harbeth 40.2 speakers, the NAD is just fine. 

I thought a while ago that class D would quickly overtake amplifier design type mainly due to profit margin which I think would be much greater than A/B and tube. I'm not saying the other design styles would go away, just that D would be the most common style. 

Clearly my prediction is not panning out, at least in the mid and high-end audio world and I'm wondering why? It seems companies such as Bryston, Luxman, McIntosh, Hegel and so many others are sticking by A/B. I'm no "golden ears" guy, but is the perceived sound issue(weather real or imaginary) still holding D back? Maybe my assumption of profit margin is not correct? Maybe the amplifier manufacturers are experimenting with D, but keeping tight lipped until release? Perhaps brand loyalists don't want change similar to what happened with "new coke". What else am I missing?

 

61falcon
mofojo
2,314 posts
 

Best class D I have heard is Lyngdorf. Not saying much as I haven’t heard a lot of class D but 5 or 6 but no “high end” class d. The Lyngdorf sounds the best out of the bunch I’ve heard without room correction, but with room correction it makes a world of difference, much more so than any small amplifier differences IMHO. Guess where I’m going is I don’t think class D is the future but dsp whether the final output to the speakers is class D, A, AB, H or what have you. 

chenry's avatar
chenry
261 posts
 

"Digital" amplification will eventually dominate both mass market and hi-fi, not that there won't still be products available with traditional topologies. In many respects, this has already happened in the "lifestyle" market at every level, from inexpensive wi-fi active speakers to high-end home hi-fi systems to professional gear. Bang and Olufsen, Devialet, Linn, Peachtree, Bluesound, Technics, Sonos, Genelec, Dutch & Dutch, Avantgarde Acoustics and many other companies are already there. With better performance, the high-efficiency (read: low energy cost) of the digital topologies have a compelling feature set. For those who want tube sound, preamps are already available that deliver that aesthetic that pair well with digital and GaN amps.

erik_squires
16,701 posts
 

Class D is not digital, per se. Some manufacturers push the envelope though.

Class D is switching, but there’s no analog to digital/digital to analog process involved. It’s all done with feedback. :)

My guess however is that if we include all speaker amplifiers including those used in telephones and TVs and cars and portable Bluetooth speakers and your various talking devices out there that Class D accounts for more than 99% of all amplifiers made today. We in this forum are probably less than 0.1% of the remaining 1%.

snapsc
687 posts
 

Back to the point of reviews needing comparisons...it's not for the reviewer to say that product A sounds better than product B...because after all, it is just his opinion. But when a review goes into some detail comparing and contrasting what they heard; it gives the reader some information with which to triangulate.

You may not like Herb Reichert...but he always gives a bunch of comparisons...and if you can identify with any of them...then you can at least make some inference about how the product "might" sound in your system.  And as we all know, that same product in our system, with our gear and our room may or may not impress.

It appears that the latest generation of class d amps...especially the GAN amps and especially a handful of the better ones are not longer being criticized as sounding thin or bright...but instead are being praised for sounding like/better than some of the highly regarded class a and class a/b amps.

erik_squires
16,701 posts
 

are not longer being criticized as sounding thin or bright...but instead are being praised for sounding like/better than some of the highly regarded class a and class a/b amps.

ICEpower convincingly solved this problem decades ago.  There are some megabuck Class A amps I won't listen to but plenty of ICEpower amps that I will.

Perhaps the GaN amps sound even better, but the truth is we've been blessed with excellent Class D amps for a while. The best comparison I have to triangulate is that I could not tell my Class D from my Parasound so I sold the Parasound.

Then I switched to Luxman which was even better. :) 

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