I remember selling a large format video disk player at Radio Shack back in teh 1980 timeframe or so. The only two movies we had to show though were "MASH" and "The Muppet Movie" both of which I know by heart from ongoing store demos. |
"The core problem with many Class D amps on the market such as Bel Canto, Nuforce, Red Dragon, Hypex, CIA, Wyred4Sound
and other light weight, cool running switching designs is that they are wall dependent, needing to rely on dedicated 15 or 20 amp a.c. lines since they lack large power supplies from a large bank of capacitors found in A and A/B"
m or mkII versions of Bel Cantos have a custom power board as an enhancement over stock IcePower modules.
Not sure if Class Ds would benefit from similar power supply design as Class A/B. Large banks of caps there would certainly help defeat the small package aspect.
Maybe Kijanki or others with more expertise in Class D amp design could clarify?
I do know that my Bel Canto ref1000m's draw a lot of power when turned on initially for a few secs. If I turn both on within a few seconds of each, my house in-wall circuit breaker will blow. 2-3 secs in between and no problem. Also no problem at all once the music starts playing at any volume. Not the case with some Class A/B amps I have owned prior. |
My guess is that the significantly higher efficiency of CLass D amps means smaller power supplies with fewer/less caps are more viable since less power must be drawn to deliver a particular output power level. More caps might add cost with little added value to results I suspect compared with less efficient amps. |
The thing with the good Class D amps is that the performance rivals others, they are small, they are efficient, and do not get very warm. Plus massive amounts of power to drive most any speaker.
Are the prices high? Definitely in some cases. THat's part of high end audio. One is actually paying largely for teh innovation and the benefits derived in the case of Class D beyond just paying extra for boutique type products. Nothing new there! Over time, I would expect price/performance to trend positively.
Also it is worth noting that Wyred and Bel Canto does add useful technology to the stock IcePower modules which at least helps justify the cost somewhat. Wyred adds an input stage that makes the amps tube pre-amp friendly and BC adds that plus a custom power board. These are things that only audio enthusiasts (like me) would care enough about to pay extra for.
WHen I bought my ref1000ms here on A'gon, I had the seller actually open them up and show me a picture of the innards to make sure that I was getting what I was paying extra for. |
I would really like to hear the new Audio Research DS450M. Maybe it is a possible next step type higher efficiency amp for thirstier speakers than say Icepower to-date.
Will have to stop by my local ARC dealer where I bought my ARC pre-amp to see/hear.
A beefy power supply done well can never hurt, right?
The description of the sound it produces on the ARC sight is not unlike what I hear with the Bel Cantos, which is quite good. Maybe these can push the edge further, albeit perhaps with some additional size, weight, bulk, power consumption and cost compared to Icepower for example. |
I got to audition an ARC DS225 over the weekend running a pair of Nola Baby Grand Reference speakers. The Nola's were not quite my cup of tea, but the ARC seemed to do a good job, though I did not hear enough to make any comparisons. Definitely a nice product. |
I'm of the opinion that class d amps in general these days have raised the
bar on price/performance possibilities. Best results require careful
speaker matching, pretty much as is always the case.
I am really hard pressed to fault the pairing of the bel canto ref1000m
monoblocks with either pair of my ohm walsh series 3 speakers. I can
cite shortcomings with either my dynaudio or triangle monitors that i
would attribute mainly to their small size, though both still sound quite
good as small monitors go. . |
" I would say the late 70's was the golden years of high fidelity. "
I would say yes in terms of market size and # of users, but amps and speakers have come a long way since then. Digital sources as well since their inception in the mid 80's. |
BTW, I suspect average sound quality for most listeners on various devices including portable is better today than back then, but the frontiers of hi fi/sound quality have moved forward, as has the cost of "high end sound" in many cases, plus also high fidelity is no longer a novelty, rather something that is assumed by most in accordance with their individual expectations, so you just do not hear about it anymore very much outside of audiophile type circles. |
If D-sonic is price competitive with wyred with alternate/newer technology I will have to read up on them. Last time I looked, they were selling essentially stock Icepower models in a box for reasonable cost. That's not hard to do, and might offer good bang for buck for many. Wyred, Bel Canto and others cost more but added enhancements like custom input (for better results with a tube pre-amp) and power boards for better power supply. |
