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In Reply to: RE: Impressions of class D amps from Gilmore and Merrill... posted by ahendler on November 02, 2015 at 22:23:13
...not a good match with my speakers.
As I said, they sounded good with the Maggies I heard them on.
Follow Ups:
Perhaps Class D is a good match mostly on Maggies. ;-)I heard a pair of Acoustic Imagery Atsah Class D monoblocks (NCore 1200 $9K/pr) at a friend's house driving a pair of Maggie 1.7s and then the 3.7s after he upgraded to the larger speakers. It was a wonderful sounding system.
I tried a pair of NCore 400 monos in my setup as well and a couple ICEpower based amps, and the Hypex UcD 'hybrid Class D' Medusa by Rogue. I ran them on my Thiel CS2.4 -as well as- my Tannoy Definition D500's. Very different speakers. I just couldn't enjoy the Class D amps for very long on either speaker.
Someone posted that tube guys are just expecting that 'bloom' or other 'coloration' and not used to the transparency and accuracy of Class D. That is not the case here. As much as I prefer tubes, I have also enjoyed good solid-state amplification long-term in my setup but I can't seem to warm up to Class D.
I'd rank these amps as significantly better than the Class D amps I have experienced in my system:
- Ayre AX-7e integrated
- Pass Labs 150.5
- Ampzilla 2000 2nd Edition
- Krell KSA-50S- Rogue Stereo 90 Super Magnum
- Rogue Cronus Magnum Integrated
- Manley Neo-Classic 250
- AES/Cary SixPac monosThese are the Class D amps I have had 'in my system':
- NCore 400 monos
- W4S SX-500 ICEpower monos
- Bel Canto M300 ICEpower monos
- PS Audio HCA-2
- Rogue Medusa 'hybrid Hypex UcD'and a few other Class D but those were not 'in my system at home'.
Edits: 11/03/15
from ARC.
Maggies and Ds450 .
Even ARC needs a low end product.
"SLEW RAT
5 volts/microsecond. (20% maximum duty cycle)"
Maybe that has something to do with it ;-)
and thanks
...I've been told class D amps work well with Maggies because their high damping factor stops the speakers from ringing.
The Pass X-350 was the best solid state amp I heard on the Thiels - no brightness but nice rich harmonic - until I began to notice upper mid grain I couldn't stand.
The reviews say the Pass .5 upgrade made a big positive change to the amp but I never had the opportunity to try it.
Class D sounds similar to other solid state amps, but they offer size and heat advantages - and they all sound different.
From listening to the Merrill and the Devialet reviews, I'd say class D is improving but at a huge price.
Maybe it will trickle down.
Yes, the .5 upgrades were noticeable improvements in the Pass line. I had the X150 and then the X150.5. The X150 started to sound a little harsh when loud. The X150.5 was much better. And both benefit greatly with a nice tube preamp driving them. This offered a good combination of dynamic 'slam' and authority with a more full-bodied robust tube sound. Of course I was using a rather 'tubey' sounding linestage at the time in the Cary SLP-05.
And now Pass is shipping the .8 models but I haven't heard any of them.
Thanks for the reviews. I'm still Class D curious but in the $2000 - $5000 range.
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