Class D Amp For 'Stats?


For a number of reasons, I am considering the purchase of a Class D amp (or amps) to drive my Sound Lab A-1s. Most uses of such amps detailed here and elsewhere seem to have been with 'conventional' speakers, which obviously present very different impedance loads than a full range electrostatic (approximately 40 ohms in the bass, dropping to 2 ohms at the highest frequencies). I would be most interested to hear of members' experiences.
curriemt11
Try the Channel Islands D-200s which use UcD modules. These modules take feedback at the speaker terminals and are said to be load independent which would mate particularly well with speakers having large impedance swings. Said to be the best sounding of the class D lot.

Review here:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue22/cia_d200.htm
"Switching amplifiers have an output filter and, this filter will interact to some degree with the load impedance."

I have said this many times before, and I am glad that someone finally concurs.

'Stats are not a purely capacitive load, although they do have a great deal of capacitive reactance. Most of the new Class D amps will handle the capacitance, but the low value of the absolute impedance may present a problem. For reasons stated above.

Anyone who thinks that "all" Class D amps are mechanical have not heard any of the new genre. Period.
Art, I imagine you forgot my speakers have an impedance of eight tenths of an ohm. One H2O owning fellow I know is trying out his on new ultra light ribbons at .4 ohms, and likes very much what he is hearing.
The NuForce Reference 9 amps sound extremely natural and musical with conventional speakers and have no problem driving loads well under 1 ohm. That said, I believe the NuForce and probably a lot of the other amps (even analog amps) sound somewhat different when hooked up to a large capacitive load. I believe that Jason at NuForce has had some experience using NuForce amps to drive SoundLabs speakers. So you might want to contact him to see how that experiment turned out.
Here I go speculating again (it's a bad habit you know), but I blieve that if you have an Atmasphere or CAT, and any of the switching amps (as good as they are, and they are quite good) for 3 weeks of audition on your Sound Labs you will find yourself willing to put up with the heat, the warm up, the hassel, the expense, the pain, etc., due to the more immediate and palpable soundfield that will emanate from you panels. Call it body, richness, bloom or whatever but, the excitment and "you are there" experience is arresting.

Here is something to consider; most, if not all, switching amplifiers being mentioned in this thread are available from the vendor for audition with a full money back guarantee. It's a sign of confidence in their products and, a credit to the manufacturers offering this policy. You have one of the best speakers on the market. Go to the trouble of finding the one that makes hay in your system. You will ultimately be far happier. Every one wants to be on easy street and live the simple life but, the life of an audiophile was never meant to be easy.