2. amps-preamps
  3. 1159833568

A great article on Class D/switching amps

The latest edition of The Absolute Sound has, in my opinion, the best overall perspective and evaluation of the eight most regarded class D switching amps on the market today.

The article contains an explanation of the technology, an interview with a couple of the most important designers, the individual reviews and finally a round table discussion regarding these amps.

I believe any of you GON members who might be considering auditioning a class D switching amp would want to review this piece regarding their different sonic signatures.

I had the pleasure of listening to the Kharma MP150 which the panel picked as being on top of the "heap" compared to Audio Research 300.2,Channel Island Audio D-200, Nuforce Reference 9 Special Edition, Red Dragon Audio Leviathan Signature, Jeff Roland Design Group 201, Cary Audio Design A 306,and finally the Spectron Musician III.

Each amp had at least two different reviewers with different systems evaluate them and then compare their experiences. This was a well done piece and if you read it I believe you find it both educational and helpful to understand what these amps are all about.
teajay
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Arthur, I applaud you for getting your PhD. I am puzzled by your proclamation. Just what genre of amp do you prefer over class D? I have listened to all tube gear, and delved into it myself. I have heard a great deal of solid state amps, and have owned some of the finest. There is no doubt in my mind, nor my listener's minds that class D has got to be the cat's meow. The designer of my amps, Henry Ho, has told me he can make the ICE module sound anyway he wants. He is a senior electronics engineer, with a passion for audio.
aball
2,016 posts
 
Class A or Class B.
dazzdax
599 posts
 
Hi Vince (Muralman) and other fellow Audiogoners, there is still this dichotomy between the class-D followers and class-D opponents. Personally, I don't get it. Some people say class-D is in it's infancy (that's true), class-D is bad because..., bla, bla. But when one listens, class-D is not bad at all. It is quite good. I think it is even very good (sonically)! We are audiophiles. Most of us know a lot of gear. We regard live sound as absolute reference. But why do our hearings differ so much with regard to class-D amplification? Do you have an explanation Vince?
Post removed 
teajay OP
1,690 posts
 
Vince, without being disrespectful or mean spirited towards you or Mr. Ho, if he can make his D amps sound exactly like my Pass Labs XA-100's or a dartZel I will order a pair right now.

This sounds like a claim made almost twenty years ago by Bob Carver, that he could build an inexpensive amp to sound like any amp in the world, regardless of price. Notice, no one considers his amps "classics" in any way today.

When I started this thread I did mention that I had listened to the Kharma D amp and thought it was quite good, but the pair does cost around $6000.00. So many of these D amps offer alot of performance for the money, but the reality is sometimes you do get what you pay for, which means that these amps sonicly are not at a reference level yet compared with linear a/b reference amps.
More to discover