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Oh how I wish Class D amps ...

I sure wish manufacturers and designers would move forward as quickly as is possible on improving the current status of Class D amps ... I have heard them all, some in my own system, and they have SO mcu promise !!! Unfortunately they just do not have it down yet. They still sound dry, unmusical, and strange in the treble ... kind of chalky and rolled off, and definitely lacking air.
I long for the day I can get rid of my hundred pound Class AB monster amp, for a nice small cool running amp that sounds just as good. I am worried though that designers and manufacturers have accepted the " It sounds good enough" opinion, and that the B&O Ice power may be a long time before it is "fixed"... sigh.
Just my rant ...
timtim
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 
I'll add that my OHM F5s are about as power hungry as they come. I bought the Bel Canto ref1000ms as a low or no compromise solution for reasonable cost. I like to play music that should be loud, loud. The BC has fit the bill perfectly. They are the first amps I have tried (of 3) that have never run out of steam no matter what I do. THe music just continues to expand and inflate as I increase the volume to whatever high level might be needed. No signs of stress or distortion and one often does not even realize how loud things are until you try to hear somebody near you talk.

I cannot find any fault. Some might prefer a more lively top end I suspect, but the top end is all there quite nicely. That's about it.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 
"Continuos power rating doesn't make much sense anyway since average music power delivered is only few percent of the peak."

I think that is the essence of how a switching amp is able to achieve the performance levels it does in such a small and energy efficient package.

Regardless of design, in the end, its all in the execution. How well does a product do its thing. The better Class D amps these days would seem to indicate that the answer is "really good", even if not to everyone's particular taste.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
"No signs of stress or distortion"

- that might be due to line and load regulated power supply in your REF1000. 99% of the other amps have completely unregulated supplies - that is why class AB amps have monstrous size toroidal transformers and a lot of capacitors (to minimize voltage drops).
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 
"No signs of stress or distortion"

- that might be due to line and load regulated power supply in your REF1000."

I'm thinking that is a part of it. At least I'm hoping so because I know that is the main reason I opted to pay a hefty premium for the BC ref1000ms rather than go with other similar designs for a lot less.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Mapman - second generation of REF1000 not only have huge bank of additional capacitors but also converts huge narrow spikes of current to more of resistive load. Was it worth extra price? I'm sure it was. Any small improvement at this point costs a lot and is worth any money if you know that it works in your system. I might upgrade to this amp in future. I understand that "m" stands for mk II (new generation) but am not sure about "s" suffix?
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