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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

geworthomd

Showing 1 response by lanx0003

lanx0003
1,065 posts
 

Op, it is possible that the damping factor on the new Hypex Ncore-based class D amp is too high, resulting in extremely tight bass control and an overall strong speaker grip.

The Evo 150 does not report either its output impedance or damping factor, but a typical Hypex Ncore-based amp has an output impedance of approximately 0.0013 ohms. Additionally, the Bowers & Wilkins 803 has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. This would result in a damping factor of 8 / 0.0013 > 6,000, which could contribute to a thinner-sounding presentation in a solid-state setup.

I recalled some Hegel amp has similar issue due to high DF until they specifically address it in H190 (if my memory serves me well).

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