BEst case scenario for the D-Sonics might be similar to what I observe with my mere 500w/ch rated BCs, ie it sucks the power from the line when you turn it on without issue then is powered up and ready to go with relative little strain on the external power line from there. |
BTW, in EE or signal processing,terminology as I understand it (as opposed to digital computing), my references to "bandwidth" above would probably be more accurately termed "dynamic headroom". |
My 500 w/ch BEl Canto ref1000m Class D amps are on a regular home circuit. The only time they trip the breaker is if I power them both up at the same time. That does it every time! They have never tripped the breaker while playing, and I go pretty loud sometimes. Prior Class A/B amps I've had would trip the breaker on occasion while playing loud.
The switching nature and resulting efficiency of Class D amps is the key I believe. They are much easier for a normal person to deal with than giant heavy Class A or Class a/b type amps. That's progress.... |
"Who the he*l would want or need that much power and for what purpose???"
Bi, with the right speakers that can use it, you'd be surprised! Especially for lifelike volumes and dynamics with large, lower efficiency, full range speakers in larger rooms.
500w/ch with my big OHM F5's in one of my larger rooms is a godsend! The amp is no longer a bottleneck in any way for my listening enjoyment. Even my small Dynaudio monitors in my small 12X12 office benefit. I will likely never go back to less, unless someday I jump ship to the high efficiency speaker/tube amp camp, which is not likely.
And with CLass D amplification, all that power and dynamic headroom comes in two little boxes about the size and weight of a Webster's home dictionary! Amazing! |
Just be sure to not touch the outputs of these monster output amps when they are doing their thing.... :^) |
Another way to look at it: think about the power/energy that goes INTO making music, be it acoustic, electronic, symphonic, big band, rock, rap, jazz, whatever. Then it becomes clear why one might want a lot of it similarly to play back a recording, especially for certain types of music. |
Mitch,
I for one would be interested to hear how they fare compared to your big Pass amps with those speakers.
Have you ever tried any other Class D amps with those?
thanks. |
I doubt power ratings for any switching amp is "sustained", but not sure exactly how to quantify it. Al could probably do it better or maybe agoner Kijanki if he is out there (both excellent EEs).
I have heard mixed reviews with Class D amps on very difficult load speakers like the Infinity's seem to be. The devil would be in the details I suppose. My OHMs are not easy, but I suspect not as difficult either. I might go out on a limb though and say that if the Carver amps can handle it, a good Class D design with a good power supply design (not stock Icepower for example) probably would do fairly well. Again, devil in the details.
I had a 360 w/ch Carver m4.0t amp for years before recent upgrades, two amps ago, running older, larger Maggies and my OHMs. Bass WAS wall shaking prodigious on the OHMs with proper recordings, well recorded organ music, etc. Bass with my Bel Canto Ref1000m is equally impressive, but night and day, way more clean, powerful, and nuanced, though I seldom get the wall shaking effects that the old Carver gear (amp and pre-amp) used to provide. I think it has more to do with the low end rolloff of my ARC sp16 tube pre-amp compared to the old Carver pre-amp than with the amps though. |
My recollection is D-sonic mainly packages stock Class D amps from other companies. Older D-sonic amps are stock Icepower....not as robust surely for such a demanding application. The newer D-Sonics use a different provider of stock Class D amps (is the name known or confirmed yet?) that appear to be a newer generation of Class D amps targeted for commercial applications mainly, outside of D-sonic that is packaging and marketing it for home use, that appear to be a beefier design than older stock Icepower. With their huge power ratings and seemingly decent stock power supply design and current delivery capability, they just might have a good chance of cutting it with even the most demanding speakers out there perhaps, like the Infinity's. I'm thinking it would be worth a try unless some hard reason not to were to come up. I'm definitley curious to see how it would work out. The one caveat I can think of is that commercial speakers that these newer Class D amps are used in tend to be more efficient and easy to drive designs, which is important for commercial applications. But they just might have enough guts to drive most anything in a typical home application. Very interesting! Class D is definitely a place where things are still happening and evolving these days! |
Kijanki delivers! Thank you sir!
I also recall adiogoner chadeffect driving large Apogees with great success using BEl Canto ref1000 or ref1000m. 1000m is better built for the job. That tells me that these amps are up to most any job. I know they are in my application with large OHM 5 series 3 and Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII, both of which are known to thrive (to different degrees somewhat perhaps given the size difference) on lots of power, current and bandwidth. I have yet to see tehm even come close to "breaking a sweat". They always run cool and seem to have the ultimate bandwidth for home audio.
That is a very good omen for Class D and Infinity. Better Icepower implementations like Kijanki's Rowlands or my BCs are probably a safe bet, though somewhat pricey as Class D goes. Wyred might be another at lower price point. D-Sonics are too new to know for sure I would say at this point but may have potential to push the CLass D value proposition even further.
GIven the inherent potential benefits for my application, I went for broke (with my budget) with the BC ref1000m amps and do not regret it. They still sound as darn near perfection as pretty much anything I have heard over the years. Rowland and Spectron were two others I considered when in "go for broke" mode. BTW, I strongly considered the large Pass amps as well but really had no desire in the end to go with something as big, heavy and power consuming as those, though I am certain they woudl have sounded fantastic, and I love the looks as well. |
Is there such a thing as an amp that does not do better above 2 ohm? Granted some will do way better than others in that case. If given a choice, its probably best to avoid speakers that could effectively measure 2 ohms at all. |
