Discussion of Class D Amps Application & Experiences
Front what I see the WFS Class D amps use older stock Icepower modules and just stick a fet front end on it. Very old school. Average, at best. Try Merrill ($16K+), AGD ($7.5K+), Megachino Cherry ($6.2K+), and EVS modded Purifi/Ncore 1200 ($2.4K-$4K).....these amps will show you what Class D can do now. Yes, I remember the audio mag review on those Levinson amps.....he did not like it much at all. |
Here is another opinion.....someone who listened to something.....not just a belief.....but a BE LIVE. Please listen yourself to the latest of TODAY's class D and see/hear for yourself. Check out this link where the guy says the Evaluator board amp from Purifi equals or beats the $40K mono blocks from Constellation: https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/1420-purifi-audios-pint-sized-powerhouses What I am doing is way, way beyond this simple stock Evaluator board amp: http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Purifi_amp_mods.html |
The EP3.4 speakers are rated at 96.5db.....so let’s say that at your listening position it is 87.5db.....then 100 watts will give you 107.5db peaks. Do you listen louder than that?!? I hope not! So, do you really need 600 watts? Maybe you just need a big power supply so your 100 watts you are maybe listening to are up to par (bigger power supplies will usually sound better). This is what a 1200 watt amp module will provide. I am making a mono version of my modded Purifi amps that use a 3000 watt power supply for each channel.....way bigger than what is in the ICEpower IceEdge module. I can also mod the Ncore NC1200 modules the same way (using the 3000 watt supplies)....they are 400 watts into 8 and 1200 into 2 (for those that have current hungry speakers). The NC1200 and the IceEdge 1200AS have the same current rating (38 amps). However, I doubt you need that much power.....you just need control...which is what a big power supply will give you. The IceEdge module is completely different from the Purifi/NC1200 modules. There might be lots of things that can make the Purifi/NC1200 sonically better.....However, 3 things really stick out as advantages: 1. The input stage on the IceEdge is a built in integrated circuit. On the P/NC modules you can use any discrete input stage you want and run it off your own discrete super duper regulators. 2. The power supplies on the IceEdge are completely built in....so you cannot make them bigger or tweak them very well. The P/NC modules let you put giant 3000 watt supplies, etc. on them. 3. Now this is serious!!!!: You cannot change the ferrite output coil on the IceEdge module to an air core coil (I know, I fried one module trying). However, the P/NC modules can take an air core coil. You would never use an ferrite core coil in a speaker crossover in the mids and highs.....because it is known they wreck the sound). So, why have all the class D amps (until now) used a ferrite inductor? Well, there are some practical reasons, but no sonic reasons. I want sonics...and so do you. A great sounding (they all sound different....must tweak!) air core coil reveals way more information....the sound is way more holographic, pure and fast. The sound of an amp is only as good as its weakest part. The output filter coil on a class D amp is the last part on the output before the signal goes out. Do you want your amp filtered with a ferrite core coil? If you do then buy all the other class D amps. Mine are not filtered (well, not as much.....there is no perfect coil). Every moment is new and miraculous. There is no final amp....or whatever. Whatever someone did yesterday....will be be surpassed in some today. We don’t need much imagination to realize that.....it is fact. |
Some people have direct experience and others just have opinions. It is universal (to those that have listened and tested on their own system) that larger power supplies with lower impedance sound better.....even when using less than one watt. Yes, there is tons of feedback around the coil.....so what. It sounds better with an air core coil. This I know because I listened to it. All theories are just that......opinions based on non experience. Only those that actually listen to what they talk about have any truth. Truth is experience.....not a bunch of made up stuff. Who are the "others"?....There are lots of "others" who trust their ears and not someone’s opinion that is based on non experience. There will be feedback soon about how the amp sounds and also there will be amps on tour so people can hear them in their own home and judge for themselves. A quote by djones51: "For example Take a stranded copper cable of 0awg and one of 12awg running 10 feet connected to any amp with a DF >300 and a nominal 8 Ohm speaker and there is no difference in sound. " So, he thinks all cables sound the same? Every single piece of wire sounds different from any other brand.....even using the same construction.........Every piece of wire has directionality.....this I have heard. Every type of insulation has a sound. Damping a cable effects the sound. Whether it is stranded or solid core....the purity of the wire....whether it is cryoed or not.....everything changes the sound....AND....none of the above can be measured.......but you can hear it......if your mind is open. Every coil I listened to on the output of the Purifi amp sounded different.....in serious...ways. Just like the type and gauge and purity of the wire in the coil....just like everything in audio. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING I or anyone says.....believe only your experience......and in audio.....that means what YOU hear in your system. |
It is all about trusting yourself. Back in the late 70s my friend knew the owner of Sumiko (who imported Supex cartridges, among other things)....so he borrowed 10 brand new Supex cartridges and we mounted each on on a universal head shell and put a number on each one with masking tape. We spent all day listening over and over again to each one.....and all three of us in the room agreed on which ones sounded best. A couple were not very good at all.....most were in the middle and three were at the top......and one was clearly the best. The frequency readout sheets that came with each cartridge showed practically the same response on each one......which had no correlation with the sound they gave. Once you do these kinds of listening tests with others in the room (all of whom are open minded) then you really start to trust what you hear. I have been mind blown several times over the years.....I would think this "MU Metal" cable cannot sound good.....no way.....then it does sound good.....of course, there are way better cables now than those Lindsay-Geyer cables...... I sure hope that today’s cartridges are less variable than those made back then....BTW, we did the same test with 5 Fidelity Research cartridges and they all sounded different, as well. |
The VTV Purifi based stereo amps start at $979......$1335 with Sparko labs Pro discrete op amps....that price includes delivery, 2 year warrantee and 30 day money back. Unbeatable value. These are the amps that I will mostly be modding....for that very reason. Also, they have mono blocks using 3000 watt power supplies (my idea) that they sell for $2228 a pair including the Sparko labs op amps.......way, way better value than any other company......and if you want to take them to the moon....well, I am here for that. Yes, I can mod the Apollon and Nord amps as well....but why buy those when the VTV is less money and you can get a bigger power supply for less. https://vtvamplifier.com/product/monoblock-high-power-version-vtv-amplifier-with-purifi-1et400a-module-with-input-buffer-options/ |
