Class D Technology

"One of our audiogon friends uses class D amp (H20) with Apogee Scintilla in 1 ohm mode with great results."

georgelofi:

"Then I feel sorry for this person as he has never heard his Scintilla’s at their best. It may work, but at their best?? FAR FROM IT!"

Hi George,

My good friend Glen, a BIG tube fan, has the best sounding Apogee-based system I have heard (and that is more than a few). Had the Carver K-120 monos, then Kronzilla Mark II monos, and now living very happily with two H20 Class D stereo amps from Henry Ho running bi-amped into his Scintillas.

Proof is in the hearing and not found in blanket statements unfairly encompassing hundreds of products with one fell stroke. Glen’s Kronzillas are for sale if you are interested.

Best to you George,
Dave

It’s about sound George. Obviously from your many condescending posts, you consider yourself the foremost "guru". Try a little humility and you might learn something.

Best to you George,
Dave

georgelofi:

"The Apogee’s in 1ohm mode were never meant to be driven with tube amps, especially ones like you mentioned, they needed big s/s amps like Krells, Classe, Mark Levinson, yes and even the earlier big JR’s, ones that could pump current into most loads down to 1ohm."

Oh, you mean like my Classe’ Audio DR-25, dual bridged-mono DR-9s, or my Krell FPB-600c (6000w/ch@1 ohm with 143 amps of current according to JA’s bench test in Stereophile)?

I had no idea that those would work well with Apogees. Oh, wait, I used the DR-25 and Krell with my Apogees for years before trading for the equally-difficult-to-drive Thiel CS-5i’s.

Best check people’s Virtual System page before spouting off. Where’s yours?

Best to you George
Dave

READ my first post George. It was talking about MY FRIEND’S H2O Class D amps with his Scintillas in challenge to your statements trashing all Class D amps as inferior as if there was no difference between them.

I normally do not need to qualify my posts with details of my system. I felt it to be unavoidable in this case.

Why would I need opinions of "gurus" when I have actual real-life listening experiences regarding this exact subject?

Best to you George,
Dave

Well said, atmasphere. One of things that stands out, at least to me, about the H2O Class D amp is that it uses an extremely robust power supply comparable to the great SS/Tube amps.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/h2o2/1.html

http://iceh2oaudio.com/

What prominence does the heft of the power supply play in the sonic performance of Class D amps relative to SS or tube amps?

Best to you atmasphere,
Dave

My good buddy Glen (shibui). A fantastic friend, an all-around great guy, and an ardent and experienced audiophile/music lover with a superb-sounding system. What more could anyone ask?

Oh no, o!  Say it isn't so! What about the sonic influence of various dielectrics (smearing of the sound due to signal "absorption and release" time-misalignment), the winding geometry (reducing RF/EMI noise and phase shift), the use of active shielding (accomplishing the same as the first two to an even greater extent), and Graphene (improving conductivity), not to mention optimally matching capacitance and inductance to the input/output sweet spot of your equipment and speakers?

I don't know what cabling you are using, but I hope that some good ones "snuck up upon you when you weren't looking" for the sake of your excellent preamplifiers (and your ears). 

Best to you o,
Dave 

Hi o,

I know the early Belden cable, very good for XLR runs due to the inherent noise-cancellation characteristics of differentially balanced circuitry (not applicable for SE circuitry).  Once you get your room acoustics in order and you can really hear what your equipment/speakers are capable of doing, I predict a new interest in your quest: cabling and power.

Best to you o,
Dave 

Nice to see you here Henry.

Dave