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<p>Over on the Community Forums one of our posters suggested they had previously owned several class D amplifiers and found them to sound thin, cold and unengaging. * “Why would anyone bother producing such an amplifier?” *On the face of it it’s a good question.</p>
<p>Problem is, the type of amplifier topology has little to do with how it sounds. *Yeah, I know, that doesn’t ring true does it? *I mean, all class A amps sound a certain way, just as all tubes amps, all class A/B, all Class D amps? *Doesn’t that fit your expectations and biases? *But then you hear an amplifier that sounds open, gorgeous, musical in every way. *You wonder what magical properties it must have to sound like this? *Let’s just say for this post it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter because it’s near impossible to generalize performance from a specific topology. *It’s hard because in large part that sound is more dependent on how the designer managed the design rather than the topology itself. *Everything from the power supplies to the input stages, to the chassis parts, isolation, wiring, connectors etc. *The same is true for loudspeakers, turntables, cartridges, etc.</p>
<p>As humans we compartmentalize things. *Life’s much easier if we can place our biases, opinions and conclusions in small compartments that serve us well. *We read a review or group of reviews and compartmentalize the reviewer’s conclusions into easy to access data. *We hear a set of speakers and form an opinion that now extends to any speaker similar in construction. *We like the sound of moving coil cartridges so we never consider a moving magnet. *Air bearing turntables sound best, direct drive motors are to be shunned, switching power supplies all sound a certain way.</p>
<p>I know it’s hard to release some of our cherished biases but if you can, it’ll help in your quest for what really matters, how it sounds.</p>
<br /><span class="c4"><img src="http://www.pstracks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamfree/img/wpsf-img.php" width="0" height="0" alt="" class="c3" /></span>
[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/feeding-caring-biases/12810/]
<p>Problem is, the type of amplifier topology has little to do with how it sounds. *Yeah, I know, that doesn’t ring true does it? *I mean, all class A amps sound a certain way, just as all tubes amps, all class A/B, all Class D amps? *Doesn’t that fit your expectations and biases? *But then you hear an amplifier that sounds open, gorgeous, musical in every way. *You wonder what magical properties it must have to sound like this? *Let’s just say for this post it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter because it’s near impossible to generalize performance from a specific topology. *It’s hard because in large part that sound is more dependent on how the designer managed the design rather than the topology itself. *Everything from the power supplies to the input stages, to the chassis parts, isolation, wiring, connectors etc. *The same is true for loudspeakers, turntables, cartridges, etc.</p>
<p>As humans we compartmentalize things. *Life’s much easier if we can place our biases, opinions and conclusions in small compartments that serve us well. *We read a review or group of reviews and compartmentalize the reviewer’s conclusions into easy to access data. *We hear a set of speakers and form an opinion that now extends to any speaker similar in construction. *We like the sound of moving coil cartridges so we never consider a moving magnet. *Air bearing turntables sound best, direct drive motors are to be shunned, switching power supplies all sound a certain way.</p>
<p>I know it’s hard to release some of our cherished biases but if you can, it’ll help in your quest for what really matters, how it sounds.</p>
<br /><span class="c4"><img src="http://www.pstracks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamfree/img/wpsf-img.php" width="0" height="0" alt="" class="c3" /></span>
[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/feeding-caring-biases/12810/]