Oh how I wish Class D amps ...


I sure wish manufacturers and designers would move forward as quickly as is possible on improving the current status of Class D amps ... I have heard them all, some in my own system, and they have SO mcu promise !!! Unfortunately they just do not have it down yet. They still sound dry, unmusical, and strange in the treble ... kind of chalky and rolled off, and definitely lacking air.
I long for the day I can get rid of my hundred pound Class AB monster amp, for a nice small cool running amp that sounds just as good. I am worried though that designers and manufacturers have accepted the " It sounds good enough" opinion, and that the B&O Ice power may be a long time before it is "fixed"... sigh.
Just my rant ...
timtim

Showing 1 response by cocoabaroque

I've owned several variants of TA2024 including Trends 10.1, a few TA2020 amps from Muse, Topping, etc, and currently use a LM1875 from Brian Bell (chipamp_dot_com.)

This last one is a pure gainclone, minimalistic, very few parts. The best 20wpc I've ever heard from solid state, and better in most ways than many single-ended triode and pentode 6BQ5 amps. I've owned Almarro, Decware copies, rebuilt vintage SEs by Magnavox, Motorola, Zenith, some killer DIY 6bq5 SE using a chip voltage regulator and tube rectifier, and lots more. I've also owned many rebuilt vintage tube amps from EICO, Fisher, Scott, Pilot (SA232 is AMAZING) Allied (6BM8), Conn Organ (6L6), Harman Kardon, etc. I've owned solid-state by Belles, Van Alstine, Nelson Pass, Dynaco and much more. Pair a well-designed class-d with good speakers from Tang Band, Fostex, Mission, etc and they are near perfect, IMO. Great amps have been around since the 1940s. I think even a basic run-of-the-mill Class D will out-perform any Mosfet amp at any price. More accurate midrange, better bass, nicer higs, less audible distortion, lower noise floor, better reliability.

We are in the second "golden age" of audio. If your class-d doesn't sound like tubes, add a tube buffer between your passive attenuator and amp. For me, though, musical truth and emotional experience is more important than nostalgia.