I have a small room where my setup there is a WiiM Ultra streamer/DAC, IOM Ultra (Hypex NCORE class D power amp) driving ProAc Super Tablettes and it does a great job in that space.
!!!OK OK - I'm Big Enough To Admit I Was DEAD WRONG!!! Class D Doesn't Always Suck!!!
In preparation for a move to the Philippines later this year,I needed a system I could pack in my travel trunk that offered:
small enough size & light enough weight to travel well,multi voltage operation(120/240 volt) so that I can use it anywhere,plenty of digital inputs including USB/Optical,Bluetooth 5.0 along with a decent headphone circuit & lastly,sound at least comparable to the SimAudio Moon 240i/Harbeth M30.2Xd system I was replacing...
I started with a Vincent Audio Class A/B,compact hybrid integrated..While I could easily live with the sound,it just wasn’t small enough,even with it’s half size frame,to be a viable option + NO USB input..Next was an Advance Paris,Class A/B,MyConnect 60..Same result,fine sounding by just too big & again,NO USB input...
I finally accepted the fact that I was going to have to bite the bullet & give a Class D option a try..I demo’d a few amps,a PS Audio Sprout 100,a fosi something,a Topping & an SMSL,even a fairly expensive Primare but I just wasn’t "feeling"the music..Oh they were technically decent,offering great bass & decent enough staging & imaging,but none of them had that organic,natural tone I craved...
Then I discovered Creek Audio had rebooted the venerable 4040 integrated amplifier in a modern,compact,lightweight Class D configuration,offering all the features I required including 120/240 volt operation..I remember the original 4040 from long ago,with it’s wonderful green display & natural,organic sound driving Celestion speakers..
Remembering that original experience with the CAS4040,& having owned an Evolution 50a, I was well versed in the Creek house sound & had a pretty good idea that if anyone could make Class D sound musical,natural & organic,Mike Creek would be the guy..
Well 3 weeks ago,based solely on that gut feeling, I grabbed one of the few remaining,updated 4040a units in Black finish available at the untarrifed price of $1280.00 delivered, & have had it playing a little under 2 weeks now..My beloved Harbeth M30.2Xd’s have been rehomed & replaced with the miniscule yet wonderfully musical ProAc Tablette Anniversaries & I’m STILL wearing a mile wide smile!
Yes,I did give up a bit of deeper bass,mainly at low listening levels,but with just a bit of volume,the bass those tiny titans put out,driven by the Creek amp is full,deep enough to allow a kick drum to sound like it should & leave me wanting for nothing..Cellos have such a beautiful dark,deep voice they will make you cry & the bodies have resonance you can really feel..Everything I listen to just sounds right...
Imaging & staging in pretty amazing..I am spoiled having had a couple of really good tube amps in the past & I will say hands down,the Creek OUTPERFORMS the SimAudio 240i in these areas of performance,being deeper,wider & better defined!
Headphone performance?Driving either HiFiMan Ananda Nano's or iBasso SR-1's,late night listening sessions are magical..Mike Creek really understands how important headphone listening can be!
So yea,I was wrong about Class D..With the right implementation it is highly musical,wonderfully natural & organic,and when it comes to it’s physical characteristics of size & weight just can’t be bettered...
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It would be helpful to understand more about the recommended speaker impedance to pair up with this particular amplifier, and getting it right. Sounds like the OP found a nice match with the ProAc speakers used here. Nice. Great to read more progress with the new Class D amplifier designs some are achieving past few years. There are a few other reviewers and folks who've mentioned some type of harshness up top or the amp responding in a flat way when paired with speakers with big impedance swings, and compared to their prior AB amps with the same speakers. I did not see data or amplifier measurements to explain what was being reported, or how that was occurring, yet it did bring up the amp < > speaker matching question as being an important factor to understand more about perhaps.
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@decooney when the Creek first came in I still had a pair of Quad 11L speakers on the stands..These speakers had a 6 ohm nominal dropping to 3.8 ohms in the lower treble & the Creek had no problems driving them to a steady 95db.with no harshness,compression or clipping.. |
- 41 posts total