I don't know about ICE falling behind, but to my ears it has a warmer sound. Closer to Parasound Halo amps than my Luxman for instance. I don't need it to be better IMHO, it's just got its own signature, much like linear amps.
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.
- ...
- 40 posts total
@phusis - I specifically made the sacrifice to minimize the cables I'd need otherwise, especially when trying to integrate HT and 2-channel sound. Last thing I need is multiple amps, external DSP and more cables. I've realized recently my Hypex plate amps have 2 RCA inputs. This makes it possible to run a separate source chain (DAC/preamp) directly without the usual HT bypass features. |
After going through so many threads, one things is for sure - Class D's performance surely is confusing. Sometimes, I think that is because people are so much used to Class AB that a small amplifiers running huge speakers affects them psychologically? But again there are a few threads where I have read some folks who were into SET amplification have found GaN amplification similar to SET amps and have switched to class D. The only way to find out is by personally experiencing Class D. I was seriously thinking of NAD M23 v2, AGD Duet, any other Purifi based amps, etc. |
@milpai - I really do think it's half old myths die hard but also, half is I've become accustomed to this tweaky, unique sounding 12 Watt Class A amp and the Class D amp I listened to for 30 seconds doesn't sound like it. |
- 40 posts total