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Class A, A/B vs Class D amp Soundstage

Good evening. 
i just upgraded my Cambridge 850R Class A/B to Cambridge EVO 150 Class D with integrated streamer. I use B&W Diamond II with good cables and interconnects. So, there isn’t really a weak link in my system to be uncovered or exposed when going to a. Class D amp. 
There actually is nothing I changed other than the amps

I lost all front to back soundstage. I lost 50% of my right to left soundstage (speaker position has not changed at all and is 6 ft from the back wall. 
I stream hi-res from Qobuz.  The mid-range sounds a tad bit muffled. The base drivers distort and lower top power than my other amp which remained tight in the base even at ear hurting volume. 
 

The only and I mean only thing I did was change amps. So, I am wondering, does going from a class a/b to a class d amp cause a significant decrease in soundstage?  So far, whatever it is, I don’t like it at all, not one kilo-bit

128x128geworthomd

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,766 posts
 

Of course, nowhere in this discussion is the general thoughts about the speaker impedance, and that this is a tiny integrated amplifier that might just be mismatched to the speakers, or that this is otherwise an entirely new device vs. the original.

We’ve simply thrown out all Class D because one very small integrated amp didn’t cut it.  Never mind that in all classes of amps, different amps have different output impedance curves so amp X may perform well with a pair of amps but amp y may not.

Before you throw out an entire class of amplifier altogether you need better control of the testing, and to use multiple examples of Class D.

Otherwise, if it was me, I’d say all Class A was crap because I heard one brand of Class A amps and it hurt my ears.

erik_squires
15,766 posts
 

I'm glad the OP was at least specific in his Classe D amp.  Often we have something like "I switched to Class D and it was not as good..." with no mention of the actual amps used.

Even so, this is not a good test.  You should test against say, another integrated with built in streamer.   Also, check out the NAD hybrid Class D amps and let me know what you think.

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