I am in agreement with Erik. I have a Class D integrated hybrid amp and if it suffers from switching distortion or dead time, I sure as hell can't hear it. Granted, I haven't been able to compare it to dozens of other amps, class D, AB, A, or otherwise. But what I have had in the past which was a McIntosh C-45 preamp and MC-402 poweramp. It took less than 5 minutes out of the box (new Class D) cold and not broken in yet, to tell it was vastly superior to the Mac gear. It has what a lot of you considered outdated Hypex 400 modules and to my ears still sounds wonderful. I have been exposed to the expensive exotic stuff over the years and don't feel I'm missing much in resolution, dynamics, smoothness, musicality or whatever. There are several of you that seem to think Class D is almost unlistenable, probably in not so many words. Why so many of you have to make such a big deal about it is beyond me. What many of you will realize is class D is the future of audio amplification. I believe that is inevitable. IMO.
The Truth about Modern Class D
All my amps right now are Class D. ICEpower in the living room, and NAD D 3020 in the bedroom.
I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."
Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.
I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.
The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.
You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.
I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."
Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.
I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.
The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.
You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.