Class-D amps

Mike

Have you considered Classe amps? You might be surprised.
 
Mike - I have the DS450M's too. The Pass are great amps. Real sweet with a great midrange. However, I did hear Mark's CAM-600's and loved the combo. I have a pair of CAM-600's and Studio 2's coming my way next week !
 
Joe,

I have. Both Mike and Mark (MDP) recommended them to me a while back. The 600 monos have excellent reviews.

I have been considering the Pass X600.5s and the XA200.5s. They are very good companions to the ARC Ref5SE.

I suppose all 3 are good options. My challenge is being able to arrange an audition given where I live.

Mike
 
Ritmo said:
Joe,

I have. Both Mike and Mark (MDP) recommended them to me a while back. The 600 monos have excellent reviews.

I have been considering the Pass X600.5s and the XA200.5s. They are very good companions to the ARC Ref5SE.

I suppose all 3 are good options. My challenge is being able to arrange an audition given where I live.

Mike
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Bring your REF5SE to Mark's! He's always wanted to hear that preamp too with his system.
 
I love Pass gear but the heat output was too much during any time of the year except the dead of winter where the heat was welcome.
 
Some gear combos go together like peanut butter and jelly. Classe and Revel is one of them.
 
Another idea....

Keep the DS450M's for the bass of the Salon 2's and add a pair of ARC REF250's for the mid/high. It works! I run that combo on my Aida's. The gain is matched - you just put the REF250's on the 8ohm tap. It's an amazing combo. Sweet and thunderous!
 
Ritmo said:
Joe,

I have. Both Mike and Mark (MDP) recommended them to me a while back. The 600 monos have excellent reviews.

I have been considering the Pass X600.5s and the XA200.5s. They are very good companions to the ARC Ref5SE.

I suppose all 3 are good options. My challenge is being able to arrange an audition given where I live.

Mike
Click to expand...
Mike, I will be very interested in seeing how this pans for you. I have just purchased a pair of Salon 2s and am considering the X600.5 and the Krell Evos myself.
 
socfan12 said:
Mike, I will be very interested in seeing how this pans for you. I have just purchased a pair of Salon 2s and am considering the X600.5 and the Krell Evos myself.
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Allen, I'd throw the Sanders Magtech amp in there too, probably one of the bargains out there & specifically designed to drive hard loads.Quite a neutral signature & tone to it too.Money back guarantee to try & buy, or there was.
 
According to the latest review on Home HiFi dot com website, the D-Sonic must be the best Class D amp on the market.
 
Face said:
I've been saying this for a while, tube pre plus class D is a great mix. The control of class D plus the euphorics from a tube pre give you the best of both worlds, IMO of course.
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I concur. Using an EVS1200 with a Modwright LS36.5DM preamp in the main system currently. The (new) Merrill audio amps are really nice (both sound and finish) but of course they are priced accordingly.
 
Anyone seen/heard the Rogue Audio Dragon amplifier? One of my prejudices about many of class D is the SMPS power supplies. The Rogue Audio gear has both a linear power supply, and a tubed input circuit. The Dragon has nCore digital boards that has been reviewed well.

any other thoughts on the various digital boards? As I am just learning about this class, I’m sure I missed some.

IcePower, Hypex nCore, purifi, the very high power D-Sonic board
 
Has anyone of you tried Mola Mola?

This is Bruno Putzeys high-end amplifier brand. They do get excellent reviews.

https://www.mola-mola.nl

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"Now, I’m amazed at the quality and clean reproduction of the lower bass notes. From top to bottom it sounds as though I have upgraded my speaker system. I love trumpet music and I’ve always perceived that as FAST as Dizzy Gillespi is, he wasn’t completing the notes. He was blasting them out. Now I realize that my previous amplifiers from the last 12 years haven’t been fast enough to keep up with him. Now I am hearing how crisp and clean each note he plays is. Amazing. People often describe sound with depth and width. With this amp, I’m describing it as a “sound field” There is a comprehensiveness to what I’m hearing now that previously didn’t exist. I’ve never heard anything like this. In my system, this is even quieter than the PS Audio amps."
 
Who are you quoting?

Conanb1 said:
"Now, I’m amazed at the quality and clean reproduction of the lower bass notes. From top to bottom it sounds as though I have upgraded my speaker system. I love trumpet music and I’ve always perceived that as FAST as Dizzy Gillespi is, he wasn’t completing the notes. He was blasting them out. Now I realize that my previous amplifiers from the last 12 years haven’t been fast enough to keep up with him. Now I am hearing how crisp and clean each note he plays is. Amazing. People often describe sound with depth and width. With this amp, I’m describing it as a “sound field” There is a comprehensiveness to what I’m hearing now that previously didn’t exist. I’ve never heard anything like this. In my system, this is even quieter than the PS Audio amps."
Click to expand...
 
Hey Mike,

Doesn't MBL also offer some class D amps?

My buddy from the audio club who has the same MBL speakers as you do and their big boy mono blocks and the MBL pre-amp had EJ build him mono blocks to use on the bass. He is thrilled with what the class D has done for the low end while using his MBL's for the rest.

As a side note, EJ modified the amps only to install special speaker terminals because the the cables that our friend is using are so huge that they could not attach securely to standard terminals :).
Wyred 4 Sound SX-1000R

I believe that Jim Smith has one of these and could probably give you some insight on it.
Wyred 4 Sound ST-750LE
 
Randy Myers said:
Hey Mike,

Doesn't MBL also offer some class D amps?

My buddy from the audio club who has the same MBL speakers as you do and their big boy mono blocks and the MBL pre-amp had EJ build him mono blocks to use on the bass. He is thrilled with what the class D has done for the low end while using his MBL's for the rest.

As a side note, EJ modified the amps only to install special speaker terminals because the the cables that our friend is using are so huge that they could not attach securely to standard terminals :).
Wyred 4 Sound SX-1000R

I believe that Jim Smith has one of these and could probably give you some insight on it.
Wyred 4 Sound ST-750LE
Click to expand...

Yes, but they are a hybrid of sorts.

“In a Class D amp the input is first converted/encoded by a modulator into a pulse train (using pulse width, pulse density, or related modulatory techniques) that represents the amplitude variations of the audio signal. This pulse train is then fed to the amplifying devices (usually MOSFETs), which operate like electronic on-off switches. Working alternately, these transistors switch back and forth between the supply rails, generating positive and negative boosted signals that are subsequently low-pass filtered (to get rid of the very high frequencies used by the modulator to encode the input signal), sometimes high-pass filtered (to reduce residual distortion), and fed as a higher-gain analog (sinusoidal) signal to the loudspeakers. Theoretically, a switching amplifier (which dissipates virtually no power as heat) has an efficiency of 100%, while Class B amps have a theoretical maximum efficiency of 78% and Class A amps 20–50%.

Unlike its predecessors and much of its current competition, the Noble Line N15 monoblocks under review are said to guarantee a linear signal independent of load, level, or frequency. This is a bold claim, considering (as MBL itself points out in its LASA 2.0 white paper) that Class D amplifiers inherently distort the music signal depending on frequency. (Natively they have low THD in the bass and very high THD in the treble.) Moreover, Class D amplifiers are always designed for a particular resistance value (e.g., 4 ohms), but a loudspeaker does not have a constant resistance—it is a “complex load” with impedances varying with frequency. Thus, in addition to their native non-homogeneous distortion profile, Class D amplifiers change their power delivery (and hence their frequency response) with changes in load. On top of this, the louder a typical Class D amp plays, the lower its overall distortion, and (paradoxically) the quieter it plays, the higher its distortion.

MBL claims to have solved these myriad problems with its LASA (Linear Analog Switching Amplifier) 2.0 technology, which, instead of the typical and economical switch-mode power supplies of most Class D amplifiers, uses a massive analog toroidal power supply. The LASA circuitry is also symmetrical in layout for better common mode rejection, employs low-drop fast-recovery rectifiers to create a low-noise supply voltage, and has a “soft-clipping” provision to eliminate aggressiveness and distortion at very high output levels. Whether or not these strategies result in an amp that (as MBL claims) is closer to Class A or Class AB in linearity, noise, and stability than it is to typical Class D, there is no question that the N15 differs sonically from the switching amplifiers I auditioned lo these many years ago.”

Source:

MBL Noble Line N11 Preamplifier and N15 Monoblock Amplifier | The Absolute Sound


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Mike said:
The other day I removed the REF250's from the mid/highs and tried just my ARC DS450M's on my speakers and it was a real different sound. Tight, punchy, with a sharp definition, but with a rather flat soundstage. I wasn't entirely sure I liked it....it was different from the beautiful slight bloomy midrange I'm used to and musicality of tubes.

I certainly like the gobs of power and small foot print of Class-D. It has lots of potential. It got me to thinking.....are there any good Class-D amps out there or even any Class-D hybrid amps anyone has heard and liked?

NuForce
BelCanto
Anthem
Rogue
ARC
....others?
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I have no interest in "gobs of power" amps with my Avantgarde speakers, but I do use Class D amplification.

After testing about a dozen amps of all flavours (after deciding to move away from tubes) I concluded I didn't like Diavelet, Red Wine or Lyngdorf's Class D efforts and I found Sugden and Accupase Class A's a bit on the soft / warm side, but I did like NAD M32's Direct Digital sound. I'm hoping their new Puriti M33 may be even better.

Also rejected for one reaon or another - GamuT D200 Mk III, Micromega M100, Quad Platinum, Sanders Magtech and others. NAD shouldn't be ignored just because it's relatively low priced and includes a DAC - plus streamer and Dirac RC on the M33.
 
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