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Class A amps or Class D??: Which sounds better??

Amplifier performance and synergy depends on the other components, and cables in a system. I have read alot about the advantages of Class A.amps Though an older amp design, do class A amps necessarily sound better than Class D digital amps like Nu-Force, Bel Canto, and Wyred4Sound?? These class D amps supposedly run more efficiently, with less heat and noise and are smaller in size.

I have a friend who has a Musical Fidelity A3CR power amp and a Bel canto pre-amp, and a pair of Spendor floorstanders. The MF amp is at least 10 years old, and no longer made. I have listened to the amp in his system, and it does sound very good. Most noteably is its across the board smoothness. However, I think its performance is system dependent, and might be a liability in other systems. Would like to hear comments and opinions about these two amp "designs", and if one sounds better than the other, OR JUST DIFFERENT.

BTW, I am not sure that owning a 10 year old amp like the MF A3CR is a good idea, despite its class A rating, and a few positive consumer reviews I have seen. Thank you
sunnyjim
mihaitaa
111 posts
 
I am one who replaced a MF A3CR for a W4S ST-500 and am very happy with the result.
Not a bad word to say about the MF, a very nice piece of gear, but W4S is, in my experience, in a different (superior) class altogether.
Most notably is that when I made the change the rest of the system stayed the same, thus I was able to truly compare the difference made by the power amp upgrade alone.
MF was smooth and warm, whereas W4S is more detailed and neutral, not to mention more powerful and authoritative. The smoothness is there as well. The speakers do what it wants, not the other way around. And there's much more detail to be heard.
You may have a different opinion, but in my case it was a clear and noticeable upgrade, NOT a lateral move.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Class A has been preferred over all other classes by the the majority of listeners over a very long run and seems likely to be preferred in the fututre.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
It really doesn't make much sense to discuss amplifiers apart from the speakers with which they will be paired. Different speakers have different amplification needs, and may have been designed with certain types of amplifiers in mind, as well as being voiced with specific types of amplifiers. Some speakers will need huge wattage (not easy or cheap for Class A), and others will not. Some speakers will benefit from a very high damping factor (a strength of a Class D amp usually), but others may feel overdamped with high damping factor amps.

And I will also point you to Atma-Sphere's paper on the Power vs. Voltage Paradigms:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php
jult52
155 posts
 
Many audiophiles grew up listening to Class A/B amplification so the type of changes to live instrument sound it produces is judged preferable to the type of changes the newer Class D amps produce. Based on the age demographics of the audiophile community alone, there is going to be an aesthetic bias towards established technologies, which shows up in board discussions all the time.

It's a type of aesthetic "lock-in."
csontos
1,311 posts
 
If you're having to accommodate your speakers you're limiting the potential of your system imo. I love the comment "the speakers do what it wants, not the other way around". They are after all, the weakest link. The amp on the other hand is the heart of the system. Worst thing you can do is punish it.
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