I thought Class D utilized a switching power supply in order to supply only the amount of current required at any given instant, in contrast to Class A which always operates at max current flow and Class A/B which sets a minimum threshold for current with the capability of providing more when needed. Do I have this entirely wrong? I’ve never heard of a carrier signal being involved with Class D.
when you have the owner of Hypex, Bruno whatever-his-name, saying himself that class d are compromised for reasons he explains, id say that class d is best related to sub or bass only.
Medium-level (20-60w) Class A SS amplification paired with very easy to drive speakers (8-16 ohm, 92+dB) is what stirs my soul.
"Is Class ‘D’ amplification a serious contender?" Absolutely these days with the better devices! When did he say this? The nCore architecture easily outperforms most amplifiers these days. Here's his "whitepaper" from 2011 basically talking about the performance: nCore Technology Whitepaper While most "whitepapers" are of highly questionable quality from places like cable manufacturers, this one is impressive. Issues like high output impedance / low damping factor have been resolved for example. I'm happily using my Hypex NC252MP; definitely not just for subs: Archimago's Musings: An Inexpensive Hi-Fi Class-D Stereo Amp for the 2020's: Hypex nCore NC252MP (DIY Assembly) Measures very well: Archimago's Musings: MEASUREMENTS: Hypex nCore NC252MP Amplifier (+ Subjective opinions around objective testing, and CES2020) Remember that we can't paint all Class D amplifiers with the same brush. Very cheap Class D amps like this TI TPA3116 was even touted by some audiophiles but definitely is not hi-fi. Likewise, the old Tripath Class D sounded limited, unfortunately I never got a chance to put one on the test bench.
Basically what he stated in an interview is that his nCore amps sound good in spite of them being class D, not because they're class D. The challenge of making class D sound good is akin to trying to make a dump truck handle like a Porsche. THX AAA technology effectively makes Class D unnecessary.
hmmm, i thought i read him say that, but i cant seem to find where i read that. Ive had a couple of class d, not hypex though, and they were allright, definitely not bad but not the best either ive heard. Ive read enough guy being dissapointed in the Hypex to not want to pursue them, but many seem happy with theirs so ill take your word for it!
I was very skeptical of class D being as good as tube/class A but I saw a TAS review of an expensive (?$10K) amp reviewed as being as good. A memorial day sale had a good price on the marantz PM KI Ruby Integrated amp, and reading about it and the track record of Mr Ishiwata of marantz, it sounded very promising, so I bought it. Just arrived today.
I didn't see that post.....but I'm very familiar with the amp, and have sold a few of them. It's fairly new however, so not a ton of them out there yet for many to have heard them. Really nice sounding piece of gear. I keep one as a demo and have been quite impressed with it.
It seems we have a handful of folks here with a preconceived notion that Class D amps are, and always will be inferior. It's very likely they've never heard some/any of the offerings we've mentioned in this thread and are just replaying something they read online. Or if they have, they are rolling their negative bias into those amps without giving them a chance. Plain and simple.....there are quite a few current Class D amps/integrateds that are every bit as good (or some times better) then equally priced units of other designs. In my thoughts, it would be a bit silly to completely rule out any amp due to its design style without first giving that amp a listen. Look, I personally love most Class A and tube based units when it comes to my "style" of sound. But I could very happily live a long time with a pair of Bel Canto REF600s or a Rogue DragoN, and would not have spent a ton of money on either due to their somewhat modest price points.
Well I'm very happy with my Marantz Ruby Amp, it replaced a Naim Supernait 3 and I could not be happier, it has taken my Harbeth's to another level. The Marantz has a lovely warmth that I have not heard in class D amps before. BTW my last Class D amp was a Primare I22 and that was truly awful!
Some food for thought.... Since you are a McIntosh guy you should really consider the MA 252...best 3k I've ever spent on anything. It's a hybrid and this guy just fills my room with incredible sound and its effortless. I love the old school style as well.
You are ½ right actually regarding the switching supply but Class D uses a PWM carrier signal modulated by the audio signal with the carrier being filtered at the output. Here is a Good application note from EE Times on Class D.
I would be more than happy with the best sounding class D amps that I have heard- NAD M-series (yes, excellent sounding amplifiers without fault) , PS Audio Stellar, the Rogue audio "mythology" series- if choosing solid state amplifiers. They compete well and give and take with the best Class A and AB among categories that audio fans look for, some categories they lead, some they trail- and with any of the above there are speaker choices that give good synergy - or not. It's just that none of them (A, AB, D) give me the sound I prefer that a good tube based amplifier does.
from the article my read is that he is proud of the work he did - he wanted to amplify the challenging aspects- but that the results are still excellent.
This quote from the article sums up the audiophile experience as well as any I have ever heard. This morass of folk lore has slowed down real progress in high-end audio for over a generation now. When it comes to Class D, it bars access completely. You have to love great sound and great music but you have to be equally fanatic about facts. Reality makes logical sense. Anything that doesn’t make logical sense isn’t real.
As far as SQ goes, in my experience a tube pre and SS amp have the ability to provide the best of both worlds.
Not IME. Some of the nCore amps come close but there's still a slight artificial quality to their presentation. I don't know if there's any merit to it, but I read somewhere recently (probably Audio Science Review) that the distortion Class D amps suffer in the ultrasonic spectrum causes intermodulation distortion in the audio bandwidth. I wonder if that's the smoking gun responsible for the sort of digital-glare-like sound that I hear from most of these amps... And for all the accolades they receive for bass quality, I've yet to experience one capable of producing the lowest octave with any appreciable authority, even the $30K Devialets. Another pattern I've noticed is they tend to sound weaker than their specs suggest. Say you buy a class D amp specified to produce 500 WPC, chances are it will sound as powerful as the AB amp that produces only 200 WPC. Regardless, class D is the last topology I'd consider for speakers like Klipschorns which reveal any and every weakness in a chain. Especially since there now exist cucumber-cool class AB amps that come in small, lightweight packages, even some that use rather conventional technology.
Thanks for your insight, it sort of echoes the opinion that I have been gathering. The positive SQ reviews always seem to have a “ but.....” attached to them.
Totally with you on class D, but I've found A/AB solid state can be brilliant. Like one of the first posts said, there's a "coldness" or "hardness" that I've found with class D. I had this impression even before I really started to go down the audiophile rabbit hole and soak up forum/magazine opinions and whatnot. You mention PS Audio. I had the Sprout100 for a while (I thought it could replace my Audiolab 8000A integrated) and, although it's a nice little device, I wound up putting the Audiolab back in my office system and selling the Sprout. And as you say, PSA now has the Strata integrated. But what I'm even more curious about, are their M1200's. They are class D with a tube stage. I'd love to give those a listen, but they're about $6000, and I don't want two monoblocks in my system at this point. I'd love to see them do a version of the Strata integrated with tubes. (But I'm very happy with my Parasound HINT6 Class AB SS.)
