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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
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,866 posts
 
I would like to hear the new Rogue hybrid.
sunnyjim OP
927 posts
 
Thanks to all who responded so far.

To Wolf Garica, the Rogue Medusa (200RMS) is $3995; the Hydra is $2995....and as Sinbad's cabin boy says in the mythical tale:...."beyond the beyond".

What about NuForce class D; there is a model 8.5V3 stereo amp which is "supposed" to be a scaled down version of 9V3 monoblocks. Or, do all these class D amps sound the same??.

Also, there is an Odyssey Khartago SE Extreme (with Kismet upgrades) for sale on AG (Kismet upgrades are not indicated or explained on the Odyssey website) which makes me a bit skidish about the offering. The Khartago operates as a class A/AB amp, if I'm correct
fiddler
581 posts
 
Class D is evolving and if you do a search on the Hypex NCores you will find a significant number of owners who have dropped their high-end amps for the NCores. Several big-name Class A amps that are often mentioned in these forums have fallen to the new NCores.
jdoris
972 posts
 
Sunnyjim: Odyssey's web page is not up to date or comprehensive (my old Dual Mono was never on the site), but this would not make me hesitate. If you are interested, you might give Klaus a call; he generously supports second (and third) owners of his gear. I think all of Klaus' amps are A/B.

John
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,625 posts
 
In the world of musical instrument amps class D has made huge inroads for bass players and also keyboards, because they are a lot lighter.

But to say that they sound better is another thing! Even with the highly inaccurate speakers that are common with music amplifiers, the lack of authority that class D brings to the party is obvious- a good tube amp, class A or AB, can deal a swift blow to class D.

Not surprisingly, in the world of high end audio I hear exactly the same thing. Can't say so much about a class A transistor amp, but if you are talking tubes, it almost seems like there is no contest- the tubes will easily rule the day.

Caveats:
1) the tube and class D amps must be compared on a speaker that is comfortable for both amplifiers.
2) speaker cables are kept short.
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