So, I’ve noticed a flood of class D junk hitting the market over the last several years. They come from many different brand names from people you’ve never heard of before like "VTV", to popular Internet-in-the-know brands like PS Audio to famous names like Marantz. One thing they ALL have in common: the complete inability to find honest reviews online for these products.
For example, let’s take for instance the Stellar series from PS Audio. Class D junk with the usual attempt to improve euphonics with some kind of input stage. They call this scheme class AD, I guess to differentiate all the other brands that do something similar. However, you’ll never see a review site point this out; they’ll comment briefly on the design and then dutifully call it class AD afterwards as if it isn’t just a class D amp like many others.
Next, the reviewer will invariably lie about the sound. This lying usually takes the form of lying by omission. They’ll gush about how beefy and controlled it is, how neutral it is, how wide and natural the soundstage is, etc. What they WON’T mention is how lifeless, flat, boring and ultimately fatiguing they ALL are. The buyer who doesn’t know any better has to find that out for themselves while he slowly grows to distrust anything a reviewer has to say about anything. So, the only way to actually get value out of a review is to see if a certain amp has the positive attributes you are looking for while trying to painstakingly research any problems it might have because the reviewer won’t mention them.
In addition to the lies of omission, there’s the usual con of giving certain gear to certain reviewers who will appreciate / like the piece. That Stellar will NEVER be put up against a Dan D’agostino or a Pass for example. This could be valuable to the buyer to see how a lesser amp stacks up against a high end one, but it’s not, apparently, useful to the reviewers. Why? Why is telling the whole truth about amps -- all gear really -- taboo?
Although I am not really a fan of Class D I am not ready to dismiss this technology completely. However I am in no hurry to embrace it either.
You are a fool to put any stock in the vast majority of audio reviews. Ad revenue is just the beginning of the myriad of problems present. The publication that claims to be the most pure is the one that I trust the least.
Why most reviewers find it necessary to ascribe some sort of monetary value to the improved sound of more expensive gear is beyond me.
@yyzsantabarbara Wow this reviewer actually tells the truth about class D (his review of the Keces S300):
If you are currently using a class-D amplifier and enjoy the hell out of it, then please stop here and go read some of my latest DAC reviews. If you are new to this or if you are curious about the best sounding amplifier topologies, then please carry on.
Ouch! Truth status: told. I think I'll pay attention to this guy.
He has not reviewed a wide variety of amps yet due to his location and costs. He is trying to get the Benchmark AHB2 to compare with the Keces S300. Read up on the Topping A90 headphone amp. I hope it gets to 95% of the Benchmark HPA4, if so, it is a giant killer in the headphone world.
After this post, I am going to demo the NAD M33 Class D amp and likely the Persona 3F speaker. I have to pay this dealer an invoice so he should be good to give me a demo even though I am not interested in buying either. I want to compare the Purifi with my AHB2.
The same reviewer had a new review out today saying the SMSL SH-9 THX-888 Headphone Amp at $289 was a better value than the Topping A9 at $500 and closer to the $3000 Benchmark AHB2. Both the AHB2 and the SH-9 are THX based amps.
The headphone stuff is crazy fun because of things like this. I am writing this as I listen to the great HPA4 with Meze Empy headphone, total bliss. Both, items I bought based on reviews and partially on a dealer recommendation on the Meze.
Could not demo the Purifi amp today but did demo the Persona 9H speaker.
Hmm, very interesting. I have Fostex TH900 modded for a balanced cable. I wonder how well these cheap units stack up to my Mjolnir 2 with NOS tubes. I think I'll read what this guy has to say...
Sounds to me like the "old school" fighting the future:-) My grandapa used to do that...but he died:-) I have Moon 740P, 680D 820S, Niagra 5000PC and B&W 802D's with a pair REL 820s. Power Amps are a pair of NAD M22 v2 (900W @ 8 ohms, $3300.00ea) and a lot of expensive Audioquest interconnects and cables. Compared them to same components with McIntosh 1.2KW. In most areas the M22's were better, but I would say the Mc's were a little more euphoric...but not $25K more. The Moon 888's are $120K a pair...come on man!
I think the ops "rant" is quite possibly born out of the same reaction that people with $200K+ sports cars had when they came to the realization that some "lowly" pleb, with a $50,000 Tesla Model 3 could clean my clock at the light. How dare someone with less earnings than me be able to "beat" me. ME! Weirdly this afflicts even those that can't afford that $200K sports car. They are still strangely offended by the sudden removal of "exclusivity" of something expensive.
Let's face it, this spills over into the turntable \ CD-Digital argument as well. You may like your $10,000 or $20,000 or more vinyl setup, or perhaps you just envy having one, but I guarantee that a well designed DAC for $2,000 (or less), recreates a far more accurate version of what was recorded. I am not saying you will like that $2,000 DAC more, I am saying that it will recreate what was recorded more accurately, more faithfully, or whatever adjective you want to use. That fact offends some people, and as opposed to accepting it, they strike out and attack.
The op also makes the classic mistake of thinking everyone wants what he wants, which can have some relation to the above as well. Some people want and love accurate music recreation. Some (I would even say a majority) don't, though if they are an audiophile, the will profess up and down stomping their feet that they do, even though, in most cases, they have no clue what that sounds like.
I can't say I have been fond of Pass amplifiers myself, even though I have recommended them to other people. Pass even states he "tunes" the sound for each family, so there goes that whole neutrality thing out the window. So given that Pass intentionally adjusts the sound of his amplifier away from neutral, why do you insist they are the penultimate in amplification?
This a hobby, a passion for some and it makes our time on earth richer.
The hardware is a tool we must have in order to make it all happen.
This passionate love of music is not a competition.
I find it disheartening to read posts that are declarative statements expressing some point of view that often sound like veiled anger or dissatisfaction with the very thing that brings us together as a forum of like minded souls with a passion for the musical arts. Let’s celebrate our hobby and passion and move beyond the petty stuff.
By the way I have had class D amps that did a pretty good job at their price point ( Jeff Rowland 525 mono blocks ) but moved on the Pass labs class a-ab and now listen to twin Jeff Rowland 625 S2 A-AB amps that sound very musical and fluid to my hear, budget and meet my expectations.
I feel like I could very accurately estimate the OPs demographics and age just by the “tone” and “imaging” of his threads.
Pouting about lesser audiophiles thinking that they’ve gained access to some secret club that requires a decoder ring and minimum spend is pretty rich, even for this place..
I also find it reallllllly special that I get moderated all the time here, but people like OP do not.
One of the fundamental conditions of being an “audiophile” is having strong opinions regarding sound and its reproduction. Each individual has preferences as to what sounds good to them as well as being influenced by many external inputs with regard to sound quality.
Class D versus Class A or A/B also has price point observations as well as individual bias. That does not even begin to address tube versus solid state amplification discussions. Not to mention various DAC versus vinyl arguments.
I would suggest that totally neutral amplifier reviews can be found. Class D aside, our own CamaroSS has had a four year running review of amplifiers and other gear that is beholding to no manufacturer or typology. I would argue that Class D has its own niche in amplification that some may prefer and some may not. Both sides have points to make, but at the end of the day they are different. Class D aficionados need their own neutral tester who loves to swap out gear and share their observations with like minded people. Someone not paid by anyone. The only possible downside might be the resale value for used gear, but that can be overcome for everything but the newest gear by starting with lightly used equipment.
Fighting over what is “better” is a fools errand and no one will have a strong opinion changed, it is just not productive. It would be like me disparaging high end “box” speakers because I am a dedicated Maggie owner. Not to mention my preference for a tube preamp versus solid state. Then there is my choice of McIntosh electronics that please my ear, while others have strong opinions that differ.
Unfortunately finding such truly independent individuals is becoming ever more difficult.
We live in an age of ever increasing globalism. Ever increasing propaganda, ridicule and bias against those that may be deemed to be an obstacle in the pursuit of ever greater profits.
You should see some of the responses in the various cable threads over the years.
Thanks for posting, it was a pleasure to read about your experiences. Now if only more posters were as considerate...
I sold high end audio fo many years part-time, including Metaxas, Meitner, Mission, B+K, Musical Fidelity, Adcom, and many others. Although none of these were in the rarified atmosphere with Krell, Boulder, Audio Research etc., my observations will serve the purpose.
Many buyers approached the purchase with a preconceived notions usually based on reviews or advice form alleged audiophile friends. Rarely would they bring along vinyl or Cds they knew or worse ones with a limited frequency range, e.g. rock music.
My mainstays for demoing were well recorded female vocalists, large symphonic works, pipe organs with bass down to to 32 hz, and "fast" persussion, all to demonstrate the full frequency spectrum. Amazingly cosmetics played a major role with many buyers.
Those that made wise decisions understood the importance of balance, micro dynamics, timbre, and the ability to transport the buyer in to the performance which can happen with less expensive gear if properly matched to the rest of the system.
And then there were those who dismissed out of hand any design type or brand they had been told was inferior or assumed it was. Like our OP.
For a comparison I have just connected two amp/speaker combinations to my preamp. My primary system is JBL M2s supplemented with a JBL Sub18 all driven by three Crown Itech 5000HD stereo amps. This is a horn based active system, class D, with enormous amplification. Adjacent to this system is one with a custom assembled enclosure with one Foster driver powered by a pair of Nextgear mono block tube amps. With suitable musical selections it should be interesting to listen for subtle differences. The goal is to put to rest any qualms I harbor concerning my horn, class D, JBL monster system concerning the finer points of musical listening beyond dynamics and bass which are incomparable in the JBL/crown.
You don’t seem to be fair in your assessment. You do a good job of tearing down class d, but you haven’t said how many that you’ve had in your home. For me, I’ve owned a few Class A amps, a Ton of Class A/B and recently went on a DIY Binge with Class D. I have built 11 Class D amplifiers from modules. In every case, I have changed to larger caps on the rails to as much as I could fit and changed out or bypassed any caps on the input. On 1, I added post feedback circuitry on the output. 2 of these ended up being very satisfying, a bit toward the warm side, decent detail and 2 were very good by anyone’s standard. The others varied radically in sound quality. You might not consider this high end, it only retailed at $15,000, but I do have an Edge NL10.2 at home now. My Pre is an SST Ambrosia, I’ve been building speakers for 35 years, so the speakers are mine. These amps are no different than any in the sense that they will be someone’s favorite and others won’t care for them.
You don’t seem to be fair in your assessment. You do a good job of tearing down class d, but you haven’t said how many that you’ve had in your home.
to your comment, my own impression is that the op in making his opening post had no intention of being fair... it was to vent his frustration and voice his bias against this class of amp... if he has heard good sounding amps based on this technology (as they do exist) he likely wouldn’t admit it - such is the territory when one has an axe to grind, we are all guilty of doing this from now and then...
I've heard some nice Class D amps at shows which were $4K to $10K. I just read a review at SoundStageUltra.com of the Merrill Audio 118, $36K Class D amps versus Mac 1.25KW $25K amps. My best friend uses Channel Islands Class D amps for his difficult to drive speakers as that's what he can afford. I own all tube equipment but for my new $5K DAC which is superior to my 15 year old tube DAC.
@stereo5 I don't know about the early VS speakers but I've heard three of the top VS speakers over the last 5 years at shows and they are the best sounding speakers I've ever heard. So many people enjoy the VS 33s that I suspect your system was not synergistically compatible. I had a compatibility problem with an EAR 890 with my big speakers 15 years ago (6 12" low impedance woofers didn't mesh with the amp but works great with my 2nd system speakers with 6 10" higher impedance woofers).
Just take a look at the titles of the 18 threads the OP has started. They're all "take-down" threads purporting to open the eyes of the rest of us.
i would echo 2leftears in his comment above
with the pandemic, more folks are on these forums than ever, so many have motives and biases that need to be seen for what they are...
if you see someone posting something controversial/ridiculous/crass, click their username 'details' and see what track record the person has, what he/she has posted, etc etc... can be very illuminating w.r.t. what type of person we are dealing with making the post
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