Subs using class d is par for the course. It runs parallel to speaker discussion. I am just disheartened to see you guys liberally recommend class d. Someone is going to get stuck financially with a class d amp that doesn't satisfy nor sell.
Opinion in any case cannot be for all items of the same class. For ex - In your case you prefer a new audiophile (with budget constraint ) to start with bookshelf speakers and Class AB amplifier. Does this imply that all Class AB amplifiers out there in the market are good? Cannot be. There are always amplifiers in any class which have good implementation and there will be amplifiers in any class in which implementation is not so good.
That's a strawman argument.
My understanding is that all these Class A, Class AB, Class D etc are just technologies. There are amplifiers with good implementations of each class in the market. You believe in superiority of Class AB amplifiers so you recommend amplifiers to anyone seeking advice from you based on your what you believe and there is nothing wrong in it.
Its not just about the superiority- it's about the large safe tent under that umbrella with many exit, upgrade paths, a well worn path that we all have personally walked. With you on caveat emptor.
You recommend what you believe in and hence you are doing full justice to your role when someone seeks advice from you.
futureaudiophile.com
It will remain an endless topis as the hobby is subjective and also that the audiophile community has many misplaced fixations that find no cure. Technically and also aurally Class D is progressive and very good. However, it is perfectly fine if one embraces A or AB for his subjective merit, but to argue on objective merit is misplaced.Excerpt from an article titled:
Today’s Disruptive Class-D Amps Are Changing the Audiophile Hobby Very Much For The Better
“Will Traditionalist Audiophiles Fight Modern Change in the Amplifier Category?
The audiophile hobby isn’t much about embracing the future over its two generations in existence. The print magazines that have shaped the hobby for 50 years and counting put a big premium on a high price, exotic technologies, and exclusivity. These new Class-D amps are better than that, thus they represent the type of Silicon Valley “disruptive” change in technology that points many traditionalists to vinyl and tubes over more modern, more efficient audiophile electronics options.
The next-generation audiophile is seeking performance and value, as every other enthusiast has in his or her journey over the years. The fastest way to get to an increasingly high-performance stereo system is to embrace, engage or at least understand what is possible with these types of new technologies. Do you have to own a Gallium Nitride, Pascal or Hypex chipped amp to be a new-school audiophile? Of course not, but you should know about them as they represent the types of technological advances that really can improve performance of real-world, high-end audiophile systems, while saving power and delivering excellent value. “
Audiophile game changer in the category of amplifiers
Today's Class-D amps be it Gallium Nitride, Hypex or Pascal chipped are changing the value proposition of what it takes to power speakers
Thoughts?
I think if you like the sound signature in your set up in your room with music that you enjoy then you have reached a milestone that you can either settle down with…. For a while
endlesslyAnd I strongly believe that unless one experiences all these so called Class D advances personally in their systems, all else is hearsay. Hence I made the effort to accumulate all these amps., and experience them personally - so I am speaking from my personal experience - not from some spec. sheet or arm-chair comfort (which is quite common - claiming audiophile credentials), or some review or some expert speak. Yes it is subjective, but that's what matters to me - not some measurements by a so called expert. And I have been buying class D amps. for the last 15 years or so - starting with the early bel-canto amps., which I heard in a show 18 years ago and figured out their immense convenience and potential, in sound quality and portability, compared to the class A behemoths back then. And relating to some posts about loosing money on class d amps., yes that is quite common with early adopters. There is a case study in business schools about this, and I learnt this the practical way when I sold my early class d amps.
I second this strongly. Please listen with an open mind to any of the brands that are really pushing the limits on this technology. You will be surprised what you hear. Avoiding confirmation bias in audio is very difficult but with some practice it is possible.
I have had a few Nuprime units - which I believe is the IP of nu-force in a new company. The ST10 was simply superb, in a moment of weakness - hoping for something better, I sold it. Combined with a Ayon Skylla II, the sound was ethereal. I still pine for this synergy (am experimenting feverishly for this - Skylla had a burr brown chip set along with 6h30 tubes into the nu-prime ST10 - finding it hard to source this combination now). In fact along with the AGD, or Atma-sphere, Nuprime is still on my radar - they have released some newer units since, but the ST-10 is still available (One thing to be said for the US brands is that, they have solid customer service vs the Taiwan/Chinese brands - which are iffy).
22 GBP !The new super expensive NLE series from Harbeth are powered by class D. I think custom made hypex n-core.
Some food for thought.
Ridiculously expensive...The new super expensive NLE series from Harbeth are powered by class D. I think custom made hypex n-core.
Some food for thought.
