Class D Amplification Announcement
After 60 some odd years of disappointment, Class D has finally arrived. As per The Absolute Sound’s Jonathan Valin, the Borrenson-designed Aavik P-580 amp “is the first Class D amplifier I can recommend without the usual reservations. …the P-580 does not have the usual digital-like upper-mid/lower-treble glare or brick wall-like top-octave cut-off that Class D amps of the past have evinced.”
Past designers of Class D and audiophiles, rejoice; Michael Borrenson has finally realized the potential of Class D.
Never any love for LKV on Audiogon. https://lkvresearch.com/lkv-pwr-3-amplifier.html For the voltage-gain circuitry, the PWR-3 uses a Class A, zero-feedback circuit designed by LKV’s Chief Designer Bill Hutchins. This circuit delivers life-like sound due to careful design and component matching, including 40 hand-matched, discrete jfets. For the high current output stage, Bill selected the Purifi 1et400A module, which implements Putzey’s breakthrough. |
I recently upgraded my Class D amp in my main system from older Bel Canto ref1000m IcePower based (already quite excellent) to a more recent Hypex-based design. Being an engineer myself always with an eye on new legit technical innovations that can move things forward, I was considering the various GaN options as well, including AGD amps I heard in another A’goner’s system, but did not find exactly what I was looking for yet with GaN (based on features more so than sound alone), so tried the Hypex-based product and it is not leaving anytime soon. Meanwhile, will wait to see what else new comes out in next few years, GaN and otherwise, and see what happens then. Several Purifi-based products were also given strong consideration. |
The Aavik integrated amp mentioned had my interest...very nice..until I saw the price. Not happening for me anytime soon. Top notch sound, at least to meet my requirements, need not cost that much these days thanks to widespread related advances in technology. Were I to take a plunge like that, I would expect support beyond the norm at a minimum to help insure the investment. An unbiased shootout with the competition to maybe help justify the cost would be interesting. But it looks like a boutique type product at least for American consumers and that alone will draw some interest. Especially when everything else prior is purposefully labeled a "disappointment" by the OP. |
Fantastic advice from Atmasphere re making one’s recordings “to know what’s right and what isn’t”. I would include and stress increased attendance to live performances. In that advice is the simple reality that there IS a “right”…..certainly within a narrower spectrum of variability (for various reasons) than that which I hear among many different audio systems, all claimed to be right (“accurate”). |
