Has anyone switched from Class AB/A to Class D? Was it better? Was it worse?


I heard a class D amp the other day (Lyngdorf) and it sounded really good. I liked the minimalism of it also. But, I need to own a amp for a couple of months to really know if I like it or not. I don't like room correction ether, so I just liked the sound without that. 

Curious, has anyone ever switched from a class AB or class A amp to a class D amp? If so, did you regret it? Was it a downgrade in sound? Or was it upgrade in sound? 

 

dman777

Showing 1 response by petaluman

There are a few differences:

1. I don't think we really know how long class D amps will last, how they will most likely fail, or whether they can be maintained in the same sense as a conventional amp.  They could last longer.

2. Class D amps use far more complex designs.  Many of the amplifier boards are built as modules and used by multiple amp makers.  That's why a class D amp will often be identified as a Nilai, NCORE, Purifi, PASCAL, etc.  Some (all?) of these companies also build and sell compatible power supply boards.  Add a case, power switch, input buffer. wires & connectors, and you're done!  I don't think all class D amps are built this way, though.

3. The more recent introduction of GAN FETs has made for another family of class D amps.  I don't know if these are also mostly being based on modular sub-assemblies; what makes them distinct is the use of a specific kind of transistor.

None of these are necessarily negatives, just things that occurred to me recently.  Hopefully, @atmasphere will drop by and fill in the blanks (please?)