Class D at low volume

Pavpet, happily replacing an expensive SET with a much more modest cost Class D amp is certainly saying a lot. I've heard both sounding their best and frankly Class D technology is a game changer for me when it comes to considering tube amplification. I just like good sound when I hear it no matter how it is made.

Mine work great at lower volume.

They are so clean and effortless and totally non fatiguing. I often do not realize how high the volume is until someone speaks in the room.

They are playing at low volume currently as I type on my triangle speakers which themselves are fantastic lower volume speakers.

👍👍

Efficiency done well is always a good thing for sound quality I would say, including at lower volumes. Class D amps are the modern way to introduce some efficiency into a system with out the size bulk and other idiosyncrasies that might go with full range high efficiency speakers


Schubert,

Bel Canto has been doing Class D for a number of years so there is significant variability there I would say with newer models capable of outperforming older in general.

The earlier generation Bel Canto Class Ds ref500k, ref1000, not later m models, were stock older generation Icepower modules in a nice box. Prices reflect that.

ref1000m and ref500m added custom power and input sections to improve performance and match better to tube pre-amps.

ref500m uses a newer gen Icepower than 1000m last I checked so there could be some sonic differences there as reported.

latest BEl Canto products probably use newer IcePower mocules and I would assume implement design enhancements learned over time as well. I would expect top notch performance and that is what I read.

So Bel Canto crossed the threshold of top notch performance out of their Class D amps a few years back already I would say based on my experience with the hard to fault ref1000m however I have no doubt the technology is relative new still (compared to the others) and continues to improve technically in regards to bandwidth, noise level controls, etc., to whatever extent it may matter practically. The sky is the limit with this technology over time I believe and may already have crossed the threshold needed for top notch performance in "high end" systems practically. All signs seem to point to that.

I'm considering going to a compact integrated amp on my second system and the BC Class D based integrateds are on my shortlist there currently along with Wyred and Rogue. I am pretty sure I will go Class D only for an integrated as well at this point. It does not make sense to me to do otherwise at this point. Tube amps and monster sized Class A/B amps are becoming increasingly unnecessary to me as a result of the performance and value proposition with Class D.

Although you live in Minnesota right? You might want to go with an amp that wastes power and throws off some heat especially in winter. Kill two birds with one stone. I'm only half joking. Portable heaters are not expensive though I suppose.

My only caveat in recommending Class D amps over others currently might be in regards to the very highest frequencies, tne ones over 12Khz or so that we perceive as "air" in teh sound. I am 50+ and used to hear fine up to 20khz but now I am more limted, as are most people as they age. So I am not a good one to be able to compare how various amps might perform at the highest frwequencies. If one looks at Class D amp measurements, the highest audible frequencies is the final frontier for the technology to conquer on paper. In practice though I do not hear anything to be audibly deficient or missing though I suspect the latest and greatest Class D technology to have the technical edge from a pure bandwidth perspective. Noise control as well as mentioned. To the extent either might matter in practice that is. I have never done a focused A/B comparison on say how well teh best Class D reproduces things like cymbals and air for example compared to others, but I would expect it to be a reasonable competition as best I can tell.

When I was young and heard clearly up to 20khz, I also tended to be very sensitive to anything that was not going on well at teh higher frequencies.

It would be interesting to do a study of amp preferences based on age factor.