I have a Rowland Continuum 500 Class D amp that runs circles around my two Plinius integrateds, one a model 9200 and the other a Hautonga. The Plinius Hautonga is good and I believe a dark horse at its price range, but the Rowland Class D is simply better driving Dynaudio C1 speakers. I recently had to send the Rowland for repair as both channels sounded wrong, one channel was slightly distorted while the other channel sounded muted. As it turned out both Icepower modules were malfunctioning and had to be replaced at a cost over $1,000. The Rowland amp was rarely used over its 10+ years of ownership as I was mostly overseas working so I only got to use it a few times every year whenever I was home. Yet both modules failed. The repair tech told me the inside of the amp was pristine and looked brand new, and everything else was on spec. This makes me think the Class D modules may not be built to the same very high standard as the rest of the amp. Not generalizing just narrating my experience. While I love the Rowland sonics next time I buy an amp it is probably not going to be Class D.
Class A or Class D solid-state amplifiers (modern designs)
Hey guys.
Class A is supposedly superior. Something to do with a conduction angle of 360 degrees...so the entire signal gets processed in one go without crossover distortion.
But in terms of sound quality (subjective enjoyment) is there a benefit to Class A? Can class D provide the same level of enjoyment?
The dealer I’m talking to says that really nice Class A amplifiers are designed for "reference quality" meaning completely true to the real life performance.
Let’s compare and contrast. Which one is technically better?
In other words, could you have equal technical performance and quality in a Class D amp?
- Jack.