The latest edition of The Absolute Sound has, in my opinion, the best overall perspective and evaluation of the eight most regarded class D switching amps on the market today.
The article contains an explanation of the technology, an interview with a couple of the most important designers, the individual reviews and finally a round table discussion regarding these amps.
I believe any of you GON members who might be considering auditioning a class D switching amp would want to review this piece regarding their different sonic signatures.
I had the pleasure of listening to the Kharma MP150 which the panel picked as being on top of the "heap" compared to Audio Research 300.2,Channel Island Audio D-200, Nuforce Reference 9 Special Edition, Red Dragon Audio Leviathan Signature, Jeff Roland Design Group 201, Cary Audio Design A 306,and finally the Spectron Musician III.
Each amp had at least two different reviewers with different systems evaluate them and then compare their experiences. This was a well done piece and if you read it I believe you find it both educational and helpful to understand what these amps are all about.
I've alternated between Class D and low powered tube amps for about 3 years now and I intervened with a Pass Aleph 30. The Rowland 201 was very good but the amp I use currently is the best that I have ever heard. It is the Red Wine Audio Signature 30. It puts forth 30 watts per channel of Tripath power and operates off battery power. You get no noise and a very stiff current. Somehow, the designer, Vinnie Rossi manages to make this amplifier mimic the sound and character of a very good single ended triode. And somehow it missed out on the TAS article. I don't read TAS so I wouldn't know if he advertises with them. Does he?
The overall tone was more negative toward these amps than I expected, but that owes mainly to the comments of WG and JV. JV inhabits an audio ivory tower and I think his perspective on these modestly priced products may be a bit compromised. As for WG, I don't know, I've never been able to fathom his perspective. The Kharma is his reference amp, but he dislikes the rest of them and was outright brutal about the Nuforce. I got the impression Robert Harley was scrambling to keep things from going too negative given that Class D is a pretty big movement (understatement) in the market they cover.
That said, I do commend them for the comprehensiveness of the article.
That helped to pin down some of my feelings about the article,it was all over the place,like you said above if there ever was a time to listen for oneself this is it.
Good, bad, or crooked, I love the audio press. If nothing else I've been turned onto many artist, via their record reviews, that I would of most certainly overlooked. For the most part they due their job of informing us to the best of their abilities and I mean that in the positive sense. The ability to give a product a negative review yet leave you feeling that the product may still hold promise in your system and side stepping the truly bogus products is as it should be.
TAS has awarded one of these class D amplifiers their Amplifier Of 2005. Then in this roundup/shootout they inform us that all but one has issues and that one was not the amp of 2005.
The true beauty of this class D article shows the reader exactly how ludicrous it is for the reader to get a clear picture of a products performance when no two writers are using the same equipment, regardless of their personal tastes? I believe most of these writers are very well experienced to preform this task, but when they rely on their sonic memory or refer to their notes of a past review it becomes obvious that the method is extremely flawed. Blah, blah, blah.
Class D has been around for some time but it's only been in the past few years that these designs have made stunning progress. I find class D to be one of the most exciting technologies in fidelity today. The investment is small, listen for yourself.
Yes, these were very good articles in The Absolute Sound. Although the reviewers have probably forgotten more than I will ever know about audio reproduction I concur with much of what they said, but if not disagree I would offer a slightly different prospective.
I believe all the reviews were of stand alone amplifiers. I currently own a Jeff Rowland Concerto class D integrated amplifier which has essentially the same amp section as the Rowland 201 Reviewed. Two things are for certain with this class D integrated in my system. 1. There is a slight loss of air in the high frequencies (read that as ambiance) and 2. It is very sensitive to associated equipment especially cables. With that said I think one of the reasons I have been so taken with this amplifier is the fact that it is an integrated. Much of the component and cable matching have already been done by the manufacturer. Synergy is high with an integrated and I think that's a bigger deal with associated component sensitive class D amps. I would be interested to see what the TAS panel would have said if the amps were mated with that manufacturer's pre or if integrateds were used or if less demanding speaker loads were used (currently using JM Lab Mini Utopias with the Rowland which is a pretty easy load).
XLR interconnect cables from CD player to integrated have also made a huge difference in the sound. Much bigger difference than I have ever had with both tubed and solid state gear. Bad combination was using Kimber Silver Streak even though it sounded great in previous systems, too bright and brittle with the Rowland. Great match is the Synergistic Research Luminescence which has greatly improved the high frequency air and smoothness. Great too because that ended up being one of the cheaper cables I tried. In my experience much of what I hear with this $4,100 Rowland integrated (used price) is superior to amp/preamp combinations of similar combined value.
I don't think class D will be the dominate amplifier design of the high end in the near future but I do think class D will be one of three choices. It will no long be just tubes vs solid state but tubes vs solid state (A, AB) vs class D switching. Each offers their own strengths and weaknesses.
An even better article in stereophile regarding a $159 digital stereo amp with volume control--integrated in other words and listed now in their recommended components. You can't go wrong
After reading this article and finding most of the reviewers critical of the treble/midrange performance of these amps, I take solace in the 1250 watt Class D plate amp in my Velodyne DD sub.
I know this might come as a surprise but there doesn`t seem to be any shortage of technical articles & opinion on switching (digital) amps. Whether they`re ready for prime time is the salient issue for everyone to determine for themselves.
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