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Should I steer clear of class D amps

I’m finally upgrading my amp. I currently have an Onkyo TXNR 636 which has served very well but it’s now the weakest component in my system.

I’ve a budget of up to £1200-£1300 and been looking at the NAD C3050.

I was initially drawn to the NAD C3050 when I saw the VU meters but these are not deal breakers if I can get a much better amp without them, but I really do like them. I spoke with a dealer and he mentioned all NAD amplifiers are now class D and that’s now where I’m stuck procrastinating my purchase. My understanding was class D never really took off, despite the power efficiency due to the HF noise caused by the PWM. Times change things improve but I can’t find much about how they have mitigated this, in fact an article in EETimes refers to how the tests performed for THD etc are quite irrelevant in a digital amp and quoted figures may be very different in real life. In essence, the way of testing makes them look better than they are. This may be true but do they sound good? We all know vinyl is technically an inferior medium but I certainly prefer it’s sound.

I am listening to classic/ heavy rock and a mixture of lossless streaming from a NAS into a Cambridge Audio CNX V2 and vinyl off a Technics 1500C with a Pro-Ject DS phono stage all into monitor audio bronze 5s. 
 

I need a new amp. I need slapping out of my indecision but it’s not an insignificant amount of £££ and I want to get it right. Should I stick with AB ? My electric bill can’t withstand class A or valve regardless of sound quality. 

Also what’s the thoughts on NAD in general, I’m my youth they were good amps, but then so were Pioneer. 
 

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Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,644 posts
 

I think the question is how Class D compares to the better Class A/B amplifiers at the OP's budget.  

I think the OP should ask, how do other integrateds sound in this budget, rather than worry about amp class. :)

erik_squires
16,644 posts
 

From posters above it sounds kind of like if it is too good to be true, then Class D may fall in that category.

 

I think in this case "too good to be true" would be if Class D was hyped as the best sounding amplifiers always. None of us who think that the current crop of Class D amps are very competitive say that. Personally I just feel they’ve reached a level of maturity in the performance that it’s no longer possible to distinguish them as anything other than amplifiers.

If you try to prejudge them by class you’ll do yourself a disservice. As I pointed out, I have had and have left Class D amps. Not because of the class but because of the amp.

erik_squires
16,644 posts
 

OP:

Well most of your post seems related to Class-D in general, and the title was about Class D, not NAD, and those hesitations and questions are roads well traveled here.

NAD has promoted a hybrid-Class D in some amps, but not others, so I’m not sure if it was an experiment that didn’t go far or if it’s become core, or if there wasn’t enough benefit vs the basic Hypex Class D amplifier designs they are using.

Honestly I thought they did a poor job of promoting the hybrid part. My desktop 3020D for instance is one of those hybrid designs and it’s great but I don’t really challenge it.

My suggestion, which was implied in my first post, is to ignore 100% of the literature on Class D and actually listen to the amp you want to buy, preferably with the speakers you want to buy.

If it helps, I went from Parasound to Class D to Luxman.  At no point in using the Class D amp did I think "Oh, well this is a problem unique to class D", or "this sounds like class D."  so I encourage anyone thinking of buying to stop thinking Class D vs. the world and focus on budget, features and sound quality that you can actually hear. 

erik_squires
16,644 posts
 

You joined in 2017. There have been dozens of threads on this subject since then which I encourage you to read. There are some points I want to make:

  • Your hearing trumps all specs and arguments and critics
  • I like some Class D a lot better than I like some megabuck Class A
  • Last I looked, NAD was using a hybrid Class D amp in some models which is quite innovative. It’s almost a class H amp, with a little Class A in the middle.
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