The Hifi Trajectory Of Class D Amplifiers

I have Bel Canto ref1000m mono blocks and c5i integrated amp.

Class D has completely taken over the bottom end of the market. The amps in your cell phone are class D.

Class D has arrived insofar as its ability to challenge conventional solid state is concerned. I use a Crown class D amp for amplification of my keyboards in my band. It has two channels each of about 500 watts and it weighs 22 pounds. The amp I had before had half the power and weighed nearly twice as much. That can be a big deal when you have to lug heavy equipment around every time you play.

When it comes to challenging tube amps there is still a ways to go however. I like to relate the story of a show we did with a number of other bands a couple of years ago. Our bass player uses a 400-watt vacuum tube Peavey amp which we offered to backline (the term refers to the amp staying on stage so other players could use it, reducing the setup time that the band needed to go on stage). However one band had a bass player using a 500-watt class D amp made by Orange. He thought the Peavey would not be able to keep up with the sound that he needed. I told him there was no way a 500 watt class D amp could keep up with a 400 watt tube amp- he was quite shocked.

So we had him audition the Peavey- what he found was it made far more energy than he could get out of his Orange, so much in fact that he felt it might be too much to handle so he went with his Orange anyway as the bass from the Orange was less prodigious.

Just so you know, bass amps are far less likely to get overdriven than guitar amps are. IOW this was not just a matter of distortion due to overload or anything like that.

My experience with class D in high end audio is similar- and is why I made the comment to that bass player. I've not seen a lot of change in the years since, so I suspect that if class D is able to surpass a good tube amp, that day is still a ways down the road.

Couple of people reported on another thread, that Rowland's new $38k class D integrated had the best sound of NY Audio show. Feel free to keep discussing bass guitar applications.

Class D is still growing and coming out from it's infancy.
The technology isn't here YET to get the switching frequency for Class D far higher than what's available at present.
Once this technology is developed only then Class D may get to be considered real high end.

Doesn't matter how much is spent today like the above $38k Rowland, hifi manufacturers can't make the switching frequency technology happen, this can only come from big component manufacturers, like Burr Brown, Analog Devices and such.

Once this Technology is developed, and it's coming, all linear amps tube or solid state, will become worth less boat anchors, and Class D will become the norm for hiend instead of being just a good bass amp.

Cheers George

hifi manufacturers can't make the switching frequency technology happen, this can only come from big component manufacturers, like Burr Brown, Analog Devices and such.

George, is this because hifi mfgs pockets aren't deep enough to finance the research to advance the technology?

What's the incentive for Burr Brown, Analog Devices etc to advance the technology of high end Class D? That market is sooo small.

Why wouldn't a guy like Nelson Pass or Bob Carver look into Class D? Are the best brains in hifi amplification stuck on linear amplification? I believe if they put their minds to it, they could advance Class D.
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