class d amps tend to have high and sudden failure rates. meaning when they go, they go all of a sudden, and the ’when’ part is like a clock. They all (of a given model) tend to go/pop/fail around the same age of overall time/hours of use and thermal accumulation. They will seem to perform perfect until that moment comes.
So we get a lot of that ’my class d amps are perfect and don’t fail, not the slightest sign of a problem’.
Then... they pop... all of a sudden. And most tend to be tricky fixes.
so it’s a great deal for the companies who add class d products into their amplifier portfolio. No repair, just earth/planet disposal abuse, tied to their selling you something new, like clockwork. All while looking like the good, or at least innocent guys, with their earth saving efficient class d amplifiers. Which would be true if they weren’t all scrapped due to some simple design flaws that could likely be fixed for about $5 spent at cost. It’s all about the money, as people shop by price..and..they just don’t know or understand the complexities of the technology.
I’ve personally seen somewhere near 8 of those B&W asw amps popped and one of them got fixed. and it’s not like B&W wants them to fail, either.
It just that some of the components, the internal parts... of class d designs -are stressed to the limit. This is how they operate, it is their very nature. Think of 1000lb rated ropes being used constantly near or at their 1000lb limit. The failure rate will naturally be high. Same for class d plate amps. Works perfectly until it doesn’t.
As for the rest...a few were converted with a new plate amp, about half were scrapped. Parts express is the place to shop for a new plate amp for them. In one case, I supplied a class a/b mirage brand sub plate amp for the person to use instead. They thought the sub sounded just as good afterward.
Point is, the Mirage brand Canadian made old school class a/b sub plate amp was almost 20 years old and is still performing perfectly. I expect somewhere near ZERO (regularly used) class-D plate amps to survive that long.
So we get a lot of that ’my class d amps are perfect and don’t fail, not the slightest sign of a problem’.
Then... they pop... all of a sudden. And most tend to be tricky fixes.
so it’s a great deal for the companies who add class d products into their amplifier portfolio. No repair, just earth/planet disposal abuse, tied to their selling you something new, like clockwork. All while looking like the good, or at least innocent guys, with their earth saving efficient class d amplifiers. Which would be true if they weren’t all scrapped due to some simple design flaws that could likely be fixed for about $5 spent at cost. It’s all about the money, as people shop by price..and..they just don’t know or understand the complexities of the technology.
I’ve personally seen somewhere near 8 of those B&W asw amps popped and one of them got fixed. and it’s not like B&W wants them to fail, either.
It just that some of the components, the internal parts... of class d designs -are stressed to the limit. This is how they operate, it is their very nature. Think of 1000lb rated ropes being used constantly near or at their 1000lb limit. The failure rate will naturally be high. Same for class d plate amps. Works perfectly until it doesn’t.
As for the rest...a few were converted with a new plate amp, about half were scrapped. Parts express is the place to shop for a new plate amp for them. In one case, I supplied a class a/b mirage brand sub plate amp for the person to use instead. They thought the sub sounded just as good afterward.
Point is, the Mirage brand Canadian made old school class a/b sub plate amp was almost 20 years old and is still performing perfectly. I expect somewhere near ZERO (regularly used) class-D plate amps to survive that long.