Class D

Just interested in where we reckon it's got to. How does the Class D on the market compare to valves/ss, pound for pound?I've noticed some of the Lyngdord/Tact stuff seems to have plummeted in value. £500ish for a 12 month old £1500 amp. Then there's the new guard, Flying Moles, Nuforce etc. All well reviewed.

Is it the future, will we all rue the day we bought old technology? Opinions please

 

In 1964 Clive Sinclair started a company called Sinclair Radionics Ltd. that produced a Class D PWM power amplifier known as the X-10, designed by engineer Gordon Edge.

Some 43 years on, people still talk about it as new technology. And 43 years on, many indeed probably most of the world's most experienced audiophiles choose to listen to valve amplifiers.

Undoubtedly they represent a lot of bang for your buck should you still use insensitive loudspeakers and the ones I've used make excellent middle rank buys. But after nearly half a century, I won't be holding my breath for one to come along that is a step up from my valve amps.

 

I've been using a Bel Canto Evo2i for close on 2 years now, and short of something like a Wavac, have yet to hear anything I prefer to it. Guess it depends on how well it's implemented as I've heard the newer BC stuff using "icepower" and still prefered the presentation of their older tripath gear.

 

Its not yet good enough to make me swop from valves. Im with Mike on that. For me, generalising a little a moderate cost class D amp does beat a high cost class A.

NB Im coming from a valve experience

 

some class 'd' amps I've heard have lacked a depth and body to the sound. Ultra powerful, but a thin and waspish presentation.

I've heard the odd class D amp that has a more full bodied sound, but on that occasion it was rather ruthless still with certain low-fi recordings.

I can't think of a better amplifier technology to control a sub-woofer for example than class D.

 

I'll own up to being seriously tempted by a Lyngdorf I've come across. I thought the Tact technology showed much promise at shows, but always seemed to be screwed up by the room correction stuff. If I can get a good enough price so I can move it on if it doesn't suit I'm very tempted.

I've also got a line on a Jungson, 80 watts of class A. Sounds interesting also. Could warm up my rather cold listening room.

 

Tact's demonstrations have traditionally featured the Equibit equipped amplifiers fed via DRC. These, the 2150 and 2200, are in some ways stunning amps - in others I find them wanting. Toccata (now owned by T.I.) Equibit was of course the first technology that directly converted PCM to PWM without the signal entering the analogue domain. They are incredibly silent and incredibly revealing amplifiers, but they will show up the appalling mastering of modern CD's as they sound harsh when overloaded by digital clipping. You can reduce this by attenuating them, but remember that a 150 watt Tact amp then becomes in reality a 25 watter so is suited to high efficiency speakers.

The other Tact amps are the 2175 series.These are straightforward Class D amps which Peter originally bolted together to give Tact users something cheap to power the W210 subwoofers, where quality was no so important. I think they turned out a lot better than he envisaged and seem quite popular if you want a powerhouse that will drive insensitive speakers to high levels.

 

That's interesting, my speakers are 97db so they don't need lots of driving. It is a 2175 I'm considering, so they may not be the thing. On the other hand they've recieved fantastic reviews left, right and centre.

 

Tact have received some great reviews.

Tact have also had a huge marketing budget in the UK since Peter and Boz went their seperate ways and Tact took the main room at the HiFi News show and gave away the prizes.....

I actually delivered the original review gear to Keith Howard many moons ago and was surprised when he didn't review it. He kept the system for about a year and a half though.....

 

You give and then take away
Have you heard the 1275?

 

Yes I bought the first 2175 in the country after Bristol some years ago. I sold it to a friend who still uses it with an Audio Synthesis Dax Decade and he's very happy with it. He listens to a lot of dub and dance music. It's a controlled powerhouse. I just prefer the presence of good valves I'm afraid.

If I were to generalise ( and it's difficult as I have not used them side by side) I would not say it was the best of the latest generation of switching amps, but it is quite probably the most sanely priced. Also it sounds a bit sweeter with 4 ohm loads than 8 in my experience.

 

I had a Sonneteer Bronte tripath-based integrated amp for a while. I liked it, it did nothing obviously wrong and sounded very good, and it looked very nice in its gloss black finish too. They were very reasonably priced too, not sure what they go for nowadays. Despite being a UK company Sonneteer don't concentrate on the UK market, so they don't have many dealers if you're looking for a demo. Good secondhand option if you see one.

-- Ian

 

I have a pair of akustic reality monoblocks coming replacing a evo 4 . will report back.

 

The only class D amp I’ve heard was a beautiful little, though exceptionally powerful Bel Canto integrated. I can’t remember what it was called but it was about the size and shape of a HiCap and pumped out something absurd like 300 watts a side. A remarkably neat looking thing.

I heard it at Ian (Strummer)’s before he got the huge Tannoy FSMs. I took my Prima Luna P2 over and Darren W took a lovely wood and gold Leben tube amp. Available speakers were a smallish pair of JM Labs stand mounts, a pair of Heresys and a old 3 way pair of Castles. The CD player was a CDX IIRC.

I think we all concluded the Bel Canto sounded a bit bleached and boring compared to either of the tube amps. The BC was not bad into the Heresys, certainly not harsh, noisy or aggressive the way Naims can be into such an efficient speaker, but still not as good as the PL2 or Leben. I don’t know if this is typical for class D as it’s the only one I’ve heard. There was nothing ‘wrong’ with it as such, just on a direct A B I preferred the tubes.

Tony.

 

small children , no tubes

 

In which case given Richard’s high efficiency speakers I’d possibly be looking for a small class A amp, something like a vintage Sugden A21, C51 / A51 or Marantz PM4 etc.

Tony.

 

Rich - you're more than welcome to demo my SM70s if you want to try small class A.

Tony - your description of the Bel Canto is of an ICEpower one.

I could say a lot on Class D (given that it is my job to design such amps), but my viewpoint would never be seen as unbiased (no matter what I said, good or bad).

 

That's a pity, Isaac. I would very much like to hear your thoughts. I'm sure I could deal with any bias.

 

Ditto

 

Indeed at this moment I'd love to hear them!

Tony, class A is the other option. I've found something very interesting there as well. I could always get the Meadowlarks out again to play too.