2. amps-preamps
  3. 165827-20253

My NAD 3020 D proves your Class D tropes are wrong

I have a desktop integrated, the NAD 3020D which I use with custom near field monitors. It is being fed by Roon via a Squeezebox Touch and coaxial digital.

It is 5 years old and it sounds great. None of the standard myths of bad Class D sound exist here. It may lack the tube like liquid midrange of my Luxman, or the warmth of my prior Parasound but no one in this forum could hear it and go "aha, Class D!!" by itself, except maybe by the absolute lack of noise even when 3’ away from the speakers.

I’m not going to argue that this is the greatest amp ever, or that it is even a standout desktop integrated. All I am saying is that the stories about how bad Class D is compared to linear amps have been outdated for ages.

Great to see new development with GaN based Class D amps, great to see Technics using DSP feed-forward designs to overcome minor limitations in impedance matching and Atmasphere’s work on reducing measurable distortion as well but OMG stop with the "Class D was awful until just now" threads as it ignores about 30 years of steady research and innovation.
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by brandini

brandini
13 posts
 
I've been listening to a vtv purifi eval-1 for just over a week on my ascend acoustics towers being fed with a topping d90 dac using the topping a90 as preamp.  I'm mostly very impressed.  It sounds super clear and punchy showing off on great recordings. 

On the other hand bad recordings sound exactly how they sound but clearer.  Purifi gives you the truth and nothing but the truth for better or worse as far as I can tell.  I think the only way around this is for somebody to invent a DAC with powerful AI that can remaster bad recordings on the fly in the most euphonic way.
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