Class D is HighEnd?

[samsagaz]

Hey guys, i want to upgrade my HT, its just an 5.1 channels. I want to sold the Receiver and want to use dedicated amps for each channel, i want to get at least 200Watts per channel. i really want to know if buiding and classD amp will get nice sound, (comparable with comercial ones like Rotel RMB-1095)?

I want to drive a pair of Polk LSI Series Speakers.

[fokker]

Class D used to ultra low-end, and with the advances of technology they are becoming more mainstream.

[jmartins]

Do your question to Jeff Rowland, Audio Research, Halco etc...

see : http://www.jeffrowland.com/ConcertoInt.htm

[classd4sure]

Rowland doesn't even use decent modules

[phn]

Asking if it's "high-end" is the same thing as asking if it's expensive. Class D's not. But it can sound pretty good, or expensive if you like.

[samsagaz]

mm i understand, but will be better to use an A/B or Class D amp?

or is not possible to get an answer like that?

i know that class D is great for high power amps like 1000w+ for subwoofers or stuff like that, but dont know for mid and hig frequencies.

[classd4sure]

There's no clear answer to that I don't think.

In terms of efficiency there's a clear answer. In terms of performance, probably in either case it depends on the amp itself and how well it's been implemented. Better amps cost more money, period, so how much you're willing to spend to get to your expectations is the deciding factor, unless it's the ultimate in power you're after.... what do you want?

Do you expect to cram 7 amps in a single case because it takes up less room... then you compromised performance in a big way, but also saved a good deal of money.

Is the ultimate in performance all you want, cost no objective? Full monoblock, or multi amped active speakers even better. That's about the ultimate you can get and I would sure as hell do it with D amps tweets and all.

Could you maybe buy a better commercial class a/b receiver for the same price as a commercial class d receiver? Very likely!

[planet10]

One thing to keep in mind is that it seems, as a generalization, that quantity of power is inversely proportional to quality....

There are certainly small class D amps that seem to be of comparable quality to the better of Class A SS & tube amps (not from personal experience yet -- i have a set of Brian West's 10W modules on the way)

dave

[classd4sure]

True, yet the quality of that power in a good D amp is maintained at low levels, and the ability for much greater power/cost is unmatched. Having higher power ability does not mean that you have to give up quality at normal listening levels. You might find that sort of argument made by someone who makes a bad amp though.

For example I've heard Nuforce people say that it only sounds good at low power, therefore, the amps must be low power and speakers must be efficient.

They've failed in their meager attempts at addressing EMI though, so obviously quality goes to hell when the current starts to flow.

It not usually a good idea to over generalize things. The whole point to a good D amp is to attain higher levels of clean power than was possible before, or at least affordable.

[BWRX]

One very important ingredient of a really good amp is the power supply. Because class d amps are much more efficient than other topologies you don't need a huge beefy power supply to get great performance. Conversely, a really good power supply makes them sound that much better!

What's amazing is that class d amps get more efficient as the power output increases. That is in stark contrast to class a and ab where power output peaks and then starts decreasing.

My little modules are good for about 7Wrms into 8ohms and about 13Wrms into 4 ohms and nothing on the board even gets warm when putting out maximum power into 8 ohms. Other higher power class d amps perform similarly in terms of heat dissipation.