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I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Class D. I have lived with ICEPower 250AS based amps for a couple of years. Before that I lived with a pair of Parasound A21s (for HT) and now I’m listening to a Luxman 507ux.


I have some thoughts after long term listening:
  • The tropes of Class D having particularly bad, noticeable Class D qualities are all wrong and have been for years.
  • No one has ever heard my Class D amps and gone: "Oh, wow, Class D, that’s why I hate it."
  • The Luxman is a better amp than my ICEPower modules, which are already pretty old.

I found the Class D a touch warm, powerful, noise free. Blindfolded I cannot tell them apart from the Parasound A21s which are completely linear, and run a touch warm due to high Class A operation, and VERY similar in power output.


The Luxman 507 beats them both, but no amp stands out as nasty sounding or lacking in the ability to be musical and involving.


What the Luxman 507 does better is in the midrange and ends of the spectrum. It is less dark, sweeter in the midrange, and sounds more powerful, almost "louder" in the sense of having more treble and bass. It IS a better amplifier than I had before. Imaging is about the same.


There was one significant operational difference, which others have confirmed. I don't know why this is true, but the Class D amps needed 2-4 days to warm up. The Luxman needs no time at all. I have no rational, engineering explanation for this. After leaving the ICEPower amps off for a weekend, they sounded pretty low fi. Took 2 days to come back. I can come home after work and turn the Luxman on and it sounds great from the first moment.


Please keep this in mind when evaluating.


Best,

E
erik_squires

Showing 8 responses by devilboy

devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Aren’t GaN amps pretty expensive? At least the one manufacturer I heard about is.

I have 100 hours on my PS Audio S300 and it sounds absolutely lovely driving my Selah Tempestas. My last system was an Almarro integrated using the 6C33C driving a pair of Rethms. Two very different approaches for amplification and speakers and I’m enjoying it just as much.

I’ll start a new virtual systems in the next week or two.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Oh and George, one more thing. I don't want to hear anything about Gan amps if they cost $40,000. I'm sure they're fantastic and probably a breakthrough in the technology, but frankly that's out of the ballpark for 99% of us.
As with everything else, one day it will trickle down and be available in amplifiers under $2,000 but don't tell me I need to spend an exorbitant amount of money for class D to sound good. 
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
+1 erik
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
There are people who say they hate class D. I'll bet that if you sat them down and played some music and told them that the amp they're listening to was a $10,000 class A or class A/B amp, they would say it's fantastic.
I believe that a lot of the negative criticism that comes with class D amps is from people who already have a preconceived opinion of class D which convinces their brain that it's not good before they even give it a chance.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Earlier, George gave a list of well respected manufactures of high end components. They all said how class D was inferior and it wasn’t as good as their stuff and yada, yada.

Did anyone stop to think that these other high-end manufacturers are purposely downplaying class D because then no one would buy their overpriced components?

People see two amplifiers in front of them. One is a class A/B that costs $40,000 and the other is a class D that costs $4,000. People will automatically assume that the $40,000 amplifier must be better because the price difference.

High-end manufacturers know people are gullible and listen with their wallets.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
You're distorting what I said, George. Old class D is still class D and you've been doing nothing but crapping on it this entire thread. Basically you're saying, if the class D that you're listening to is not GaN, then you're listening to crap. 
Well, I enjoy my "crap".
I enjoy it immensely, actually.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
While I appreciate all of the class D supporters, as I also am a fan, this thread has turned into an, "I’ll say something positive about class D and wait for George to say something negative about class D", thread.

Having owned multiple class D amplifiers from multiple companies and multiple single-ended triode amps and multiple push-pull tube amplifiers and multiple class A amplifiers and multiple class A/B amplifiers over 23 years......... I will say that, just like women, I’ve loved and hated something about all of them.

In the end, I think audio and women share a striking resemblance. We all search for the perfect audio component or woman. Neither of them exist. It’s just a matter of how well we can tolerate the things that make them annoying.

I can tolerate my current class D amplifier to the point where it may have short cummings but in the end, it pleases me and makes me a happier audiophile.

This post may not convince any class D haters but who cares? In the end, if what you’re listening to makes you happy, then just listen and be happy.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
George, as I said in a previous post, you recently posted a list of manufactures poo pooing class D. I said it was because they see it as a threat to their non class D amps...... Which is exactly what you just said.
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