Is Class D actually killing the "soul" of high-end audio?

[RepublicOfTexas69]

My responses are 100% human (me) written.

Not you the OP.

 

[Hear Here]

You do you. Me I enjoy them all, Just unplugged my SPL AB system and put my Canor A1 2.10 in and guess what Music still has it's soul... Guess I will try my Benchmark system later tonight and see if Class G is the soul sucker... These threads crack me up Audio is subjective and there is no right answer but I can fire up my tube amps to make sure..

I have to say that my extensive series of amplifier tests was prompted by my first non-SET purchase after deciding to move to ss. A fellow Avantgarde speaker owner had been raving about his Benchmark AHB2 amplifer - so I bought one unheard. Big mistake as it was drearily dull, despite (or maybe because of) its "accuracy". It transpired that my AG chum was obsessed with silence, so the Benchmark's huge SN ratio impressed him. Just thought I should mention this.

 

[SCAudiophile]

Thanks for clarifying,. I know and was having some fun probing to try to break the algorithmic DNA

 

[Hear Here]

That is a seriously impressive list of amps to compare against, especially heavyweights like Accuphase and Mark Levinson. Moving away from SET valve amps is a massive shift since that holographic midrange is addictive. It speaks volumes that the NAD M33 held its own and outperformed setups multiple times its price in your system. I guess the modern integration of Purifi really has managed to iron out the dry, analytical traits that plagued older modules. Do you ever miss that specific SET tube saturation on certain tracks, or does the NAD genuinely satisfy that itch across the board?

Several of the amps I tested were good including the ML and the Accuphase A-36. In fact I kept the latter for over a year and it was a beautiful amp in many respects. However, I eventually concluded it was a little too "polite" for my liking and some music didn't have the punch that I wanted.

My tests started with the purchase of a Benchmark AHB2 - see my post #22 above.

To answer your question, I have no regrets moving from SETs to ss but I'd certainly have been disappointed with several of the ss amps I tried, including some I expected to like eg Sugden. The other great amp was the GamuT D200 - III, but it had a nasty feature of upsetting my speakers by sending a serious thump to them on powering up or down. Its User Manual even warns about this, but only of concern with my 100+ dB speakers.

I'm sure that amp to speaker matching was a contributory factor to my choice of amp. My current speakers are 18 ohms and 107 dB sensitivity, so a very easy load. The NAD's 200 watts are not of concern as I can limit the maximum output by a -20 dB setting, and extra watts are always good when playing some music loudly!

 

[Hear Here]

The longer I’m in this hobby, the more I’m convinced there are very few if any absolutes. When people talk about something being “better”, in my experience what they’re generally saying is that something is more in accordance with their own perception of the various factors that make something sound real to them.

Nearly by definition, audio enthusiasts spend extended periods of time in focused listening. This kind of focused attention has long been known to create new neural pathways in the brain, but we all listen to different music on different systems in different acoustic environments, so the way in which those neural pathways develop can’t help but be as unique as we are. I had this phenomenon effectively illustrated when listening to a $30K set of speakers at a high end audio salon with a friend many years ago. My friend was blown away by them. I thought they sounded clinical and lifeless. To each his/her own.

All valid points and perhaps one reason why brands suggest that their kit needs to be "burnt in" for a week or so.

Even if no change occurs in the new kit that we''ve just spent lots of cash on, we often feel the unfamilar new amp isn't quite up to our expectations and we still enjoy the one we've had in our system for several years. However after being persuaded that the amp will improve after a burn in, we believe this claim as we've now become accustiomed to the new music presentation and, most likely, we now prefer it to our old kit! Strange things, brains!

 

[RepublicOfTexas69]

I have to say that my extensive series of amplifier tests was prompted by my first non-SET purchase after deciding to move to ss. A fellow Avantgarde speaker owner had been raving about his Benchmark AHB2 amplifer - so I bought one unheard. Big mistake as it was drearily dull, despite (or maybe because of) its "accuracy". It transpired that my AG chum was obsessed with silence, so the Benchmark's huge SN ratio impressed him. Just thought I should mention this.

Synergy is key and clearly you missed that with the AG Benchmark combo, and was just not suited to your taste, and room.

 

[2FarGone]

All valid points and perhaps one reason why brands suggest that their kit needs to be "burnt in" for a week or so.

Even if no change occurs in the new kit that we''ve just spent lots of cash on, we often feel the unfamilar new amp isn't quite up to our expectations and we still enjoy the one we've had in our system for several years. However after being persuaded that the amp will improve after a burn in, we believe this claim as we've now become accustiomed to the new music presentation and, most likely, we now prefer it to our old kit! Strange things, brains!

I can’t speak for anyone else, but in my own case I’m clear this does not apply. I demand a certain level of value from anything new that I put in the system. There have been many cables of various types that have come and gone in my system because I felt they didn’t provide value proportionate to their cost, and the same has happened with some components. I’ll give them plenty of time with different kinds of music, but once I arrive at that conclusion, they’re gone. One component in particular cost me a 50% loss after less than 2 years. I counted myself lucky that it wasn’t worse.

I like to think that makes me frugal. I suppose I could just be cheap, although the amount of money I've sunk in equipment over the years might tend to belie that. Living hand to mouth for many years can do that to you. I’m lucky enough now to be able to afford a pretty decent rig - just in time for my hearing to start heading south. As Louis Wu might put it, “Tanj.”