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Class A amps or Class D??: Which sounds better??

Amplifier performance and synergy depends on the other components, and cables in a system. I have read alot about the advantages of Class A.amps Though an older amp design, do class A amps necessarily sound better than Class D digital amps like Nu-Force, Bel Canto, and Wyred4Sound?? These class D amps supposedly run more efficiently, with less heat and noise and are smaller in size.

I have a friend who has a Musical Fidelity A3CR power amp and a Bel canto pre-amp, and a pair of Spendor floorstanders. The MF amp is at least 10 years old, and no longer made. I have listened to the amp in his system, and it does sound very good. Most noteably is its across the board smoothness. However, I think its performance is system dependent, and might be a liability in other systems. Would like to hear comments and opinions about these two amp "designs", and if one sounds better than the other, OR JUST DIFFERENT.

BTW, I am not sure that owning a 10 year old amp like the MF A3CR is a good idea, despite its class A rating, and a few positive consumer reviews I have seen. Thank you
sunnyjim
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Class A has been preferred over all other classes by the the majority of listeners over a very long run and seems likely to be preferred in the fututre.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
It really doesn't make much sense to discuss amplifiers apart from the speakers with which they will be paired. Different speakers have different amplification needs, and may have been designed with certain types of amplifiers in mind, as well as being voiced with specific types of amplifiers. Some speakers will need huge wattage (not easy or cheap for Class A), and others will not. Some speakers will benefit from a very high damping factor (a strength of a Class D amp usually), but others may feel overdamped with high damping factor amps.

And I will also point you to Atma-Sphere's paper on the Power vs. Voltage Paradigms:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php
jult52
155 posts
 
Many audiophiles grew up listening to Class A/B amplification so the type of changes to live instrument sound it produces is judged preferable to the type of changes the newer Class D amps produce. Based on the age demographics of the audiophile community alone, there is going to be an aesthetic bias towards established technologies, which shows up in board discussions all the time.

It's a type of aesthetic "lock-in."
csontos
1,311 posts
 
If you're having to accommodate your speakers you're limiting the potential of your system imo. I love the comment "the speakers do what it wants, not the other way around". They are after all, the weakest link. The amp on the other hand is the heart of the system. Worst thing you can do is punish it.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,870 posts
 
That aspect of design alone does not determine the sound. So I think it is hard to generalize.

I have heard very good Class A, A/B and D.

I replaced a MF A3CR with my current Bel Canto Ref1000ms and much prefer the BCs. In some systems, the A3CR might be preferred. It all depends on overall synergies and balance.

Biggest difference between A3Cr and BC Class Ds in my case is A3CR is a touch hotter through the upper midrange perhaps and much lower power for my power hungry speakers, though they sounded fine.

There was a big difference in the bass with BCs being much more articulate and dimensional which I would attribute at least partially to very high damping factor compared to A3CR.
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