Spectron Musician III MK.2 or Audio Research DS450

The core problem with many Class D amps on the market such as Bel Canto, Nuforce, Red Dragon, Hypex, CIA, Wyred4Sound
and other light weight, cool running switching designs is that they are wall dependent, needing to rely on dedicated 15 or 20 amp a.c. lines since they lack large power supplies from a large bank of capacitors found in A and A/B
amps which sound better for that reason. This was the problem with the Carver Magnetic Field Amplifier back in the 80's, which was also wall dependent, which was nothing more than a glorified modified block transformer. Rowland and Levinson use switching devices but those amps run very hot. As far as a true Class D design, Spectron, Digital Amplifier Company and their Cherry amps and Audio Research, currently have the largest power supplies on the market for class D amps. But the Audio Reseach DS450M is by far the current KING of all class D amps worldwide. Why? It is the first class D amp that is a complete analog design, taking a true A/B amp with an integrated switching device. Their switching device is a in-house design they have a patent on. The DS450M has the largest power supply in the world out of any class D amp, much larger than Spectron or DAC'S Cherry amps. The main power supply of the DS450M has 260,000 microfarads of power from the main capacitor banks, and if you included the power supply from the secondary caps and the transformer, runs over 300,000 microfarads. If you want the best musical performance from a class D amp as the DS450M, don't waste your time on the 12 to 18 pound class D amps that will never provide the large current reserves since they lack large capacitor banks which is critically necessary to get the best performance from a full range speaker. The DS450M will drive 1 ohm loads without breaking a sweat and runs cool.

"The core problem with many Class D amps on the market such as Bel Canto, Nuforce, Red Dragon, Hypex, CIA, Wyred4Sound
and other light weight, cool running switching designs is that they are wall dependent, needing to rely on dedicated 15 or 20 amp a.c. lines since they lack large power supplies from a large bank of capacitors found in A and A/B"

m or mkII versions of Bel Cantos have a custom power board as an enhancement over stock IcePower modules.

Not sure if Class Ds would benefit from similar power supply design as Class A/B. Large banks of caps there would certainly help defeat the small package aspect.

Maybe Kijanki or others with more expertise in Class D amp design could clarify?

I do know that my Bel Canto ref1000m's draw a lot of power when turned on initially for a few secs. If I turn both on within a few seconds of each, my house in-wall circuit breaker will blow. 2-3 secs in between and no problem. Also no problem at all once the music starts playing at any volume. Not the case with some Class A/B amps I have owned prior.

My guess is that the significantly higher efficiency of CLass D amps means smaller power supplies with fewer/less caps are more viable since less power must be drawn to deliver a particular output power level. More caps might add cost with little added value to results I suspect compared with less efficient amps.

I wonder if the naysayers of class D amps have given them sufficient break-in time. I have a Wyred integrated which I DID NOT like at first, then after connecting a tuner and putting over 300 hours on it, it really opened up. The cold, edgy sound was replaced by a involving, open soundstage. And yes, I believe it is on the warm side as well. I've owned tubes for years.

The Audio Research DS450M is the first of its kind, a true high powered A/B Amp with a
class D switching module that will forge a new path for the future of amplification. The amp idle's at 55 watts and is as equally efficient as any Class D amp on the market. What irritates the hell out of me is the very high prices for some class D amps, but not all, considering the modest amount of electronics under the hood of some of the 12 and 15 pound amps. The B&O ice amp that is in the Wyred4Sound SX-1000 and the Bel Canto REF1000M's has a wholesale cost of $400.00. The biggest rip off coming around the corner is the new Mola-Mola M1's coming out next year from the Hypex/Ncore company. Bruno Putzeys, the owner and designer, came over from the Netherlands early last week and brought his Mola-Mola's to GTT Audio in New Jersey to finalized the design. Bill Parish, the owner, informed me on Friday that Bruno has set the retail price at $15,000 a pair. Phew!! What a burn. Two dinky 18 pound switching amps for $15K a pair!! Don't think that price will fly with Audiophiles. The Audio Research DS450M's are a steal at $10K a pair and weighing 75 pounds a pair due to their massive power supply and large custom built block transformers.