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I went from Class D to Luxman A/AB - And most of what you think is wrong

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Class D. I have lived with ICEPower 250AS based amps for a couple of years. Before that I lived with a pair of Parasound A21s (for HT) and now I’m listening to a Luxman 507ux.


I have some thoughts after long term listening:
  • The tropes of Class D having particularly bad, noticeable Class D qualities are all wrong and have been for years.
  • No one has ever heard my Class D amps and gone: "Oh, wow, Class D, that’s why I hate it."
  • The Luxman is a better amp than my ICEPower modules, which are already pretty old.

I found the Class D a touch warm, powerful, noise free. Blindfolded I cannot tell them apart from the Parasound A21s which are completely linear, and run a touch warm due to high Class A operation, and VERY similar in power output.


The Luxman 507 beats them both, but no amp stands out as nasty sounding or lacking in the ability to be musical and involving.


What the Luxman 507 does better is in the midrange and ends of the spectrum. It is less dark, sweeter in the midrange, and sounds more powerful, almost "louder" in the sense of having more treble and bass. It IS a better amplifier than I had before. Imaging is about the same.


There was one significant operational difference, which others have confirmed. I don't know why this is true, but the Class D amps needed 2-4 days to warm up. The Luxman needs no time at all. I have no rational, engineering explanation for this. After leaving the ICEPower amps off for a weekend, they sounded pretty low fi. Took 2 days to come back. I can come home after work and turn the Luxman on and it sounds great from the first moment.


Please keep this in mind when evaluating.


Best,

E
erik_squires
tweak1
3,525 posts
 
George hi fi says 

Yes expensive also but they are the new GaN Class-D technology, stuffed inside a stupid tube housing, to keep the tube guys happy.

This is hilarious. You must live in an all grey world

While it's true that the tubes do nothing, they are pure marketing genius. The tubes have probably done more to draw attention to GaN tech then anything on the market

And as I understand it, the parts in those tubes make up the main portion of the GaN tech, and as such, when the tech improves, these can be simply pulled out and replaced, instead of having a door stop or spending lots of money returning to manufacturer for upgrades 



phd
1,277 posts
 
A few years ago I did a local sale on a Conrad Johnson tube preamp which was connected to a Class D amp. When the buyer came over for a listen his first question was, what kind of amp is that? He then went on to point out how impressive the two sounded together and yes he did purchased the preamp.
dougsat
366 posts
 
Interesting this thread seems to have no end in sight.
i have a Peachtree Nova 150. 
I enjoy it very much.
I think Class D amps are only going to get better.
To each his own, agree to disagree.

erik_squires OP
15,630 posts
 
Good luck with that one Eric.



Thanks George. I've had very good luck given the positive responses on this thread and my previous ones.

You are vastly outnumbered, and when cornered admit you won't actually listen to Class D.  Hah.

Best,

E


erik_squires OP
15,630 posts
 
A few years ago I did a local sale on a Conrad Johnson tube preamp which was connected to a Class D amp. When the buyer came over for a listen his first question was, what kind of amp is that? He then went on to point out how impressive the two sounded together and yes he did purchased the preamp.



This is one of my classic combinations!! CJ pre with solid state amp. I haven't tried Class D with ESLs, but in the past I loved that combo.
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