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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
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,393 posts
 
That aspect of design alone does not determine the sound. So I think it is hard to generalize.

I have heard very good Class A, A/B and D.

I replaced a MF A3CR with my current Bel Canto Ref1000ms and much prefer the BCs. In some systems, the A3CR might be preferred. It all depends on overall synergies and balance.

Biggest difference between A3Cr and BC Class Ds in my case is A3CR is a touch hotter through the upper midrange perhaps and much lower power for my power hungry speakers, though they sounded fine.

There was a big difference in the bass with BCs being much more articulate and dimensional which I would attribute at least partially to very high damping factor compared to A3CR.
wolf_garcia
6,723 posts
 
The new Rogue Medusa hybrid thing sounds pretty damn good...class D plus a tube or two in there.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,048 posts
 
Jult52 and Csontos both make excellent and insightful observations.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,393 posts
 
I would like to hear the new Rogue hybrid.
sunnyjim OP
927 posts
 
Thanks to all who responded so far.

To Wolf Garica, the Rogue Medusa (200RMS) is $3995; the Hydra is $2995....and as Sinbad's cabin boy says in the mythical tale:...."beyond the beyond".

What about NuForce class D; there is a model 8.5V3 stereo amp which is "supposed" to be a scaled down version of 9V3 monoblocks. Or, do all these class D amps sound the same??.

Also, there is an Odyssey Khartago SE Extreme (with Kismet upgrades) for sale on AG (Kismet upgrades are not indicated or explained on the Odyssey website) which makes me a bit skidish about the offering. The Khartago operates as a class A/AB amp, if I'm correct
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