TAS "Class D issue" -opinions.

[The golden mean]

Bought the mag yesterday, not a DIY one , for sure! But interesting reading , all the same. A large part of the content is dedicated to some assessment of, and discussion on Class D.

Content,in selections:

¤ From the Editor; Class D Power Amplifiers-Promise or Peril?

¤Designer Roundtable , participaying , Dan D´Agustino(doesn´t cherish class D ). Jeff Rowland, and Bruno Putzeys.

¤A review of eight class D amps,among them Karma MP150(designed by Bruno, and managed very well BTW), Audio Research 300.2, Channel Island D-200,NuForce Referance 9 Special Edition.

¤A basic explaination of the Class D principle.

¤Editors Roundtable, about their experiances with class D amplification, and perhapes more interesting;about their attitude
toward it.
.................................................. ............................
I´m quite unable to make a good summery, thus let me pass some claims or questions on, only!(These are only my interpretations).

Class D technology is immature!

Class D may only be used where convienency is a priority.

Is Class D the Future of High End Amplification?(No one seems to be able to tell,-my comment).

Linear amps seem to still have the edge!

Class D amps seem more prone to be load dependent(speakers and speaker cables).

Very few Class D amps have a good reproduction in the upper register.

I suppose this isn´t too controversial ,or even news to you!

[BWRX]

Originally posted by The golden mean
Linear amps seem to still have the edge!

Mainly to the folks who make a living selling and auditioning linear amps

[serengetiplains]

I agree entirely with Jonathan Valin's seasoned descriptions of class D---all his audio descriptions, acually. I diverge from him, and others, in actually preferring class D, at least for now, to other topologies. Class D's purity of tone is out of this world. For my preferences, this and a few other qualities adequately compensate for their quite unnatural, fast-fall-off high frequencies.

[eleson]

Hi,

Here is yet another maker that has released class-D based products.

http://www.primare.net/00002/00192/00193/00194/

The test in the Danish/Swedish magazine High Fidelity had pictures showing the two modules neatly screwed to the bottom of the case , the 'hypex way'.

So, my take is, 'having the edge' is more about confidence and skill in the technology, than the technology itself.


/Erland

[The golden mean]

I believe the best support for Class D, is to let the sceptical individuals remain sceptical. That is, don´t try to force your opinion on anyone else! As it´s about how different people perceive sound, -and research has showed that we indeed differ in this regard.Thus you probably can´t percuade someone that dislikes Class D, if their opinion is based on experiences.

Time will tell which technology will succeed the best. From an environmental point of view, class D surely has the edge over at least Class A .