@pennfootball71 Have you heard any of the Aavik amplifiers? Word on the street is they are true A/B killers. Aavik is one of the brands within Denmark Audio Group, Borressen Speakers and Ansuz cables being the other two.
Could Class D really be that good?
I've heard statements praising modern class D amplifiers all the time but was sort of hesitant to try. Lately, one particular model caught my eye, the Fosi V3, which costs sub $100 but is praised for having refined sound like class A/B. To fulfill my curiosity, I quickly ordered one and tried it with my Burchardt S400II and Wharfedale Linton speakers. Basically, this is a neutral sounding amp but, to my surprise, the sound is clean, open, airy, with full mids, wide soundstage, good imaging/separation, with nearly null traces of the edginess, dryness, or lean sound that traditional class D amplifiers have. The background is just as quiet as my current systems. The core is the TPA 3255 chip from TI and comes with a 32v, 5A power block, which is supposed to deliver approximately 65 watts per channel (into 8 ohms). It drives the S400II/Linton without any hesitation, as well as my 130-watt-per-channel high-current Parasound A23. Very impressive.
Measurement is not everything. However, according to the lab test results, when operated under 10-60 watts, the distortion level (THD) is below 0.003%, better than a lot of high-end (price) gears. I am going to build around it for my fourth system with upgraded op-amp and LPS. I believe it will outperform my current mid-end (price) amplifiers.
I know, I know, quite a few Audiogoners' systems are above $100k, and mentioning this kind of little giant that costs a fraction could be rather embarrassing. But I thought this is just like gold digging with a lot of surprises and fun. Don't you think?
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I have heard Active Driven OB's with a configuration for Amplification with similarities to the method suggested by yourself. The OB's although with 4 Drivers and a Amp for each Driver with Class D for the Lower Frequencies, has been the best Speaker Array heard in a unusual venue. I would strongly suspect if heard in the home set up, they may be the best Speakers experienced over multiple years. I made it known recently, that very recently, a friend who is a EE, has bought into a DHT Pre Amp Design, and in using this with a Neurochrome Amp, it has blown them away with what is on offer. I am yet to receive an Demo', but some of the Local HiFi Group have, and they are thoroughly impressed with the experience had. I myself am still remaining thoroughly impressed with the Pass Korg B1 design for a DHT Pre Amp, especially after it has a few well known circuit mod's added. |
I could not agree more, @pindac. Such a ’bybrid’ amplification could be even better on a active crossover system. A good (mini)DSP could easily lead us there, which will be more convenient than the passive crossover system. A lot of class A / tube amp or these class D module amp do not even have ’pre-out’ or ’line-out’ any more for bi-amping. |
@audiophil88 I have heard the Aavik D it is good on Borreson but if you look on the Aavik website their flagship amps are pure class A. Why do you think that is? |
@lanx0003 The THD really doesn't tell you how musical an amp might be. A better indication is distortion vs frequency. If it rises at too low a frequency, higher ordered harmonics might be unmasked and so contribute to brightness and harshness. Ideally (and a number of class D amps can do this) distortion vs frequency should be a ruler flat line across the audio band. Zero feedback tube amps (like most SETs) have always been able to do this. But a good class D can do it better, with lower distortion (which obscures detail). Once DvsF is sorted, the next hurdle is the actual distortion spectra. Ideally a 2nd harmonic should be the most powerful, followed by the 3rd with succeeding harmonics quite low in comparison. In this way the lower orders can mask the presence of the higher orders, allowing the amp to be as smooth as possible. Again, some class D circuits are very good at this, challenging SETs and other tube amps on their own turf. |
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