I have class d amps in my subs. seem to fit that purpose. I have two tube monoblocks and a tube pre-amp, sounds great. I only listen to music on this rig. I have a separate system for TV. (not really into the home theater thing, my leftover equipment does the job)
What going fully Class D has taught me.
Over the past year I’ve been working on a project to transform my main L and R 2-way speakers to active 3 way by adding a woofer tower with a 3-channel plate amp underneath. This project is finally completed. My Luxman integrated now sits dark and disconnected.
The plate amps are made by Hypex, though I have previously used ICEpower based amps as well.
What I can confidently say is that the old Class D memes have no reason to exist anymore. I can also say I miss my Luxman sound for music.
I’ve done this swap before. I went from Parasound to ICEpower to Luxman, and while I really liked the Luxman sound I was still compelled to attempt a new speaker / amp project. Many of my objectives have been met. Very low distortion, high dynamic range, excellent off-axis response and seamless integration. It sounds very transparent, and realistic for movies. The low distortion makes high volume listening deceptive. You don't realize how loud it is because there's absolutely no distortion. Some of t
What am I missing? The liquid smooth midrange, buttery treble of the Luxman, which was the main reason I went from Class-D to it in the first place. What I don’t have is all the normal tropes that used to float around here about how bad Class D sounds. It doesn’t, it actually sounds really good. What I need now is a juicy smooth two preamp with HT bypass.
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@erik_squires The differences we hear between amps is the distortion signature of the amp. You’d think vanishingly low distortion would have got rid of that issue, but since our ears are highly attuned to higher ordered harmonics that vanishingly low distortion really isn’t as low as it needs to be. Just like they do with musical instruments, our ears assign tonality to harmonics and so higher orders add brightness and harshness. Many tube amps don’t have the higher orders as audible since they are masked by lower orders. That is why the sound smooth and not as much high frequency energy; its nothing to do with bandwidth, which tube amps have had for many decades. The HK Citation 2 easily makes 50KHz so its not a bandwidth thing. That is why I included the first quote above. Once you understand that its distortion that causes amps to sound different then as a designer you have an access to getting the amp to sound musical and correct. It helps to know how to apply that understanding to the technology. The bottom line is there are class D amps out there that are nice and smooth and don’t take a back seat to the Luxman. You just have to seek them out. |
@ozzy62 Whew....I thought I was the only one. |
Started with the Audio Research SP-4/D-100A preamp/amp and the Maggie Tympani 1-D 48 years ago. I’ve had the Class D Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 for 5 years. Just got the new Magnepan 2.7x to replace my 1.7i. Absolutely breathtaking in a 22’x 40’x 14’ (ceiling height) room. Streaming direct from Qobuz app on iPhone to the Lyngdorf via Qobuz Connect, bypassing my Aurender. Lyngdorf is light, cool (I’m in Hawaii), 400W per channel into 4ohms, software updates wirelessly, and delivers clean sound. Works flawlessly. Hope this helps. |
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